Term Project

For my term project I will be working with Natasha Martines and Rita Pauliushchyk to optimize the W.W. Hagerty Library building through the use of sensors. The main concept of this project is that no building is an island, meaning it is important to examine how a building interacts with its surrounding environment. We wish to create a smart building that interacts with the outdoor environment and creates optimum indoor comfort levels. IBM calls these economical, operational and environmental friendly buildings “Smarter Buildings”, and is working towards making all their IBM buildings smart buildings to “lead by example,” as David Bartlett, Vice President of Smarter Buildings IBM says. More about IBM’s smart buildings, as well as an example, can be found in the linked video below.

The project will begin by surveying several students who use the library, asking questions about the quality and comfort level of the library environment. Using the results, and researching case studies on similar buildings, we will design a sensor network able to meet requirements determined to be most important. Our ultimate goal is to minimize resource consumption, optimize comfort levels in the building, predict usage patterns, and integrate the building into the urban environment of Philadelphia.

We will first consider what is most important in a library. For example, the temperature of the environment is key. A room that is too hot can make students tired and groggy, while a room that is too cold can make students unfocused. Lighting is also an important focus when you have occupants reading for several hours. Humidity is also a concern to both comfort levels and preservation of books. Finally, it is important to consider objects that use massive amounts of energy and give off ample heat, such as computers. Based on these factors, we will explore the use of sensors to make the building as energy efficient as possible. Sensors will monitor outdoor and indoor climate, energy usage patterns based on occupancy, HVAC equipment, lighting, and water usage. We will decide which sensors we feel are the most necessary, practical, and affordable and build our network based on this information. 

As mentioned previously, one sensor we plan on considering is a sensor to measure occupancy. I had never thought of using this sensor as David mentions in his post. He says "if the number of occupants in a room is known, it is then possible for a system to try and anticipate the levels of CO2 and start ventilating before the CO2 levels reach a high number." I think this is a very interesting concept and plan on reading about it in further detail. 

http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/green_buildings/examples/index.html