Machine2Enterprise

Cisco, Enterprise Integration, & Senate S1434

Cisco seems to be getting into the building business.  They have some new initiative called Cisco Connected Real Estate.  I assume its a strategy to sell more network hardware.  I saw a recent article in Government Computing News titled GSA paves way for IT-based buildings.

The article describes how leading government agencies are converging IT systems with Facilities systems, leading to a major reduction in energy reduction.  Trent Blair from the State of Missouri is quoted saying “Putting this kind of system in place costs us 60 cents to $1.20 per square foot,” Blair said. “It reduces energy costs by 10 to 20 percent and maintenance costs from 10 to 60 percent. And it does that without a major change in the building infrastructure.”   Blair goes on to talk about the millions in cost they are going to eliminate.

These folks in Missouri seem to have their act together.  I have never seen any government agency take such a bold and smart step forward.  Those close to the interoperability conversation have known for years that IT can drive major energy savings.  Missouri seems to get it.   I wonder how to get others to get it?

There is a senate Bill floating through congress pushing for EPSC/ESCO efforts on all government buildings.  Titled S1434, it requires all government entities implement energy savings efforts with a payback of 15 years or less.  At $4-5/sq foot for traditional building upgrades, it is hard to believe that the government has enough money to do all those modifications using traditional techniques of new equipment, windows, lights, etc.  As many of us know, those steps often don't realize their projected target savings.  In contrast, the State of Missouri seems to have an approach that that can be quickly implemented and yields a big savings without changing a chiller or a window.

So, which do you think will win out, the $0.60/sq ft Missouri solution or the $5/sq foot traditional solution.  Missouri seems to be about energy reduction.  S1434 seems to be about jobs.

Either way, its nice to see Cisco in the game.

Building 2.0

Automated buildings has an article on something called Building 2.0.  From what the article describes it seems some real thought is finally going into the next step of intelligent buildings.

The whole concept of integration has become confused by protocols and standards.  I was at a conference about integration and it seemed the majority of the audience was more worried about ziggbee vs. wired sensors, nothing about energy savings.  It would be ridiculous for me to order a computer from dell and ask them what kind of capacitor they had in the power supply, but for some reason in the world of buildings we want to fight over some aspect of the technology rather than focus on providing better answers for customers.

The Building 2.0 movement seems more about objectives.  It includes a change in terminology:

Building 1.0	Building 2.0
BacNet	WebServices
Data	Information
HMI	Fusion
Facility	Enterprise
First Cost	Life Cycle Cost
Integration	Interoperability
Smart Buildings	Smart People

Perhaps there is a conceptual overlap with all things 2.0 oriented (Web 2.0 etc).  The Building 2.0 story feels more aspirational, while still being practical.  Nothing is locked in.  To me, integration is less about protocols (protocols being a necessary detail) and more about integrating Enterprise applications in with devices in a manner that reduces cost of energy, maintenance, operations ,etc.