Hikvision digital twins optimise green buildings

  • October 16, 2023
  • Steve Rogerson

Chinese firm Hikvision is working with partners to optimise green-building operations using digital twins.

Hikvision has created digital twin technology to align with the growing demand for intelligent and sustainable construction.

Green buildings have revolutionised the construction industry by incorporating intelligent design and environmentally friendly materials. They not only reduce resource and energy consumption but also waste, contributing to a sustainable future.

Furthermore, green buildings go beyond environmental impact by creating favourable living and working spaces that enhance occupant health and wellbeing, drive occupancy rates, and foster increased productivity and profitability.

Recognising the benefits brought by green building design principles and the adherence to national or international eco-friendly standards, real-estate developers worldwide are embracing this approach for residential and commercial projects.

Hikvision’s digital twin technology enables the creation of a digital and visual replica of a building, facilitating real-time monitoring of critical performance indicators such as energy efficiency, climate control and security. Additionally, it empowers swift and efficient interventions in the event of incidents or technology outages.

To empower the digital twin, Hikvision has brought in products from multiple portfolios and is collaborating with partners in a range of sectors, from sensor and automation software providers, to alarm system and elevator control companies.

Based on these collaborations, Hikvision has integrated a diverse range of AIoT technologies that help support greener building operations. These include video security, multi-dimensional perception systems and intelligent automation, transforming building management into intelligent platforms. This convergence encompasses multiple subsystems, including lighting, energy management, environmental monitoring and HVAC.

Data from these integrated AIoT systems are fed into 3D building information modelling (BIM) software, which allows the entire building to be visualised as a digital twin. This can be used to monitor building KPIs, including environmental quality, water and electricity efficiency, atmospheric conditions, personnel access, and parking details. This means building operators can understand the building’s status at all times, identify any incidents or problems, and react faster to fix them.

Integration of AIoT applications with the virtual platform enables efficient data analysis, proactive risk management, visualised emergency responses, post-action evaluations and better-informed decision-making. These advancements improve building management, helping increase efficiency, environmental performance and resource use.

With the digital twins, building operators can quickly spot energy consumption trends and abnormal use of water, electricity, lighting, air conditioning and gas. For example, users can use augmented reality (AR) cameras to see where lights have been left on in empty rooms and turn them off to save energy.

Operators can view heat maps in the digital twin to understand peak times and occupancy rates for key areas of the site or building, including parking lots, meeting rooms or waiting rooms. With AIoT devices observing the flow of people and vehicles, lighting and HVAC systems can be turned off in areas that are not being used to save energy.

Multi-dimensional data from the digital twin, including temperature, humidity and air quality, improve occupants’ awareness of their environment. Air monitoring sensors detect overall air quality, smoking, vaping, carbon monoxide and other hazardous gases. Automatic alarms for water leaks, smoking and waste overflow can enable quick, effective responses that improve user experiences and reduce health risks.

Hikvision technology is integrated with third-party fire alarm systems, providing visual alerts in the event of a fire risk and supporting faster, more effective safety responses. Other features also help protect building users, including automatic door opening, highlighting evacuation paths, and real-time two-way audio broadcasts to inform users and help them exit the building as quickly as possible.

Hikvision, with partners specialising in access control, elevator control, and time and attendance systems, helps implement a paperless approach for building management. This means processes such as visitor exit and entrance, elevator management, and employee attendance can be managed with no need for paper forms or records.

Hikvision’s platform integrates with the building management system (BMS), enabling operational staff to manage the building remotely in a centralised way. Digital signage, air conditioning, and LED lighting can be controlled remotely, for example, reducing workloads, improving efficiency and saving energy.

Based on open technology and partner collaboration, Hikvision (www.hikvision.com) is helping build ecological, energy-saving, waste-reducing and healthy buildings that comply with green building certification programmes such as Leed. In one prominent example, it helped Asian Games 2023 optimise energy efficiency at three venues in Hangzhou, China.