Connected Buildings Feature Editorial

What does it mean to build a connected building? Does it mean everyone within the building can get on the same power grid or network? In simple terms, the answer is yes. When it comes to Panduit, however, the answer is so much more promising.

As Panduit's Darryl Benson shared in the company's recent UPI Symposium, the benefits of a connected building also include connecting all devices and the buildings so that information on all devices can be shared throughout the network. It also means that these devices share more than just a switch or a server.  

Benson noted that a critical success factor for the connected buildings vision is organizational alignment. He noted that you must have security, sustainability, operational efficiency and an enhanced experience for all players involved. For Panduit, they needed to get all value players involved and they needed to live what they were preaching to customers - they needed a connected building.

To accomplish this, Panduit brought together key players within the organization to put together a team that could design the new headquarters - the ultimate in connected buildings. This new building would connect all devices, all information and all systems, right down to overall heating and cooling and manage everything from one physical location.

A key consideration in this process was the architecture as there are hundreds of devices and dozens of controllers that are managed within Panduit and everything is brought back to the IP network on a telecom platform. The only thing going up and down within the walls is fiber - which enables the company to do a lot with the data; they can hang a lot of things on the network, giving them great flexibility.

To accomplish their overall goal, the company needed an Information Technology Strategy, which included middleware and software; connected building data centers, telecommunications rooms, pathways and consolidation and endpoints. Bringing all of these things together in a single focus was key to building the necessary connected building to support the company's unified physical infrastructure.

Benson highlighted that with the completed connected headquarters, the company has a number of key examples within the organization itself that demonstrates how all departments worked together to drive efficiency and optimal performance.

The resulting building is the outcome of their unified vision and the perfect model with which to invite clients in for a tour and demonstration of the new way of building a truly connected building.