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A PR IL 2017 | 41 Electrical & Communication Systems PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY ARCONAS N E E D S A N D WA N T S Standard electrical features are changing as are the habits of the population. Working on a project at Camosun College, PR Bridge Systems took out network cables, because more students use WiFi today, and replaced them with data spots. Grannary points to the newfound importance of charging locations in waiting areas. "Waiting areas in malls, airports and the like are often crowded with groups of people huddled around a single electrical outlet, as they try to recharge their phones," he notes. "Manufacturers are supplying electrical outlets with dedicated USB outlets to address this problem and power is becoming integrated into furniture." Electric vehicle charging stations will likely be the next big demand, which may cause a challenge in existing multi-family residential buildings that were not designed with enough excess capacity for this need. Grannary is hopeful that this issue can be solved with some creative thinking, however, "this may be resolved with different charging schedules for occupants, similar to watering schedules in a neighbourhood during a drought; though if this is the case, it will also be a ques- tion of who pays for the power as running feeds from individually metered suites is impractical in large buildings," says Grannary. Electrical engineering's greatest hurdle may be the mixed-use development. "It's challenging to effectively and economically design electrical distribution systems for large and complex projects like these," says Nemetz. And with the combination of shopping centres with residential high-rise buildings, engineers will be facing this problem more often. But there are creative solutions that Nemetz and his peers utilize to make a vari- ety of spaces functional and efficient. In offices, Nemetz points to the effectiveness of prefab floor and wall systems that come complete with electrical wiring systems. "For offices, these provide a plug and play solution versus using conventional stud wall construction rough-in," says Nemetz. And the bonus is that these systems are hyper-effective for future space alterations. For commercial shell spaces, electrical engineers are providing electrical distri- bution nodes within concentrated areas for servicing tenants. "This enables us to provide tenants the service they require rather than installing multiple services in the base building, which may not meet the tenant's needs," he explains. N E T W O R K A N D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S But there are obviously electrical needs today beyond lighting and outlets. "All build- ing communication systems are transitioning from isolated centralized systems to integrated IT services that live on the IT network," says Currie. " This trend improves the flexibility of buildings and expands integration and control opportunities." While most older analog and even digital non-IP-based systems are becom- ing obsolete, Internet Protocol (IP) based systems are still growing in popularity explains Levis Veilleux, business development specialist for healthcare technologies and security for Houle Corporate. One prime example? In the world of video surveil- lance, almost all new cameras are IP-based. "IP-based systems can now communi- cate on standard local area networks, wide area networks and even the internet," says Veilleux. And it's only going to continue to evolve. "Exponential growth of sheer quantity of IP devices will redefine the fabric of communication infrastructure," adds Houle's technology manager, Gabriel Ana. "While services designed for human consumption are pushing the limits of multimedia channeling, most devices require much larger geographical coverage and very low bandwidth. We will soon live in a multi-layered communication environment – at least one for 'humans' and another for 'things.'" "By having IP-based systems now, owners and end users will be able to take advantage of the next obvious step: cloud-hosted solutions, without the need of replacing their current systems." While there are downsides to the cloud and as Veilleux warns, "great care and attention must be made to cyber security and hack- ing," ultimately, the benefits of cloud-based technologies for building operations can't be ignored: there's no need to maintain servers, and systems will always be kept up-to-date. With advancements like these, the future looks bright indeed. A Place Power Station, next-generation public seating system delivering comfort and practicality with integrated power and USB at every seat. 9:22 AM June 2017 ANNUAL INDUSTRY FEATURE: Roofing/Cladding Materials Book your ad space now: Dan Chapman 604.473.0316 Alexander Sugden 604.473.0358

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