Data | Living lab Hoare Lea has created a digital version of its London office using BIM and IoT data Making data count Hoare Leas Living Lab is exploring how data can be used to optimise buildingsfor both energy use and the comfort of occupants. Alex Smith takesaglimpse into a smarter future B uilding managers are in danger of being overwhelmed by data. Information from the BMS and increasingly sophisticated HVAC systems are creating a huge amount of dark data, which is collected but never sees the light of day, according to Hoare Lea partner Andrew Bullmore. The problem is the sources of the different sets of data are often unconnected and also not presented in a way that can be easily understood by the building user, says Bullmore. Building innovation has been driven by technology companies. What should be driving organisations is how new technology can support user-centric design and operation. Bullmore believes data can transform building performance if it is used in a meaningful way. It should allow you to optimise the operation of the building and to inform design better, he says. Its not just about minimising the construction cost of a hospital, for example its about how you can make that hospital so it gets people better. The Living Lab Optimising data for the benefit of building users is central to the concept of Hoare Leas Living Lab project. Its goal is to use the firms offices to explore, demonstrate and integrate emerging technologies and techniques, and learn how these will help to design future-proofed and humancentric buildings. The Living Lab is about the interaction between buildings and people, and how they influence each other, says Bullmore. To explore this, Hoare Lea has aggregated data from live building systems in its London office, and layered it with occupancy and environmental data collected by Awair sensors. The metrics recorded are chemicals (TVOCs), fine dust (PM2.5), temperature, humidity and CO2. The sensors also have the capability to measure ambient light and ambient noise, which will be enabled at a later stage. These are presented on a user-friendly dashboard that can be accessed by employees via an app. The Living Labs starting point was to make the data commonly accessible. Working together with their controls supplier they gained access to the BMS data and created a central platform on which all other data could be aggregated. It was not Hoare Leas app 42 December 2018 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Dec18 pp42-43 Living Lab.indd 42 23/11/2018 16:08