Alexandria Engineering Journal (2018) 57, 2903–2910

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Intelligent building, definitions, factors and

evaluation criteria of selection
Osama Omar *

Faculty of Architecture, Design and Built Environment, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon

Received 21 June 2018; revised 14 July 2018; accepted 18 July 2018

Available online 27 November 2018

KEYWORDS Abstract Intelligent building design is the future of building industries. Most modern public and
Smart cities; residential buildings are planned with the objective of decreasing expenses by reducing energy con-
Sustainability; sumption. Enhancing energy preservation strategies and using sustainable design approaches are
Energy consumption; necessary factors in developing this field. However, many definitions of ’intelligent buildings’ are
Intelligent buildings vague and don’t mirror all the parameters. Because of the lack of practical context inclusive of
the factors that regard the design of such systems, a comprehensive framework containing the con-
voluted criteria is demanded as a decision-making tool. In this research, a multi-criteria framework
composed of sixty-eight sub factors on the core level is proposed as a comprehensive tool for the
selective categorization of intelligent buildings. On the secondary level, eight quality condition com-
ponents are considered as primary factors alongside the factors of energy and environment, space
flexibility, cost-effectiveness, client comfort, working efficiency, safety, culture, and technology. By
the end of this research, the final findings will endorse the usage of intelligent buildings from two
points of view: The first includes a multi-criteria model used to define all factors involved in the
design process, and the second proposes a conceptual model which aids in reducing the carbon diox-
ide emissions.
Ó 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Upon research, it is recognised that buildings documented an
astonishingly high of 41% of energy consumption in the Uni-
ted States [2]. However, in 2004, in EU, it is recognized that
building consumption was documented as 37% of final energy,
which on its own is larger than that documented for industrial
* Address: Beirut Arab University, Tareek Gdedah Dr. Omar Farokh
Street, P.O. Box: 11-5020, 11072809 Beirut, Lebanon.
E-mail address: o.omar@bau.edu.lb.
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University.
sectors (28%) and that of transport reaching (32%). Also, the
amount of energy usage in buildings of the United Kingdom
rises faintly higher than that of the European figure (39%)
[5]. Still, there remains effective and eye-catching chances to
lessen the energy use of buildings’ while being cost effective
and having noticeable returns than those of other sectors. Con-
sequently, these reductions aided in achieving the International
Energy Agency’s (IEA), which is summarized in reaching 77%
reduction of the carbon footprint on earth in comparison to
the baseline provided in 2050 and are considered to be essential
factors in reaching this goal. This meets the target of the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is to
reach stabilized CO2 levels. Furthermore, in an investigation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.07.004
1110-0168 Ó 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2904
conducted by World Business Council for Sustainable Devel-
opment (WBCSD) in 2009, it was demonstrated that the
energy consumed by buildings can be minimized radically,
which will lead to saving energy equivalent to the entire trans-
port sector today [7].
In order to help address climate change, grid electricity can
be depended on more since it originates from non-fossil
sources (such as solar and wind) in order to make a difference.
Also, there are numerous significant benefits to lessening
energy consumption as it helps to preserve limited resources
while also lessening the costs for both benefitting businesses
and consumers in a short amount of time. Furthermore, the
demand for non-carbon sources is probable to be minimized
for years to come. Therefore, in order to transfer into the
direction of a low carbon economy, it is fundamental to make
‘‘more intelligent” use of energy in buildings which will signif-
icantly affect the numbers on energy usage and cost savings.
This is why ‘Energy intelligent buildings’ are becoming the
next hype in modern day commercial building designs which
target enabling intelligent control of the building [7]. The
one factor that has clear and large effect on space heating,
cooling and ventilation demand, is the occupant presence
and his behaviour within buildings which are directly related
to energy consumption by daily usage of lighting and space
appliances as well as building controls [3]. As shown in many
cases, carelessness and ignorance may add one-third cost over
the costs of designing appropriate energy performance in
buildings, whereas an aware and wise behaviour can save the
amount. [8], see Fig. 1.
Upon tracking information recorded by the International
Energy Agency regarding the matters of energy consumption
and its various trends, the statistics collected strike a red light.
Throughout the last two decades starting from 1984 till about
2004, the primary energy consumption rate and the amount of
CO2 discharges has increased by 49% and 43% respectively,
Fig. 1 Unwise behavior regarding energy usage double the
amount of energy as the minimum that can be achieved (figure
from [8].
O. Omar
all with a respective average annual increase of 2% and
1.8% (Fig. 2) [5,2].
Countries, such as Lebanon, which have profuse natural
energy resources, like as oil and gas for instance, still have
energy issues. Yet in similar matters, according to the Interna-
tional Energy Agency statistics, Lebanon is not accountable
for the energy produced or its use.
However, some consequences may include the decrease of
proper wellbeing and comfort of users which will therefore
affect their productivity and satisfaction. This is why the effi-
cient management of energy supplies through organizing the
use of available resources, as well as using methods that opti-
mize energy consumption while retaining high level of living
standards is the core focus of numerous researches [5].
For developing countries, buildings remain to be the largest
energy consumers [4]. Henceforth, it is crucial to focus on
studying their energy consumption and the impact they have
on their surrounding environments during different stages of
their life cycles. For instance, in Lebanon, 38% of the overall
energy consumption is recorded in field of buildings as shown
in Fig. 3 [1].
The increasing demand for sustainable designs and green
architecture has directed the industry towards the development
of a fresh concept; Intelligent Buildings (IBs). This concept
basically entails a continuous process of corresponding any
environmental, social, and economic sustainability features
to building designs. By depending on this design, building
inhabitants and occupants will have more flexibility and com-
fort as well as maintaining the cost effectiveness of the building
Fig. 2 A graph plotting the world’s primary energy consump-
tion, CO2 emission, and the population growth in the time
bounded by 1984 and 2004.
Fig. 3 Lebanon energy consumption per sectors.
Intelligent building, definitions, factors 2905

