DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 13th Jul, 2021) Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) announced today the middle East’s first proof of concept project for its integrated Healthy Buildings solutions portfolio at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) in Dubai.
These advanced technologies will support the university’s strategic goal of creating a healthier and safer environment for occupants through the deployment of integrated air quality, safety and security solutions along with advanced analytics that monitors the building environment and building the behaviour of occupants.
The solution installed at HBMSU enhances indoor air quality and also integrates security systems that analyse facility usage with thermal screening, social distancing and mask detection analytics.
"As the first accredited smart university in the UAE, we are committed to providing our learners, faculty and administrative staff with an environment that conforms to the highest standards of health, security and safety on our campus and support business continuity,'' said Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of the HBMSU.
"In the current environment, there is a greater need for building operators and managers to reassure occupants. Our Healthy Buildings Solutions at the HBMSU will enable multi-level assurances for students and staff as they return," said George Bou Mitri, President, Honeywell Building Technologies Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
The deployment contributed to the International WELL Being Institute (IWBI) accrediting the HBMSU with its WELL Health Safety Rating. It is the first university in the UAE and the Middle East to achieve this milestone.
Honeywell’s Healthy Buildings Solutions focus on two main elements: facilitating safety and security and improving indoor air quality.
The key technologies deployed at HBMSU include: - Thermal cameras that detect elevated body temperature in building entrances, and deep learning video analytics with real-time alarms for non-compliance with masks and social distancing policies. The latter can be used by building owners and operators to adjust interior infrastructure and minimise close-contact hotspots.
- Indoor Air Quality sensors that measure temperature, relative humidity and contaminant concentration, with real-time reporting to the Building Management System for adjustment of filtration, ventilation and other air quality parameters.
- Electronic Air Cleaner (EAC) with UV-C disinfection technologies, applied directly on the existing building HVAC systems. This helps to improve air quality in two ways. EACs trap particles while UV lighting helps inactivate attached pathogens.
Central to these building systems, the Healthy Buildings Dashboard analytics provide real-time alerts to building owners and operators for dynamic decision-making of non-compliance issues or dealing with infection-related incidents.
The technologies were applied to the HBMSU’s existing building management system which uses a third-party system, demonstrating the platform’s open architecture and hardware agnostic capabilities.
In early 2020 at the university, the company launched Honeywell Forge Energy Optimisation, a cloud-based, closed-loop, machine learning solution that autonomously and continuously studies a building’s energy consumption patterns and automatically adjusts to optimal setpoints for the building without compromising occupant comfort levels. During the pilot deployment, it demonstrated an initial 10 percent in energy savings, along with a reduction in complaints related to overcooling.
