The Future of Smart Buildings: Innovations, Technologies Part 2

Are smart buildings the key to a more efficient and sustainable future? Join us as we explore this intriguing question with our guest, Jeff, who unveils the latest advancements in smart building technology. From the critical roles of Power over Ethernet (PoE), Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7, Zigbee, and LoRa, we discuss how these technologies are revolutionizing modern infrastructure. Learn how they streamline installation processes by eliminating the need for separate power lines and the impact of IoT on network demands and future low-voltage installations. We dive into compatibility and communication between devices while providing insights into current trends and future projections in the ICT industry.

In another captivating segment, we turn our focus to simplifying residential network installations amidst rising labor costs in the US and Canada. Discover innovative ways to streamline the installation of structured wiring and media panels without replacing essential human labor. We highlight how AI, from estimating materials to managing reports, is improving various aspects of smart building projects while reassuring that physical tasks like pulling cables remain irreplaceable. Reflecting on AI’s long-standing presence and the recent buzz around advancements like ChatGPT, we also touch on the importance of sustainable and green buildings and the role of building automation in enhancing efficiency and sustainability. Don’t miss this chance to gain valuable insights into the future of smart buildings and the ICT industry.

Chapters

• 0:00 Advances in Smart Building Technology
• 9:57 Smart Building Technologies and Innovations

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey Wiremonkeys, welcome to another episode of let's Talk Cabling. This episode we're talking smart buildings. Welcome to the show where we tackle the tough questions submitted by installers, estimators, project managers, ict personnel, even customers. We're connecting at the human level so that we can connect the world. If you're watching this on YouTube, would you mind hitting the subscribe button and the bell button to be notified when new content is being produced? If you're listening to us on one of the audio podcast platforms, would you mind giving us a five-star rating? Those two simple little steps help us take on the algorithm so we can educate, encourage and enrich the lives of people in the ICT industry.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Thursday night, 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. What are you doing? You know I do a live stream on TikTok, instagram, facebook, everywhere where you get to ask your favorite RCDD. You know that's me your favorite RCDD your questions on installation, certification, design, project management, estimation. I even do career path questions, but I can hear you now. But, chuck, I'm driving my truck at 6 pm on Thursday. I can't get a crash. Relax, I record them and you can watch them when it's safe to do so and also if you enjoy this content. And, by the way, this content is free and will always remain free, but if you enjoy this content, you click on that QR code right there, you can buy me a cup of coffee. You can even send me a request to have a 15-minute conversation with me after hours, of course, to discuss anything ICT related. And if you're a corporate, we're also looking for corporate sponsorship as well. So if your corporate values are educate, encourage and enrich, look me up, let's have a conversation.

Speaker 1: 1:56

So last week we talked building automation, building management 101. This week we're getting into a little bit deeper subject. So welcome back, jeff, let's go in the Building Automation 102. You ready? Yeah, let's do this, all righty. So last week we talked about some stuff that installers and project managers need to know. We talked about training, stuff like that. Can you discuss some of the common technologies and maybe some of the protocols that are used in smart building locations, smart building jobs?

Speaker 3: 2:26

Yeah, yeah for sure. So what I've seen in my career when it comes to smart building technologies is, you know, PoE is kind of the hardwired connection points coming in first, and who wouldn't like that? Right? Like, if you don't have to, yeah, electricians, you don't have to yeah, electricians yeah yeah, yeah, electricians.

Speaker 3: 2:47

But you know you, I could put a wireless access point or I could put a device somewhere down the line and I don't need to run power, a separate power to it. Perfect, right, uh, so I really do think poe is a pretty, pretty cool technology, uh, one that I would, I would leverage as much as I possibly could. Um, then you go into the wireless side and you, you see, you know, wi-fi 6, wi-fi 7, uh, zigbee, you know, in ocean, um, uh, laura is another one for, for, for devices that are, you know, low data rates and stuff like that. Um, so those are the kind of the technologies that I'm seeing Are those all standalone proprietary-type systems, or are they kind of like networks?

Speaker 1: 3:35

now, as long as they do TCP IP, my Mac will talk to my Windows machine.

