BIM, Services, and Emergency Response

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The Building Information Model (BIM) comprises a family of standards, including the three dimensional building model, that compose a comprehensive description of a building. It is an oft hoped desire that the BIM, perhaps working through a mythical BIM server, be accessible to improve situational awareness by emergency first responders

One barrier for this BIM/Emergency management information exchanges is that BIM does not, by and large, define real service mapping. Chemicals and supplies may stored by room number. Ventilation may be by zones established long before the room numbering. Missing people may be...

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Enterprise Interactions for Physical Security

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As promised a week ago, here are some scenarios for physical security systems interacting with enterprise systems, and even through the enterprise to other enterprise-enabled buildings systems.Hotels, Customer Service and Energy

Hotels put a lot of effort into their customer relationship management. Building space, if well operated, cost the same in similar cities. Beds are beds, as long as they are clean. Hotels compete for customer loyalty to develop preferences that make the consumer check their hotel chain first rather than merely going to hotels.com.

The vision of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG.org) includes rooms that respond automatically to the customers...

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Emergency Response and Building Intelligence

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The first responder faces a number of challenges in extracting useful information from a building. Chemicals and supplies may stored by room number. Ventilation may be by zones established long before the room numbering. Missing people may be in their office as per the directory, or in the conference room, which may not be identified in the BIM, or elsewhere.

BIM (Building Information Models) could rather easily bridge the control system, with its focus on AHU3 by placing AHU3 in the building. If, say a return air temperature sensor is associated with both AHU3 and room 204, then one can imagine standard techniques to visually map rooms, and high heat through the control system.

The biggest issue is control systems tend to present their points fo...

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Enterprise Integrated Security

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It’s all too easy to get caught up in energy this year. It is easy to forget that energy was only one of the reasons I was drawn to enterprise interactions for building systems. There are compelling reasons to integrate physical security systems with enterprise systems and their techniques. Physical security is typically broken up into three areas; access control, intrusion detection, and monitoring. These systems rarely interact unless installed by the same vendor, and even then, significant integration may be required.

Security is not about locking the door; security is about responding the right way at the right time. The true core of security is situation awareness.

Last week, I was awakened in hotel by a couple letting themselves into...

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