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

  • sapling sprouting from a cracked stone

    Lessons in Resilience: Disaster Recovery in Our Schools

    Facility managers play a pivotal role in how well a school weathers and recovers from a crisis. Whether it's a hurricane, a flood, a tornado, or a man-made event, preparation determines resilience.

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • Niles West High School Natatorium Renovation

    Natatoriums are highly specialized spaces, and luminaires in this setting face several unique challenges. Perhaps the most significant is corrosion, which is exacerbated by high indoor humidity, condensation, and pool chemicals, often resulting in material degradation in luminaires not certified to perform in corrosive environments.

Digital Edition