The Agnelli Foundation in Italy has had its historic headquarters in Turin, pictured, turned into a digitally responsive building via a indoor positioning system from Siemens. The building occupants can communicate with the building systems via a smartphone app.
The Giovanni Agnelli Foundation was founded in 1966 to mark the centenary of the birth of the founder of Fiat. It runs as a non-profit research and cultural institute. The Foundation’s redesigned headquarters opened in mid-June 2017; featuring 3,000 square metres of co-working space, it shows that the Internet of
Things (IoT) can be applied not only to new-builds, but also to existing facilities. Carlo Ratti Associati architects for the landmark site of the Agnelli Foundation looked at creating optimal working conditions in the building in real time through geo-localisation of people moving inside.
This means more efficient management of the building systems as well as greater comfort for people in terms of heating, cooling, shading, lighting, access and space availability.
Federico Golla, President and CEO of Siemens Italia said: “Intelligent devices generate huge amounts of data every day, every hour and every second. With the right digital tools it is possible to leverage the data and interact with the environment as never before.”
Hundreds of sensors monitor multiple types of building data, including the location of the occupants. Sensors also constantly check temperatures, CO2 concentration, and availability of meeting rooms. A three-axis indoor positioning system based on smartphones and custom tags has been installed to detect and communicate the presence of personnel and automatically activate the appropriate response of the building’s facilities. When an occupant leaves a given space, the room returns naturally to ‘standby mode’ and saves energy.
The indoor positioning system is integrated with Desigo CC, Siemens’ management platform that monitors climate, lighting, access control, CCTV and alarms, and can be used to book meeting rooms. The system also enables occupants to use an app for authorised users to access the building, interact with co-workers and personalise preferred environmental settings.
Image courtesy of Beppe Giardino.
Visit www.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies.