energy features. Moreover, the user’s safety will be taken into
regard as well as achieving better and advanced environmental
performance standards [4].
A profound survey that integrates all the factors of people,
product, and performances is critical because sustainable
development combines them. The factor of People would
include owners, users, occupants, and inhabitants, while the
factor of Products would include equipment, materials, and
facilities. Last but not least, the factor of Processes would con-
tain maintenance, facilities management, as well as perfor-
mance evaluation without any disconcert to the relationships
between them [4].
However, an examination into the origins of IBs in litera-
ture reveals that there is not a commonly acknowledged defini-
tion for it. This is a result of the overall lack of agreement on
the selection factors as well as the criteria specific for the
assortment and evaluation of proper building control systems.
Seemingly, an inclusive definition that covers all parameters is
vital for the decision-making procedure because without an
accurate and common understanding, developing smart build-
ings that encompass the most efficient blend of social, environ-
mental, and economic principles seems far from reach [4].
world as the first intelligent building to be completed. Since
then, several definitions have been proposed for defining IBs
by several reliable sources. Unfortunately, the initial defini-
tions did not consider user requirements nor technological
aspects in the definition process. This changed as recent defini-
tions began to take into account occupant’s interactions with
the internal space as their surrounding environment. In 1983,
Cardin defined IB as ‘‘a building which is equipped with fully
automated building service control systems” (ASHRAE,
1989). However, this definition did not stand and was devel-
oped in 1988 by the Intelligent Building Institution in Wash-
ington as ‘‘one which integrates various systems to effectively
manage resources in a coordinated mode to maximize: techni-
cal performance, investment and operating cost savings, flexi-
bility” (ASHRAE, 1989). Also, on more recent terms, Seo
et al. said that ‘IBs are not intelligent on their own, but they
can supply the users with more intelligent options thus
enabling them to work competently’(ASHRAE, 1989). In
addition, it was also proposed that IBs can be a vital in lessen-
ing the initial capital outlay and at the same time enabling a
higher impending return on investment (ROI) (ASHRAE,
1989).