Speaker 3: 3:43

So the Ethernet, for the most part, as long as you've got a tcp ip network, as long as the physical layer will take care of itself, as long as the computer knows how to do that right, um the poe, you gotta make sure you've got a switch and a receiver. Um, so if you've got a good switch and good receiver, it'll, it'll deal, it'll handle all that for you. Uh, and then the wireless, the wireless side of things. You obviously want the two devices to to know those protocols. Um, you know it's. I've got a, I've got a smart outlet that I went and bought from the store, you know, connected it to my, my wireless network home network system system, and that's how I turned on and off my Christmas lights this year. So, you know, as long as the devices there you go, as long as the devices can communicate, based off the platform that they were designed for, they should be good.

Speaker 1: 4:38

So you're into this every day. You're into trends every day with building automation stuff. What are some current trends you see in smart building technology and how are they shaping the future of the low-voltage installations?

Speaker 3: 4:52

Yeah, great question. You know, something I've been hearing for the last 10-plus years is Internet of Things. Internet of Things, iot, iot. And you know, I just read some facts In 2023, the start of 2023, there were 30 billion IoT connected devices on the network. By 2025, that number is supposed to jump up to something like 52 billion, and I think what it equates out to being is like eight devices per person of the world.

Speaker 1: 5:24

And I think what it equates out to being is like eight devices per person of the world. And you don't think about that, right? I mean, I didn't think about it until a test manufacturer sent me a network sniffer to play with and I hooked up to my network and I'm thinking okay, all right, so I've got my work computer, my personal computer, my wife's personal computer, my wife's work computer. That's it, four devices. Yeah, no, no.

Speaker 4: 5:50

You just held on up. You just held on up.

Speaker 1: 5:53

I'm like what are all this, all this stuff's on my network? I had no idea, no idea.

Speaker 3: 5:59

Yep, yep, and and and so, okay, so you know we talk about IOT. What's what's driving IoT? And, for me, I'm a big believer in three key things. You got wicked fast microprocessors, because you got, you know, those microprocessors are going to be what's doing the math and the algorithms to help figure everything out that's going on. You've got a really robust telecommunications network, because you're sending data from point to point all over the place. So that's point number two. Point number three is cybersecurity, or security component, right. So as things become more more, move more data around, things become more sophisticated. Things become more more, move more data around, things become more sophisticated. Things become more connected. You just want to make sure that the information that you've got is safe and secure and that you know it's not getting into the wrong hands. So I thoroughly believe those are the three things that are going to be driving not just smart buildings you know commercial smart buildings but but residential smart buildings too. And if we can master those three things, we're good to go.

Speaker 3: 7:12

And it's funny because I attended OFC in 2020. Oh, sorry, 2022. And the theme of that year's show was Industry 4.0, which is effectively the same type of thing as IoT, right? How do we change the next industrial age to help us out? And it was connected devices. It was connected devices, right and again wicked fast microprocessors, a robust telecommunications network and you know, safety, data security and data safety. What was the name of that event? Ofc, which is the Optical Fiber Conference for fiber optic technology.

Speaker 1: 7:58

Okay, yeah, that's cool. I didn't even know about that one. See, you just taught me something. I've been in the industry 40 years. I ain't never heard of that. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to have to go look at it. And now a message from our sponsor.

Speaker 2: 8:11

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Speaker 1: 8:55

So, as our industry moves forward, what kind of advances do you foresee in smart building technology? And, on top of that, how are they going to affect the installers and the project managers and the designers?

Speaker 3: 9:07

Yeah. So I think what we're going to see in terms of advances are going to be the you know how. How can we get cable in in into the building quicker and more efficiently? And the reason why I say that is I think about, you know, what are the problems that we face on a daily basis and what are we trying to achieve, and the things that we're trying to, the problems that we're trying to solve, is going to drive what we focus our time and effort on into solving right. And I basically, I think you know, at the end of the day, we want to do our job quickly and efficiently and we want to get home to spend the time with our loved ones and do the things we want to do right. So how do we do that? We find ways to make our job easier, and maybe that is on finding cable that is smaller, easier to handle, um, you know, finding new ways to do the install with maybe some some duct work.

Speaker 3: 10:15

Uh, you know, one of the things that old castle Infrastructure is doing is looking at, you know, our media panel technology and we're. You know media panels are perfect solutions for residential networks that bring all the structured wiring to one central location. How can we improve the installation of those and how do we get wiring into those units quicker and easier? Uh, so the again the technicians aren't frustrated, but the technicians are saying, man, I love this product because now I'm going to go home and have a beer, right, and and and I think those, that's those are the types of things we're going to see, you, you know, finding, you know we can go deeper into this and talk about the labor rate, you know, and the impact that that's had on the US and Canada.

