How people counting technology is transforming Smart Building systems
Here we look at the different components that make up a smart building system and how people counting sensors play a key role.
From HVAC to lighting to security, today’s buildings contain a host of powered systems which work around the clock to keep our indoor spaces temperate, well-lit and comfortable. However, this comes at a cost: in the US, commercial buildings represent 36% of all electricity use, and their share of energy consumption is predicted to increase even further compared to residential buildings, industry and transportation. Smart building systems enabled by people counting technology hold the answer.
What is a smart building system?
A smart building system makes use of networked sensor data to automatically manage and optimize its power-hungry subsystems. In a fully-fledged smart building system, these usually unrelated subsystems are interconnected, enabling centralized decision-making and communication between them.
Making buildings “smarter” in this way produces numerous benefits. A smart building system enables facility operators to anticipate and respond to maintenance, comfort and energy performance issues automatically. At the same time, smart building technology can dramatically reduce both the carbon footprint and operational costs in commercial buildings.
With the number of connected devices in commercial buildings increasing rapidly, smart building systems are on the rise. The global smart building market has grown rapidly since 2015, and this is expected to continue with a compound annual growth rate of 15% over the next five years.
The role of people counting in Smart Building systems
With a global people counting system market projected to reach USD 1.4 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 9.4% from 2021 to 2026, people counting sensors are playing a core role in the development of smart building systems. The count of people entering and exiting a space to determine room occupancy enables systems such as HVAC to adjust the lighting and window shading throughout the building:
- Ventilation can be provided to busy areas and disabled in unused spaces
- Heating can automatically adapt to suit working schedules
- Lighting can be automatically turned off in empty spaces
By tailoring building subsystems to real room occupancy data, smart building systems can produce huge reductions in energy usage: research suggests that demand-controlled ventilation could reduce energy consumption by over 50% using accurate information about room occupancy.
Terabee sensors for smart building systems
Terabee’s people counting systems are fast becoming one of the most accurate ways to determine room occupancy, making it an ideal choice for smart building system implementations. Using infrared Time-of-Flight (ToF) imaging to build up a 3D image of a scene without capturing any personally identifying images, Terabee’s people counting solutions are intrinsically secure, providing accurate people counting without the associated GDPR concerns of conventional imaging systems.
Terabee offers a range of multiple hardware choices, from conventional to large doors or passageways. Offering accuracy of 98% or higher, the People Counting L-XL device is capable of filtering out static objects and counting multiple people passing in both directions as they enter or leave a space. You can also combine up to five devices for people counting in wide open spaces. People Counting M is optimized for narrow doorways and corridors, counting one person at a time while achieving 95% accuracy or better.
Ethernet and WiFi capabilities ensure easy connection via a local web interface, enabling rapid configuration and set up from any web-enabled device. Once installed, Terabee people counters can be easily integrated into existing platforms via API, making them the ideal choice for integration into smart building systems. People counting data is securely transferred via HTTP or MQTT and can be integrated into virtually any kind of platform for use.
If you are interested in optimizing your premises and reducing energy usage through smart building principles, Terabee is here to help. Get in touch with a member of the team today to find out more about Terabee’s sensing solutions for smart building systems.
