Technical Report Draft 1 - Introduction + Problem + Purpose statement

Technical Report - Internet of Things (IoT) in Green Buildings

1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to develop a response to the request for proposals on developing solutions for engineering problems.

1.1 Background Information
In this thriving revolution we live in, there is a rising need to enhance building performance. Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the growing trends in this green industry. With artificial intelligence incorporated in the building, energy consumption will be reduced, building efficiency will be improved, leading to an increase in productivity. The growing reliance on these mechanical cooling systems on buildings can “consume up to 40 to 50 percent of the total energy,” “contributing to urban heat island effect” (Muruganathan, 2020). The heat island effect is best defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (n.d.) explains it as a phenomenon in temperature difference between a developed and a rural region, despite being relatively near in location. The agency goes on to explain how this is due to “structures such as buildings, roads, and other infrastructures absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies” (Manessa, 2019).  While air-conditioners cool and dehumidify the air in an enclosed environment to make the space comfortable and workable, the external environment experiences the short end of the stick with more carbon gases emitted - worsening the root issue of global warming.

A factor that leads to the heat island effect is the excessive consumption of energy would be complacency of humans. An article was written by Eco-Business, a worldwide media platform advocating sustainable development, (2018) shed light on energy consumption in Singapore’s building on average and how 40 to 50 percent of its energy is a result of air-conditioning. Many users fail to recognize that air-conditioners do require a large amount of electricity to operate. For example, during periods of heavy rainfall or cooler weather, temperatures are still set at the same temperature. In a survey, Hill (2018) stated that 68 percent of the respondents in Singapore indicated that they often encountered excessive cooling of public spaces such as offices, shopping malls, and cinemas. Through this statement, it is evident that more than half of the respondents agree that there is excessive cooling in these spaces. Furthermore, air-conditioners are often left on at the same temperature or even lower when few are in the designated space.

Based on a site visit to primary and secondary schools, it is observed that staff rooms air-conditioners are often running at full throughout the day. For instance, the air-conditioners at Raffles Girls’ Primary School (RGPS) are operated from Monday to Friday, 6:00a.m. to 6:30p.m. This means air-conditioners are left operating even when there is lesser staff in the office.
The settings of air-conditioners in buildings should be dependent on the outside temperature and humidity, and users should only use what they need, yet meeting the thermal comfort of individuals. It is observed that air-conditioners in primary and secondary schools are either in an ‘on’ or ‘off’ mode and are not ‘smart’ enough to adjust based on human needs.
Installing a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) would aid in meeting thermal comfort while minimizing the excessive usage of energy consumption in air-conditioners. PLC is an industrial computer control system that continuously monitors the state of input devices and makes decisions based upon a custom program to control the state of output devices. This means that users can adjust the air-conditioner through a computer or a phone according to the needs of the people in the workplace. Ideally, office buildings that have implemented a PLC could allow users to adjust the air-conditioners in workspaces remotely without physically being present. Users are able to clock in their timetables as well as their preferred temperatures into the PLC. The algorithm will set the temperature based on the user’s thermal comfort and timings they are present in the office. This will in turn conserve energy with convenience.

1.2 Problem Statement
Air-conditioners in offices buildings, such as those at RGPS, are not “smart” enough to adjust in terms of thermal comfort, leading to unnecessary wastage of electricity when air-conditioners are not utilized well. The implementation of a PLC in the air-conditioning system of office buildings of secondary schools enables users to adjust the temperature through a computer or phone application according to their needs.
 
1.3 Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report acts as a proposal for Ministry of Education (MOE), specifically the Infrastructure and Facility Services Division (IFSD), to consider implementing PLC in the office building of secondary schools. This can potentially reduce energy consumption by up to 20%. To see the viability of the proposal, IFSD could do a trial run of the PLC in the office building of RGPS.