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The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2019) | Viewed by 50101

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming the design and operation of smart buildings and smart homes, which are already the biggest users of IoT in smart cities. The global IoT markets in buildings is rapidly growing and is projected to reach $75.5 billion by 2021. The adoption of IoT in buildings bring new opportunities for promoting the performance of buildings and the productivity and comfort of occupants. IoT devices are easily embedded in building services systems. IoT-enabled building management systems (BMS) can closely monitor inside and outside conditions, occupant presence and comfort, equipment operation and energy use in real time. IoT sensors share data between themselves and communicate information with the BMS, which can lead to the efficient operation of buildings. In particular, the advances both in wireless technologies and in storage and computing power make the collection, storage and analysis of big data from IoT sensors easy. The big data from smart buildings has sparked innovations in the BMS systems by applying machine learning approaches to the control and operation of building services systems. However, the full potential of IoT adoptions in the building industry is not yet fully realized. Moreover, there are inherent vulnerabilities in IoT devices, which result in cyber security and privacy challenges.

Thus, the main aim of this Special Issue is to provide a platform for a wide range professions to understand and discuss the major challenges and new possibilities in the adoption of IoT in smart residential and commercial buildings. This Special Issue is open to original research articles, as well as critical reviews.

Prof. Geun Young Yun
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Smart buildings and smart homes
  • Internet of Things
  • Smart thermostat
  • IoT enabled building management system
  • IoT security in smart buildings
  • Big data in smart buildings
  • Machine learning and smart buildings
  • Deep learning approaches in smart buildings
  • Energy performance of IoT enabled smart buildings
  • Wearable devices in buildings
  • Building security and IoT
  • Comfort and productivity in smart buildings

