Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

What are some features of a 'smart campus?'

  • By Julie Brown
  • 04/01/19

As educational institutions strive to provide a safe, comfortable, and productive learning environment, the idea of creating a “smart campus” has become more top-of-mind for school leaders, and systems integration can help achieve this goal.

By connecting once disparate systems, data can be collected and aggregated from different building applications into a centralized location. This streamlined approach allows institutions to analyze the data more easily, which can ultimately help administrators make actionable, data-based decisions to improve operational efficiencies and become more intelligent. While the systems integration process may sound complicated, accomplishing connectivity is more attainable than many may think as existing building solutions, such as lighting, can act as the building blocks for a smarter campus.

Lighting is a core component of any building, but on campus it plays a major role in the productivity and comfort of students and faculty. When integrated with other building systems, like sensors and heating and cooling systems, lighting can work as the foundation to a more intelligent and sustainable campus. By connecting with sensors, indoor lighting systems can receive insights on when classrooms are in use to turn on and modify lighting levels accordingly and outdoor lighting structures around the perimeter in parking lots can be alerted to automatically adjust to the available daylight.

Heating and cooling systems can also communicate with the lighting network and sensors to control the indoor temperature based on the weather. In both cases, systems integration can not only help a campus become smarter and more operationally sound, but the unified solutions can also uncover great energy savings.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management April/May 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Julie Brown is an institutional market leader for Johnson Controls, Building Solutions North America (www.johnsoncontrols.com).

Featured

  • Phoenix School District Breaks Ground on New Prep Academy

    The Creighton Elementary School District near Phoenix, Ariz., recently broke ground on a campus replacement for Biltmore Preparatory Academy, according to a news release. The new space will allow the school to expand its enrollment by 50 percent for K–8 students and accommodate modern, collaborative learning styles.

  • S4L Announces 2026 Education Design Showcase Winners

    Spaces4Learning is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 Education Design Showcase! Now in its 27th year, the annual awards program honors innovative solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction across K–12 and higher education.

  • Arizona District Breaks Ground on Community Training, Learning Center

    The Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) in Tolleson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Training & Learning Center (TLC) for both district professionals and the community at large, according to a news release. The 90,000-square-foot facility has an estimated completion date of spring 2027.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.