Speaker 1: 11:06

Let's do it, let's talk about it?

Speaker 3: 11:08

Yeah Well, you know, in the last five years alone, you know labor rates jumping right, and what are business owners thinking about? What? Our project, what are? What are people who are doing the design thinking about? They're like man, this is costing me a lot of money to do this, how can I reduce my labor rate? And and so they're looking at different ways to do that, and I hope that they're looking at the technologies to make their install text jobs easier. Right, because, because we're always going to need people. People are the backbone of our entire economy, right? Yeah, the the. It doesn't matter what technology you throw out there. The people are what matter, and let's make their jobs easier, let's. Let's find ways to do better, and that's my philosophy.

Speaker 1: 12:01

So let me ask you this. So, talking about reducing labor costs, I don't normally bring this subject up because when I do, it usually causes fear and panic and people running running, grab their pitchforks and stuff AI. Yeah, how's AI going to impact smart buildings?

Speaker 3: 12:19

Yeah, great question. I know, I know AI is impacting everything right now, right. Like you know, I said, what are the trends? I thoroughly believe IOT and industry 4.0 are the trends. I think there's other trends that can be layered into that, and AI is one of them. Blockchain is another one, right, but AI specifically? I personally think AI is there to help make people's jobs easier. People are finding new and unique ways to do things leveraging AI, and that's great. But at some point, the buck's going to stop somewhere and it's still going to need someone with some experience, and ai is not going to pull cable to right, to, to, to to get the job done right. Um, and you know what? If? If some technology comes out and it, you know, improves or changes the way a job is getting done, that's okay too. Let's just make sure we're training and educating our, our guys so that they know how to fix that technology if it breaks, or or do something else. That is bringing value to the equation.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Yeah, I can see. I can see AI, you know, helping an estimator create a bill of materials, write terms conditions fast. I can see AI helping a project manager run and interpret reports fast. I can see AI helping a technician out in the field manage their test results on the cloud and setting up stuff like that. But in the end, like like you said, it's not going to climb a ladder and pull a cable right but.

Speaker 3: 14:01

But even if we dive into that more, right, let's really think about ai. It's been around for a while, right, like spotify's algorithm. How long? When did spotify algorithm? When did Spotify get released? 2016, 2017, we'll say? There's an AI algorithm associated with creating your unique experience. Right, making sure let's Talk. Cabling is at the top of your playlist.

Speaker 1: 14:33

It should be. It should be the top of everybody's playlist.

Speaker 3: 14:36

Yeah, right, right, but it goes into everything. Ai's been around forever, but the reason why it's getting so much attention right now is because you know chat, gbt, and, and, and, and it's just getting some attention right now, you know, and people are finding new and new, new, new and unique ways to leverage that technology. And that's what people do and they're going to keep doing it. And you know what Blockchain was the big thing two years ago. Everyone was talking blockchain and blockchain. You know, and that's great. Some really cool solutions have come out with that technology. And that's what you know. I'll just say, if we aren't pushing the limits of what our capabilities are, we'd still be, you know, sitting in a cave with fire and sticks, right?

Speaker 1: 15:25

Fire's good though.

Speaker 2: 15:26

Yeah, I got 100%.

Speaker 1: 15:27

And I'm actually a big. I told you I'm an early adopter, yeah, big user of of AI. I do use, I use chat GPT 4.0. I paid for it, cause.

Speaker 1: 15:38

I know so much Cause I and I've said this before you know when I, when I upload the podcast to you know AI writes the show description for it. Now, I could write the show description too, but it does it in seconds where it would take me like five, seven, ten minutes. I could be doing something else. So, yeah, there's definitely a spot for AI. There truly is Another thing that's been around for oh, I don't know, 10 years, 15 years this whole sustainable thing. You know green buildings, green buildings certified, and all this stuff. So what role does the uh, does the building efficiency, you know the building automation stuff play in that?

Speaker 3: 16:15

yeah, oh so. So this is a topic that's uh dear to my heart because I think, I think it's important, right? Um, you know, first off, I don't know if you knew, and this stat is a little old but 40% of the energy consumed in the US is from commercial and residential buildings. So think about that 40% of the energy consumed in the US is residential and from commercial and residential buildings buildings. So if we can do better and drive, you know, make buildings more energy efficient, we're going to be in the you know, in the plus. And that's where the technology is coming in.

