Cloud Computing: IBM`s Top 5 Predictions for Smarter Buildings for 2012
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As the world population hit 7 billion this fall and a growing number of people flock to cities, creating smarter, more sustainable cities will be critical.??íThe first step is to create smarter buildings, the cornerstones that will lead to smarter cities. In the United States alone, buildings account for 70 percent of all energy use and 38 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.??íMany experts predict that buildings will be the largest consumer of energy by 2025.??íSmarter buildings will be able to use resources more intelligently, which will lead to reduced costs and greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately to smarter, more efficient cities. Dave Bartlett, vice president of IBM's Smarter Buildings Initiative, is working with IBM's Smarter Buildings team to help organizations, enterprises and individuals worldwide listen to the enormous amounts of data our buildings are generating.??íBy listening to this data through embedding smarter technologies into the physical assets of an organization, building owners, facility managers and other stakeholders can analyze energy use to squeeze out inefficiencies, resulting in more green, sustainable, cost-efficient buildings, neighborhoods and cities worldwide, according to IBM.??íThere is still much to be done as technologies continue to evolve and the urgency to create more sustainable buildings grows—an urgency illustrated by today's burgeoning smarter buildings market, which is estimated to stand at about $30 billion worldwide.??íAs the smarter buildings market evolves over the coming year, Bartlett predicts there will be five top trends that come to fruition, with smart buildings moving toward working in unison with each other and the communities in which they reside.??íBartlett's predictions for the top five buildings trends in 2012 are included in this slide show.
Smart Neighborhoods
Groups of buildings will mimic living systems. Neighborhoods are the building blocks of smarter cities, which are just systems of systems—water, power, transportation, etc. Like a living system in nature, they can be highly complex, especially when considering the conglomeration of infrastructure over a city's 100- to 200-year history.??ÃIn Washington, D.C., water pipes date back to the Civil War, for example. A neighborhood is a microcosm of the city; to make a city smarter, starting at the neighborhood level is more manageable. IBM is working in Boston's Back Bay to help the community become early adopters of smart grid technology that will electronically monitor, analyze and minimize power consumption in residential and commercial buildings—as well as of on-site solar and other clean-generation systems.
