White Paper
Since the early twentieth century when the father of modern air conditioning Willis Carrier invented air washers to cool air and control humidity in printing press warehouses, building engineers have struggled to keep occupants comfortable. Facility managers have relied on building control systems to optimize this conditioned environment. Over time these systems have progressed from analog to pneumatic to direct digital control giving managers better and better control. There have also been other advancements supporting building managers: open protocols, relational databases, larger hard drives, faster computers and better staff training. The result is that today’s modern office building is analogous to a living and breathing organism with connected systems monitoring its environment. But can the modern building learn from its environment?