ABSTRACT

In this book it is assumed that the intelligent building is based on a very different paradigm to that which is conventionally understood. The conventional paradigm relates to the use of more or less complex building management systems, to provide a building with active systems and controls that allows the motorized action of what might be called subordinate functions and appliances. These are useful and important aspects of the evolution of building services control and management. Typical systems are related to security and the automatic or remote activation of appliances. The Intelligent Skin Study, which is part of a broader Intelligent Building Programme, is related to its responsive performance, sometimes but not always in relation to the environmental performance of the whole building, and bears a much closer comparison with the biological idea of intelligence and response, such as is seen in the ‘natural intelligence’ of the human skin, and the science of artificial intelligence. This aspect of the work is more fully covered in Chapter 3.