Building automation as a modern trend
Smart solutions have become the norm in both residential and commercial real estate. Moreover, the introduction of such technologies allows not only to create competitive advantages, but also to optimize the cost of building operation.
Smart home systems market: state in Russia and in the world
The market for smart home systems continues to grow both in Russia and around the world. At least one smart device is used by about 308 million households. The global market for online services, automation, integration services, and the production and sale of smart home equipment grew by 32% in 2021 vs 2020. In 2023, experts predict its growth by 17.7%. According to DISCOVERY Research Group, the market revenue in 2021 amounted to $104.4 billion, where Russia owns $1.2 billion. About 7% of Russian households used smart home technologies in 2021.
In 2023, a landmark event took place on the Russian market of smart home systems. Rosstandart, Mintsifra, Minpromtorg and Minstroy approved a standardization program in the field of smart homes, designed to develop digital technologies and implement them in residential buildings and commercial buildings. The strategy is valid until 2030 and works in seven promising areas.
A truly smart building
A modern building becomes "smart" even at the design stage. The use of BIM technologies makes it possible to create a single digital model of the future object, which will contain its parameters, including data on ventilation and air conditioning systems. This is useful for designers: for example, if there is a need to adjust the project (including due to comments from the state expertise), then it is enough to change the required parameters, the rest of the values will change automatically.
In addition, BIM technologies are also useful for the future operation of the building. The resulting "digital twin" will greatly simplify the maintenance of the building: all data will be transferred to a special automated system. Firstly, Its advantages are in the ability to control and monitor the state of building engineering systems. Secondly, the management company will be able to get a history of all operations with the engineering infrastructure: when maintenance was performed, when repairs were performed. Thirdly, such a system will reduce utility costs by about 10%, power consumption by 5%, and at the same time optimize the staff by at least 10% without losing the quality of work.
Why automation of climate systems is needed
Automation of climate systems is relevant for various facilities - from apartment buildings to large industrial complexes. Its main task is to provide standard indicators for air temperature (+20-24 degrees Celsius), humidity (40-60%), air mass velocity (1 m/sec). If we are talking about an office and shopping center, even a small one (with a total area of 3-5 thousand square meters), then it is extremely difficult to maintain such indicators in all premises exclusively in manual mode. At some facilities, there are additional inputs that complicate the task: for example, if we are talking about industrial enterprises, then this can be the removal of significant amounts of dust or dirty air.
A modern automated climate control system in a building consists of several elements: sensors, execution devices and a control panel. The task of the sensors is to collect the main parameters (temperature, air humidity, air velocity) and transfer them to the central control panel. Execution devices are needed to change the performance of climate systems: increase or decrease the volume of air intake, reduce or increase the temperature. The control console is the "brain" of the automated system, it processes and stores all the incoming information from the sensors. It is worth noting that many of these systems are a kind of large "constructor" and can be equipped with various modules depending on the request and budget of the client.
Issues
Of course, the sanctions also affected the segment of automated climate control systems. Approximately half of the market until February 2022 was occupied by products from European, American, Japanese and South Korean manufacturers. At the moment, the supply of these products is practically impossible due to restrictions, or it will cost significantly more due to complex logistics.
Another no less significant problem is the supply of spare parts and materials. Any automated system will sooner or later require maintenance or repair. Undoubtedly, you can find alternatives, including those produced in China. However, not all details have similar analogues.
It is impossible not to mention the issues related to the software. The copyright holders of a number of applications are European and American companies, which in the current conditions imposes restrictions on the use of this software.
Growth points
At the same time, the departure of European, American, Japanese and South Korean companies from the market has opened up broad prospects for new players. This applies primarily to the supply of control systems, both for residential buildings and for commercial real estate (shopping centers, offices, multifunctional complexes, hotels), as well as for social facilities. There is a number of opportunities for collaboration - from launching local production at free capacities in the Russian Federation to combining the efforts of engineers to develop new models that fully meet the needs of customers.
AIRVent is a navigator on the Russian market of ventilation systems
One of the ways to promote the brand to new markets and find new partners is to participate in industry exhibitions. Such events allow us to achieve several important business goals. Of course, the key one is finding new customers and strengthening existing partnerships. For example, 52 companies took part in the AIRVent exhibition in 2023, and the number of visitors exceeded 5,000 unique guests. Interestingly, 86% of exhibitors found new partners and clients at the exhibition.