1.1. Definition of intelligent buildings

Conferring to the research conducted by Wigginton and Har-

ris, ‘there exists more than 30 separate definitions of the term
‘intelligence’ when it is relative to buildings’ [12]. Another
research done on Intelligent Building Automation in Construc-
tion [13] states the most common theoretical and practical def-
initions of the term ‘intelligent building’ such as ‘‘Intelligent
building is any building that provides a responsive, effective
and supportive environment within which the organization
can achieve its business objectives” [11]. Still, the IBI, which
is also known as the Intelligent Building Institute (IBI) of
the United States, as well as the UK-based European Intelli-
gent Building Group (EIBG), proposed that the most accepted
definitions of the term can be summarized as: ‘‘one which pro- Fig. 4 The percentage of reduced energy consumption (%). [2].)
vides a productive and cost-effective environment through
optimization of its four basic elements including structures,
systems, services and management and the interrelationships
between them” [12]. Another mentioned definition would be:
‘‘one that creates an environment which take full advantage
of the efficiency of the building’s occupants, while at the same
time enabling competent management of resources with the
least possible life-time costs of hardware and facilities” [12].
The former definition, belonging to the IBI, stresses the advan-
tages that the owners get and sheds light on their commonly
preferred indoor environment. On the other hand, the latter
definition stated by the EIBG focusses specifically on the ben-
efit of the users and the production of necessary and adequate
indoor environment for occupants. Nonetheless, both defini-
tions are devoted to put the benefit of the managers in the
spotlight as well as bringing the environmental and economic
effect of fashioning favoured indoor environment to center
stage [7].
The UTBS Corporation, which is also known as the United
Technology Building Systems Corporation of the USA, ini-
tially used the term ‘intelligent building’ back in 1981. In the
couple of years to come, their efforts paid off as the City Place Fig. 5 Intelligent Buildings Criteria Selection with Main Factors
Building in Hartford Connecticut, USA, became known to the (By Author).
2906 O. Omar

Table 1 Definitions of intelligent building.

Definitions Source
‘‘The notion of ‘intelligent design’, where human designers produce an architecture, which is itself
intelligent, rather than just an assembly of intelligent components. The idea presented by Walter Kroner is
about restoring the basic priorities of ‘bioclimatic design’ by working in alliance with environmental
engineers to achieve interior comfort through responsive climatic design”
‘‘The term ‘intelligent building’ originated in the early 1980s in the United States, where it was used to [9]
denote building with sophisticated telecommunications, building management and data networking services
that provided shared tenant services (STS) to their occupants. Definitions of the intelligent building during
this period therefore focused on major technological system such as building automation, communications
and office automation” (Andrew Harrison, Eric Loe, James Read. Intelligent Buildings in South East Asia,
1998)
‘‘An Intelligent Building is designed and constructed based on an appropriate selection of quality [10]
environment modules to meet the user’s requirements by mapping with the appropriate building facilities to
achieve long-term building value” [10]
‘‘Intelligent building is any building that provides a responsive, effective and supportive environment within DEGW and Technibank, The
which the organization can achieve its business objectives” [11] Intelligent Building in Europe
Conferring to the Intelligent Building Institute of the United States, an intelligent building can be defined as [12]
‘‘one which provides a productive and cost-effective environment through optimization of its four basic
elements including structures, systems, services and management and the interrelationships between them”
while the European Intelligent Building Group described it as ‘‘one that creates an environment which
maximizes the effectiveness of the building’s occupants, while at the same time enabling efficient
management of resources with minimum life-time costs of hardware and facilities” [12].
‘‘Intelligent Building is multidisciplinary effort to integrate and optimize the building structures, systems,
services and management in order to create a productive, cost effective and environmentally approved
environment for the building occupants”
‘‘Intelligent Building a building that integrates technology and process to create a facility that is safer, more [14]
comfortable and productive for its occupants, and more operationally efficient for its owners. Advanced
technology-combined with improved processes for design, construction and operation-provide a superior
indoor environment that improves occupant comfort and productivity while reducing energy consumption
and operations staffing” [14]
The Intelligent Building Institute defines an intelligent building as: ‘‘‘‘. . .. one that provides a productive and Abiodun Iwayemi, Wanggen
cost-effective environment through optimization of its four basic elements – structure, systems, services and Wan and Chi Zhou [15]. Energy
management – and the interrelationships between them. Intelligent buildings help building owners, property Management for Intelligent
managers and occupants realise their goals in the area of cost, energy management, comfort, convenience, Buildings
safety, long term flexibility and marketability” [15]
‘‘Intelligence in the built environment pertains to the vision of Ambient Intelligence and ubiquitous
computing. Computer scientists and engineers that are concerned with this vision aspire to create so-called
Intelligent Environment. These environments are able to proactively respond to the needs and activities of
people be means of adaptive systems, ubiquitous computing and user-friendly interfaces”

Table 2 Second level of intelligent building criteria.

