Automation doesn't just make life easier for its users, although at first glance it really does. But by the time a user returns home and asks Alexa to play his favorite radio, there are usually months of dedicated work by builders and architects.
We recently hosted the architect Mirko Pavlović, who started the new project "Smart Building", in our offices, and we asked him to share with us his previous experiences related to projects in which the main role is played by automation.
Why do architects like to automate residential and commercial spaces?
When building a large residential or combined building (office space + apartments), we often have the option to change individual apartments or shops at the request of the buyer of that space during the construction itself in relation to the original plan.
Somehow we’re already used to it. This option gives customers a lot of freedom when it comes to creating their "dream home", and it can be crucial when someone decides to buy a space.
A smart building, as a project, is not necessarily easier than, for example, a project that does not support automation.
Still, it’s a real pleasure to watch all these cubes come together day by day until, at the end of the project, we have a functional smart building where you can change everything on a click.
Then the customers are especially satisfied, but also the builders. In essence, the successful project "Smart Building", without any false modesty, is our biggest reward and, in a way, the reason why we are dealing with this very business.
Architects love "Smart Building" projects because of the wide range of automation that includes easily customizable systems.
If the investor recognizes all the benefits and advantages of this system, he will invest a little more at the very beginning of the construction of the facility in order to achieve great energy savings in the future.
What benefits do you present to clients when it comes to smart building automation?
The biggest benefit that a smart building can provide, on the one hand, is the self-tuning of all appliances that affect electricity consumption. Then self-adjustment of heating, air conditioning, heat pump, use of solar energy ... For example, tenants whose apartments face the sunny side have lower heating bills during the winter, while during the summer blinds and air conditioning can provide some optimum energy consumption in order for these tenants to have a comfortable temperature in the apartment. That sunny side has many advantages in winter, but in summer it can be problematic if the automation project itself is not well done or does not exist.
The biggest benefit can easily be that we can sit down with each customer separately and ask him what exactly he wants (from the options offered by the Smart home system) in his apartment. Of course, this means that we will explain to everyone individually what automation is and what it will all look like when it is done. Customers like to hear that we will work on their savings in any way - both money and time. There is no satisfaction for us if the tenants are not satisfied, and that almost never happens in projects where automation is included. But even if it happens, the situation is easily resolved.
How do automation projects fit into modern architecture?
Honestly, I think that modern architecture has lately been really raised to a higher, positive level by automation itself. Today we have so many great, useful and practical options that I can freely say that everyone enjoys such projects. There is no project that, so far, I have not been able to bring some maximum practicality by automating the space. And that is a really big thing for architects - to make something beautiful but also practical, useful, usable ... Today we no longer have a situation to build a modern, smart building without automation is an important part of the project and I have to admit that very happy. It makes our job easier and makes life easier for our customers. We all want everyone to be happy and content in the end, right?
