21-23 Aug 2024
ICC, Sydney

Get with the Protocol

Jul 10, 2015

The need for the human race to reduce its insatiable appetite for energy has been well chronicled in recent time. Peak power on earth has been estimated at 20TW, or 20 million mega-watts. Seeing as how it is simply inconceivable for fossil fuel to be used to generate this much electricity, much of this capacity must come from renewable energy.

The cost to build all the new power plants we will need globally has been estimated to be in the order of $200 trillion dollars. It is in the interests of all of us if we can work harder to reduce the amount of energy we use in order to reduce the investment needed for its generation.

While we’re on the subject of energy did you know that on average it takes 3KWh of energy to provide one cubic metre of drinkable water? Two-thirds of this energy usage is from storing and transporting the water from its source, through treatment facilities and on to us as consumers. This is why resources such as water must also be considered in the context of making buildings more efficient.

In Australia the need for high-performing smart buildings is well understood, especially for large-scale commercial development. However, there needs to be a continuing emphasis on making all buildings more efficient, especially our existing stock. This will only be achieved through a continued focus on market forces and/or legislation, as has been the case with NABERS and Green Star ratings.

But what is going to be the costs for this? How are we going to physically achieve it?

When we look at large buildings often there are many different systems working independently and only communicating at a high level. For medium to small buildings, this approach is simply not feasible. What is required to be efficient is a fully converged single system based on an open protocol.

Why an open protocol? We all know that competition delivers better results. Whether in sport, business or technology competition has delivered small, faster and better technologies. Using an open protocol allows both large-scale manufacturers offering a wide-ranging product portfolio to co-exist alongside smaller specialist solution providers. Working with an open protocol supported by an international standard and a rigorous certification procedure ensures that products and solutions are guaranteed to work together.

What does this all mean for the building owners and occupants? It ensures that the building can have a single integrated solution ultimately giving greater control, greater efficiency and lower ongoing maintenance costs.

Content provided by KNX Australia

For more information, visit knx.org.au

Discover the future of Smart Building Technology @ Integrate 2015

Did you know Integrate has a whole educational stream dedicated to Smart Building Technology? Supported by KNX, this stream will focus on Smart Building, Converged Buildings and what the future looks like as well as the best approach in retrofitting Australia’s buildings.. Tickets are available now – view the full program here.

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