EVALUATING THE METHOD OF CLASSIFYING INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Abstract

Intelligent Buildings are widely spoken of in the 1980s with a few branches in design and development, namely office automation, building automation, highend telecommunication functions and the responsiveness of the building to changes. In recent years, a number of classification methods have evolved but yet there is no consensus as to which is the more universally adapted method of classifying Intelligent Buildings. In view of the diversity in the definition of IB and also to avoid false claims of IB, there is a need to have a universally accepted definition and classification system of IB based more on the performance of a building rather than the technical specifications of it. In this dissertation, efforts are made to classify the parameters into different categories so that inferences can be made from the results obtained. Also, performance specifications are developed from the parameters according to the six mandates of TBP. In conclusion, results from the study had shown that IB is not only about building automation. The performance based classification method is deemed to be a more suitable method of classification method. Also, performance specifications for visual mandate of TBP had been developed.