Raised Floor Fire Fighting Daylighting Training
False Ceiling Electrical Services Indoor touring guidance Shared meeting and conference
services
Curtain wall Plumbing and drainage Public address Restaurants
HVAC Maintenance management PABX Entertainment areas
Roof and floor loading Property management Asset Office automation Building directory
Floor height and facilities auditing Parking and public Interior design
Transportation
Rise space Security control Voice mail After hour operation Emergency escape High speed
Fixture and furnishing Indoor air quality data communication
Vertical transportation Cleaning Energy saving and conservation Satellite conferencing
Building automation Artificial lighting Trend logging and analysis Internet gateway
Fire detection Structural monitoring Domestic hot water supply Gas supply
Intelligent building, definitions, factors
In other terms, some researchers define the intelligent build-
ing as a ‘‘multidisciplinary effort to integrate and optimize the
building structures, systems, services and management in order
to create a productive, cost effective and environmentally
approved environment for the building occupants”.
Therefore, it can be agreed that there is not one common
definition of IBs. Conversely, the goal of IB can be agreed
upon which is to lessen energy intake by relying on conserva-
tion methods. The percentage of reduced energy consumption
is shown in Fig. 4.
1.2. Factors and framework
The definition supported by the IBI focuses the owners’ bene-
fits and their how well the indoor environment meets their
Fig. 6 Intelligent Buildings Criteria Selection Fundamental Level & Secondary level (By Author).
2907
requests, whereas that of the EIBG concentrates on building
users’ benefits and how to create the requested indoor environ-
ment for dwellers. Nonetheless, either definition focuses on the
benefits of the managers upon creating the required indoor
environment as well as its impact on the environment and
economy. Therefore, it is safe to say that intelligent buildings
mainly consist of ten ‘Quality Environment Modules (QEM)’
which are as follows:
M1: environmental friendliness – health and energy
conservation;
M2: space utilization and flexibility;
M3: cost effectiveness – operation and maintenance with
emphasis on effectiveness;
M4: human comfort;
M5: working efficiency;
2908
M6: safety and security measures – fire, earthquake, disas-
ter and structural damages, etc.
M7: culture;
M8: image of high technology;
M9: construction process and structure
M10: health and sanitation.
While considering the modules mentioned above, IBs can
be defined as buildings that are ‘‘designed and established
based on a suitable selection of ‘Quality Environmental Mod-
ules’ that satisfy the user’s requests by mapping this module
Fig. 7 Merging Several Criteria from several point of view in one diagram (By Author).
O. Omar
with appropriate building facilities to attain lifelong building
values”. One type of IB can be formed upon selecting the
appropriate QEM like ‘smart house’ or ‘green building’ [7].
The ten modules mentioned above comprise the first level
which is also known as the fundamental level, of the definition.
In the second level, other requested facilities or key elements
can be added later upon demand which are listed in Table 2 [6].
Using this technique, each type of building will have
different design criteria assigned to it that transpire it to be
an IB. The buildings can vary in function between residential,
Intelligent building, definitions, factors
industrial, commercial (office or retail), transportation terminals,
educational, public services (libraries or community centres)
and those of religious purposes, etc. After, different modules
can be categorized to each type of building according to
priority (P1 the highest priority and P8 the lowest priority).
Table 2 shows some examples of the proper assignment of
modules to four different types of buildings [6].
According to K. Taghizadeh Azari, individual key modules
of the original set of eight were allocated to a number of vari-
ables discernible as ‘‘secondary” and ‘‘sub-factors” (Fig. 5). In
order to accomplish a wholly comprehensive set of key ele-
ments, a populace of 76-members were chosen from experts
that are significantly dynamic in the field of Building Manage-
ment Systems (BMSs). The evaluation criteria of IBs that
impact and direct the path of life of a building which are
derivative from the quality environment module are shown
in Fig. 6 [4].
In order to achieve the most fitting research methodology
for a successful experiential study, a number of five experts
in the fields of IBs and BMS were involved regarding the
importance of intelligence indicators. They were also asked
to propose any additional factors if necessary. Taking their
response into consideration, two parameters of ‘‘Fashion”
and ‘‘Repair and development costs” were added as the sub-
factors to the main factors of ‘‘Culture” and ‘‘Cost effective-
ness”, respectively [4].
The design team typically faces many challenges. One of the
main tasks includes choosing the optimal arrangements that
satisfy the concerns of developers while steadying these goals
and the aspirations of the users. The variations of these multi-
dimensional perspectives supplement the intricacies that have
been included in the processes of evaluation and selection of
the adequate control systems for intelligent buildings. Conse-