Speaker 3: 17:02

And we continue to. We continue to work towards that. Every year. We're doing a little bit better. We're doing a little bit better, and that's finding ways to use the, the controllers, the sensors, the equipment and the cabling to do better. And the cool thing is, next year the bar is going to go up a little bit higher, right? So we're going to do better this year. Next, we're going to do a little bit better again, and a little bit better again. And, who knows, next time I'm on the show, maybe I'm going to say you know, according to the US Energy Administration, buildings now only consume 20% of the US, you know energy.

Speaker 1: 17:46

It's the power of compounding, right? So if a business tries to be 1% better, 1% is not a big increase, it's easily attainable. But if you're 1% better this year and then you try to be 1% better next year, well, it compounds quickly. Next thing you know, you're top of the mountain. You're the next Amazon.

Speaker 2: 18:23

You're the next. You know whatever. Hosted by Bayer, this podcast dives deep into everything security-related, from insightful articles and thought-provoking philosophies to the latest trending topics in the industry. Every episode of Security Today is packed with information that's crucial for staying informed and ahead in the field. Join Bear as he explores complex topics with ease, making even the most intricate security concepts accessible to everyone. Follow the journey on Instagram and Twitter, at UncleBear underscore and at Security Today podcast. Now let's dive back into our episode.

Speaker 1: 19:06

Can you share a success story or maybe even a case study of some type of an innovative low-voltage solution where you implemented smart building technologies?

Speaker 3: 19:14

Yeah, I can't go into a specific site or a specific project, but what I want to do is I want to highlight the fact that we are in smart buildings all the time. Think of the airport that you just traveled in and out of, Think of the airport that you just traveled in and out of, Think of the hospital you may have just visited or the school or university you just attended. There are technologies in those buildings that, when they were built or when they were retrofitted, they were new and unique technologies and they are helping to create an ecosystem that allows sensors to communicate with controllers over a physical network and a wireless network, and they're trying to create an experience that balances occupant comfort with energy usage, and I think there's success stories everywhere because of that. You know, I've got it's pretty neat. You know I've got the schools and the community centers and other buildings in my neighborhood that have solutions that I've helped develop in them, and you walk in, you walk there and you go hey, that's a thermostat that you know.

Speaker 3: 20:33

I got to ask you. I got to ask you this.

Speaker 1: 20:36

I got to ask you this. I think I already know the answer to this. You know me as a as a as a low voltage cable and wire monkey. A couple of years back I took the kids, my grandkids, to vacation with us, to go visit family. And so we're driving through downtown DC and cause they wanted to see the manual stuff, and we're just driving through to get to Maryland and I said, hey, Poppy did the wire in that building, so you do the same thing.

Speaker 3: 21:02

Yes, Well, I got I. I got friends. They messaged me and they go Jeff, I got a media panel in my new condo Picture picture picture. Like, yeah, you do Good stuff, I got people sending me pictures.

Speaker 1: 21:16

They say, hey, chuck, look at this. Somebody put this jack on and it's got holes in it, because they know that I'm going to take that stuff and I'm going to use it somewhere for something. Yeah, absolutely Parting thoughts. Where would you like to see? What is the building automation?

Speaker 3: 21:36

industry not doing that you think they should do? That's a good question. I think they're all heading in the right direction From my understanding. I think they're all heading in the right direction, right. Let's continue to think about what we can do to reduce energy of a building while balancing occupant comfort. Let's find new and unique ways to get cabling installed and leveraging the capabilities of a building so that they get it done quicker and more efficient. And I think that's the 1% gain day after day, right? Yeah, that's the 1% gain day after day. The 1% gain day after day. Right, that's the 1% gain day after day. And in the end, you know, if we can, if we can do just a little bit better each and every day, that's, that's a good day.

Speaker 1: 22:23

That's a good day, Jeff. Fantastic series. I appreciate you coming on and spreading some knowledge about something that I didn't know much about. I guarantee some of my listeners really appreciate you coming on.

Speaker 3: 22:30

Thanks, chuck, for having me. It's been a pleasure and you know we'll do it again sometime.

Speaker 4: 22:34

Absolutely. That's it for this episode of today's podcast. We hope you were able to learn something. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future content. Also, leave a rating so we can help even more people learn about telecommunications. Until next time, be safe.