2021 should be an exciting year in building automation in South Florida, as advances in computer technology and the continuing effects of the Internet of Things (IoT) shape industry trends. The demand for building automation in South Florida is expected to increase sharply in 2021, as more local building owners recognize the growing need to protect tenants and premises with security and access control systems. Increased interconnectivity, predictive maintenance, big data, and the use of cloud-based analytic services for buildings will be among the dominant South Florida building automation trends in 2021. These trends will combine to produce buildings that can “learn” occupants’ behavior to deliver a degree of responsiveness that far surpasses current standards.

Building Automation Trends in South Florida

Expectations have been running high that the IoT (the interconnection of embedded computing devices within the structure of the Internet), will lead to a level of building automation far beyond current standards, but that goal will continue to be elusive throughout 2021. The top technology consortiums are expected to continue to push for their own systems to become the new standard of communication among devices, which will prevent the adoption of a standard system this year. The trend for increased interconnectivity will continue to grow, however, as the industry moves towards the ideal of complete interoperability between all building automation devices.

Building Automation Trends in 2021

Over the past years, the capabilities of sensors to extract data about building operations have been making a large leap forward. As we begin 2021, these sensors can now extract vastly more information about building environments and human responses to environmental conditions than ever before. This increased sensitivity, combined with the fact that more and more of the sensors, physical devices, and controllers involved in building operations have microprocessors that allow them to ‘think’ and process on a higher level, is leading to intelligent building systems that are truly worthy of the name. With the continuation of current intelligent building trends in 2021, your office building may soon be able to automatically adjust the lights and temperature to your particular preferences as you work in different rooms.

All the increased sensitivity of building automation sensors and systems has led to the huge amounts of information commonly referred to as big data. Rendering this information into usable form requires more processing power than typical building systems have access to, which has led to the development of cloud-based analytic services. In the coming year, cloud-based analytic services will continue to evolve and increase their ability to integrate and parse ever larger amounts of data. As building automation systems combine with these cloud-based services and their combined computing and analyzing capabilities continue to grow, fascinating new possibilities will arise.

Big Data & Cloud-Based Services

In 2021, look for big data and the use of cloud-based analytic services to vastly improve the productivity and performance of building automation systems. Cloud-based services may soon be able to integrate and control large portfolios of building facilities from a single central interface that can be accessed from across town or across the world. As the capabilities of building automation systems continue to grow, they may progress far beyond the monitoring and control of the electrical, mechanical, and security systems of facilities. If the current building automation trends continue, instead of taking corrective action to perform needed repairs and maintenance once problems arise, building automation systems may have the ability to analyze data and identify potential problems before they occur. Leveraging this insight will allow building systems to make the move from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance.

As the industry leader in energy management and building automation solutions in South Florida since 1987, Advanced Control Corporation has continually been at the forefront of the latest building automation trends. We can install a custom, web-based intelligent building automation solution in your facility that incorporates the latest technology to ensure the smooth operation of your building for 2021 and beyond.