Story Highlights

AIoT means a lot for building resilience 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly deployed in smart buildings. What about Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)? In an AIoT-enabled smart building, energy data collected by sensors are further analysed using AI and machine learning methods for creating predictive models of energy consumption. This way, up to 20 per cent of electricity can be saved, explains Arthur Lam, CEO of Negawatt. 

“To give you a simple example. In Hong Kong, air conditioners in public premises are often criticised for being too cold, while the temperate that visitor feels comfortable could vary from person to person. It could give a headache to the property management companies to cater the needs of every single visitor as well as adjust the temperature from time to time. But now, with objective data, the building’s air-conditioning can be maintained to a more comfortable temperature while achieving energy saving goals.”

Smart air conditioning against COVID-19 

During the pandemic, the team found that collecting data on the air, temperature, humidity, flow of people, and ventilation conditions in buildings could be used to save energy consumption and assess the risk of virus transmission. This observation enabled them to formulate an energy-saving solution that also mitigates airborne infection risk in a built environment. That’s the reason why it was selected for the accelerator programme at Central Market. 

Lam says Central Market is the best place to test run the system. As a new landmark, it will attract a significant footfall. When the system detects deviations from standard patterns such as insufficient fresh air, it will immediately alert the property manager to take remedial actions. 

CCG Accel Powered by HKSTP facilitates team collaboration and data sharing 

Participating in the accelerator programme has many benefits. “In the past, the relationship between the vendor and the customer had a single direction. But the collaboration with the Chinachem Group team allows us to formulate the best possible solution for the best results. Most importantly, we had the opportunity to meet other participating teams and integrate our solution with theirs to form a more holistic smart building solution. 

For example, by sharing crowd distribution data with patrol robots, the robots can focus on disinfecting spots where the risk of virus transmission is higher. This makes the cleaning process more efficient. Such dynamic team collaboration would not have been made possible without the accelerator programme.”