Smart building technology
Smart Building Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work, published by the RIBA in 2024, defines smart building technologies as: ‘Hardware and software used in smart building systems to gather, transmit, analyse, display, or control data and/or other systems. Examples: Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML), Building Automation, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Augmented Reality (AR), Building Operating System (BOS).’
It states: ‘A smart building technology architecture is a diagram which explains the relationships between the elements of a smart building which describes key systems such as sensor networks, hubs and controllers.’
See also: Megatrends: Smart Building Technology.
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