Essay

As you look around the world today, you will notice that not only are devices getting more interconnected, but also the people that use those devices are getting more interconnected as well. With the Internet and our increasing ability to push data onto it, you as an architect are likely beginning to wonder how such innovations are changing the way buildings function.

For instance, what if many of the architectural devices (think light bulbs, thermostats, window glass, and so on) that your occupants use each day are able to collect simple information that push data onto an Internet dashboard that can make sense of it — to meet even greater personal and collective needs for occupants within buildings? An interesting quote taken from the video which I will show you at the end of this article describes such a “dashboard which manages GSA [building] properties not as machines, but as ecosystems.”

The notion of a building being closer to an ecosystem does make some sense, particularly when you begin to think about how we are becoming better able to turn the relationship between an occupant and their building into more of a dialogue between the two, rather than a one-sided conversation. Additionally, when we can see more deeply into real time information on how a building is being used by occupants, we simultaneously gain greater insight into how to build happier places.

In the following video, you will see a design proposal where concepts from IDEO are aiming to help US government buildings — in an effort to make them more humane, better optimized and increasingly greener. As you will see, these are just first steps in what can be accomplished when we consider how a building and its installations can push data onto the Internet. With more work on how we can aggregate and make sense of such real-time information, we can make our buildings not only smarter for the environment, but also healthier and happier places where occupants can thrive.

Image Credit: © jurvetson | Flickr