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1923 KiB  
Article
Effects of Changing Air Temperature at Different Sleep Stages on the Subjective Evaluation of Sleep Quality
by Jack Ngarambe, Geun Young Yun, Kisup Lee and Yeona Hwang
Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1417; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051417 - 7 Mar 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6164
Abstract
The thermal environment in bedrooms is important for high-quality sleep. Studies confirm that, even during sleep, the human body remains sensitive to the ambient air temperature. This study assesses how changing indoor air temperatures at different sleep stages affects the subjective evaluation of [...] Read more.
The thermal environment in bedrooms is important for high-quality sleep. Studies confirm that, even during sleep, the human body remains sensitive to the ambient air temperature. This study assesses how changing indoor air temperatures at different sleep stages affects the subjective evaluation of sleep quality. We compare reports from two identical sleeping environments with different thermal control systems: an IoT-based control system that adjusts the indoor air temperature according to the sleep stage and a fixed control system that maintains a constant temperature throughout the night. Ten subjects participated in the experiments and completed a questionnaire about their sleep quality. Our results show that, overall, the subjects experienced better sleep in the room with the IoT-based control system than in the one with a fixed thermal control. The mean differences in sleep satisfaction levels between the two sleeping environments were generally statistically significant in favor of the room with the IoT-based thermal control. Our results thus illustrate the suitability of using the IoT to control the air conditioning in bedrooms to provide improved sleep quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings)
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11 pages, 7362 KiB  
Article
Design of a Connected Security Lighting System for Pedestrian Safety in Smart Cities
by Younjoo Cho, Hwajin Jeong, Anseop Choi and Minki Sung
Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1308; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051308 - 2 Mar 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6728
Abstract
Historical and ongoing pedestrian anxiety about night crimes in alleyways is an important issue in our society. Therefore, recommended illuminance levels in pedestrian alleys have been established and security lighting meeting such illuminance levels has been installed to ensure proper brightness. However, pedestrians [...] Read more.
Historical and ongoing pedestrian anxiety about night crimes in alleyways is an important issue in our society. Therefore, recommended illuminance levels in pedestrian alleys have been established and security lighting meeting such illuminance levels has been installed to ensure proper brightness. However, pedestrians may still feel that such areas are too dark and want to ensure their safety through sufficient brightness, especially late at night. In this study, a smart security lighting system, which was namely the Connected Security Lighting System (CSLS), has been designed to reduce the pedestrians’ fear of crime in smart cities. The CSLS increases the brightness of security lighting by turning on additional lights to relax pedestrians’ psychological fear of crime because of the increased sense of surveillance. Such a change may also deter potential offenders. The CSLS employs various sensors and information communication technologies that are widely used in interior and outdoor smart lighting applications. It also uses a beacon device and smartphone application to effectively detect pedestrians while infrared sensors in the CSLS are activated to detect any pedestrians approaching from the opposite direction after the beacon device is initiated. The method for controlling the CSLS is described and a prototype system is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of this security lighting system in smart cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings)
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14 pages, 4770 KiB  
Article
Elis: An Open Platform for Mobile Energy Efficiency Services in Buildings
by Paul Davidsson, Ulrik Eklund and Carl Magnus Olsson
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 858; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030858 - 7 Feb 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3169
Abstract
The recent years have witnessed an enormous growth of mobile services for energy management in buildings. However, these solutions are often proprietary, non-interoperable, and handle only a limited function, such as lighting, ventilation, or heating. To address these issues, we have developed an [...] Read more.
The recent years have witnessed an enormous growth of mobile services for energy management in buildings. However, these solutions are often proprietary, non-interoperable, and handle only a limited function, such as lighting, ventilation, or heating. To address these issues, we have developed an open platform that is an integrated energy management solution for buildings. It includes an ecosystem of mobile services and open APIs as well as protocols for the development of new services and products. Moreover, it has an adapter layer that enables the platform to interoperate with any building management system (BMS) or individual device. Thus, the platform makes it possible for third-party developers to produce mobile energy efficiency applications that will work independently of which BMS and devices are used in the building. To validate the platform, a number of services have been implemented and evaluated in existing buildings. This has been done in cooperation with energy companies and property owners, together with the residents and other users of the buildings. The platform, which we call Elis, has been made available as open source software under an MIT license. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings)
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23 pages, 4380 KiB  
Article
Deployment of IoT Edge and Fog Computing Technologies to Develop Smart Building Services
by Francisco-Javier Ferrández-Pastor, Higinio Mora, Antonio Jimeno-Morenilla and Bruno Volckaert
Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 3832; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10113832 - 23 Oct 2018
Cited by 92 | Viewed by 10840
Abstract
Advances in embedded systems, based on System-on-a-Chip (SoC) architectures, have enabled the development of many commercial devices that are powerful enough to run operating systems and complex algorithms. These devices integrate a set of different sensors with connectivity, computing capacities and cost reduction. [...] Read more.
Advances in embedded systems, based on System-on-a-Chip (SoC) architectures, have enabled the development of many commercial devices that are powerful enough to run operating systems and complex algorithms. These devices integrate a set of different sensors with connectivity, computing capacities and cost reduction. In this context, the Internet of Things (IoT) potential increases and introduces other development possibilities: “Things” can now increase computation near the source of the data; consequently, different IoT services can be deployed on local systems. This paradigm is known as “edge computing” and it integrates IoT technologies and cloud computing systems. Edge computing reduces the communications’ bandwidth needed between sensors and the central data centre. Management of sensors, actuators, embedded devices and other resources that may not be continuously connected to a network (such as smartphones) are required for this method. This trend is very attractive for smart building designs, where different subsystems (energy, climate control, security, comfort, user services, maintenance, and operating costs) must be integrated to develop intelligent facilities. In this work, a method to design smart services based on the edge computing paradigm is analysed and proposed. This novel approach overcomes some drawbacks of existing designs related to interoperability and scalability of services. An experimental architecture based on embedded devices is described. Energy management, security system, climate control and information services are the subsystems on which new smart facilities are implemented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings)
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13 pages, 1782 KiB  
Article
The Role of Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities: Technology Roadmap-oriented Approaches
by Eunil Park, Angel P. Del Pobil and Sang Jib Kwon
Sustainability 2018, 10(5), 1388; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051388 - 1 May 2018
Cited by 138 | Viewed by 16742
Abstract
Since the concept of a smart city was introduced, IoT (Internet of Things) has beenconsidered the key infrastructure in a smart city. However, there are currently no detailed explanations of the technical contributions of IoT in terms of the management, development, and improvements [...] Read more.
Since the concept of a smart city was introduced, IoT (Internet of Things) has beenconsidered the key infrastructure in a smart city. However, there are currently no detailed explanations of the technical contributions of IoT in terms of the management, development, and improvements of smart cities. Therefore, the current study describes the importance of IoT technologies on the technology roadmap (TRM) of a smart city. Moreover, the survey with about 200 experts was conducted to investigate both the importance and essentiality of detail components of IoT technologies for a smart city. Based on the survey results, the focal points and essential elements for the successful developments of a smart city are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings)
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11 pages, 2937 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost Implementation of a Named Entity Recognition System for Voice-Activated Human-Appliance Interfaces in a Smart Home
by Geonwoo Park and Harksoo Kim
Sustainability 2018, 10(2), 488; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020488 - 12 Feb 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4914
Abstract
When we develop voice-activated human-appliance interface systems in smart homes, named entity recognition (NER) is an essential tool for extracting execution targets from natural language commands. Previous studies on NER systems generally include supervised machine-learning methods that require a substantial amount of human-annotated [...] Read more.
When we develop voice-activated human-appliance interface systems in smart homes, named entity recognition (NER) is an essential tool for extracting execution targets from natural language commands. Previous studies on NER systems generally include supervised machine-learning methods that require a substantial amount of human-annotated training corpus. In the smart home environment, categories of named entities should be defined according to voice-activated devices (e.g., food names for refrigerators and song titles for music players). The previous machine-learning methods make it difficult to change categories of named entities because a large amount of the training corpus should be newly constructed by hand. To address this problem, we present a semi-supervised NER system to minimize the time-consuming and labor-intensive task of constructing the training corpus. Our system uses distant supervision methods with two kinds of auto-labeling processes: auto-labeling based on heuristic rules for single-class named entity corpus generation and auto-labeling based on a pre-trained single-class NER model for multi-class named entity corpus generation. Then, our system improves NER accuracy by using a bagging-based active learning method. In our experiments that included a generic domain that featured 11 named entity classes and a context-specific domain about baseball that featured 21 named entity classes, our system demonstrated good performances in both domains, with F1-measures of 0.777 and 0.958, respectively. Since our system was built from a relatively small human-annotated training corpus, we believe it is a viable alternative to current NER systems in smart home environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Deployment of IoT in Smart Buildings)
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