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Project: Internet enabled technologies in buildings

Covering a range  of building types including new housing, social housing, temporary site offices and a retail outlet.
The project covers a range of types of buildings including new housing, social housing, temporary site offices and a retail outlet. An important aspect of the project is trialling the technology in a variety of building types to ensure that it can cater for a wide range of needs.

Internet-enabled monitoring and control of the built environment is a project, part-funded by the Technology Strategy Board (formerly DTI) under the Technology Programme, involving a consortium of several industrial partners. Information captured in the research phase of the project will be used for the measurement of building performance. Energy performance will be measured by the use of sensors looking at electrical appliance consumption, lighting consumption, indoor air quality, space temperatures, humidity and the presence of pollutants. Key to the project will be the use of the internet to transfer the information for remote analysis.

The technology can be used to enhance security, making people feel safer in their own homes. It will also support the healthcare of the elderly and the infirm with low temperatures determining the potential for hypothermia.

The sensors, when correctly positioned, can detect potential fire risks by sensing smoke and could in principle also sense overheating of electrical supply lines. There is the potential for energy bills to be managed by using the internet-enabled technology to monitor space and water heating, making people more aware of how their energy is being used.

Overall the consortium consists of eight partners covering a broad spectrum of the industry. Persimmon is the lead partner, the others being Laing O Rourke, Adam International, University of Strathclyde, Mitchells and Butlers, Dundee City Council, Ayrshire Housing and BRE.

As part of the overall project the technology is being deployed at five sites:

1. Persimmon’s MMC houses in Irlam, near Manchester
2. Laing O Rourke’s construction village at the Gyle, Edinburgh
3. Dundee City Council’s Sun City house, Dundee
4. Mitchells & Butler’s Toby Carvery in Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire
5. Ayrshire Housing’s new development at Kirkmichael, Ayrshire

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