Why This New Network is Needed for Smart Buildings

The advancements in smart building technology are exciting. Sensors and systems enable processes that deliver more efficient and pleasant working environments, reduce energy consumption and overall waste, and monitor systems for predictive maintenance. But to make this all possible, intelligent building systems need connectivity. Traditional enterprise local area networks (LANs) support connecting computers, phones and wireless access points to computing resources and the internet. But should smart building and IoT systems be added to the corporate LAN? Perhaps smart building devices need their own network? A solution emerges in the utility LAN (uLAN). What is Utility LAN (uLAN)?

A uLAN enables smart buildings to deliver useful services that make occupants more productive by converging building automation systems (BAS) and HVAC systems with smart LED lighting, surveillance camera networks, audio video and other systems. The uLAN can provide a variety of benefits to an enterprise when implementing smart building systems, from reduced installation and maintenance costs to improved productivity to actionable analytics. The uLAN will play an important role over the next few years as implementation of smart building infrastructure continues to grow.

Read more by checking out our article in Smart Building Magazine