quently, there is an indispensable necessity that the selection
of evaluation tools to be acknowledged in order to facilitate
proper decision making. As a result, an all-inclusive list of
evaluation criteria is made in an attempt to aid the decision
makers in selecting the correct categories to reach the con-
sumer’s satisfaction [4].
2. New approach of intelligent buildings criteria selection
As mentioned previously, the collected data showed that the
title ‘Intelligent Building’ is still a vague in definition and in
concept. In many cases, it is used in ways that are not always
consistent as showed in Table 1. Table 1 displays some of dif-
ferent definitions and meanings that have been given to this
title. In fact, the reasons behind the lack of agreement regard-
ing the phrase ‘Intelligent Building ‘is that each definition
based on the expertise of the subjects using them. However,
it is agreeable that there remains one common ground between
all the definitions, which is the main target of intelligent build-
ings design: Reducing the energy consumption and reducing
the amount of CO2 which is produced from building sectors.
With this in mind, the new approaches towards intelligent
buildings criteria selection in the 21st century are showed in
Fig. 5.
Based on the Eight Quality Environmental Modules
(QEM) in 1999 by Architect/Albert T.P. So and professor
Wong, (Fig. 5) showed the fundamental level or main factors
of definition of Intelligent Buildings from an architectural
2909
point of view, which are Building Management System
(BMS), Building Automation System (BAS), Sensors, Smart
Materials, Intelligent Skin or Interactive Facades, and Passive
Design Techniques. This level of understanding and criteria
selection will support the main challenge and objective facing
the project team to reach the most efficient management of
energy supplies through rational use of present resources and
finding ways to optimize energy consumption while maintain-
ing high level of living standards.
On the secondary level of definition, most of the main fac-
tors were divided into two or more subdivisions to expand the
scope of architectural techniques to support the main objective
that is optimizing energy consumption through secondary
level, which is showed in Fig. 6. Interactive facades, Intelligent
skins, BAS, BMS, Environmental Sensor, Interaction Sensor,
Interactive Materials, Intensive Properties, Indoor Environ-
mental Control, Environmental Techniques, Solar Cells, Wind
Turbines, Geothermal and all the criteria mentioned before fall
in the secondary level of Intelligent Building Evaluation
Criteria.
The third level of evaluation criteria selection is found in
the Core Level, which contains 64 parameters. This level
ensures that the fundamental level and secondary level are
working coherently to reach the final target of intelligent build-
ing design which is decreasing energy consumption while pro-
ducing clean energy and reducing the CO2 emission showed in
Fig. 7. This paper seeks to evoke progress in the state-of-art
knowledge on what an Intelligent Building is, what it can do
such as giving its users the most efficient environment, while
utilizing and managing resources resourcefully and minimizing
the life cost of hardware and facilities.
3. Conclusion
This paper attempts to elucidate and broaden the scope of a
concept that is becoming popular nowadays—that of the Intel-
ligent Buildings. An in-depth analysis of the literature explains
that the definition of ‘Intelligent Buildings’ is multi-faceted.
Descriptions of Intelligent Buildings are now including User
Comfort, Safety, Security, Environmental techniques, and
energy consumption techniques. Many elements and dimen-
sions characterizing Intelligent Buildings emerge from the
examination of the existing literature. Yet, there has been sev-
eral attempts to embrace all indexes in one definition. How-
ever, the purpose of this paper was not meant to outline a
new framework for the assessment of intelligent building
because experts suggest that such an attempt should be person-
alized to multidisciplinary issues. Also, a universal fixed system
can be both challenging and problematic when it comes to
forming a definition with consideration of the variety of char-
acteristics of intelligent buildings around the world. Therefore,
it is safe to say that some definitions posed by specific institutes
lack universality.
In conclusion, it is clear that intelligent buildings have
become this century’s aspiration for the upcoming days of con-
struction and building industry. The paper shows the following
points:
1. The difficulty, however, of designing these buildings lies in
the diversity of the aspects that impact the decision making
process.
2910
2. Several present studies have succeeded in formulating a
complete and inclusive outline of factors that affect the
development of intelligent buildings.
3. This framework consists of seven main quality environment
modules from an architectural view whereas sixty-four key
elements were sought out to form the secondary and core
factors.
4. Upon analysis of the collected data, it was made clear that
three main targets exist regarding IBs and can be summa-
rized as those of ‘‘Safety and security”, ‘‘User comfort”,
and ‘‘Environment and energy.
5. Also, the outcomes of this study can provide a much clearer
understanding of the method of designing a sustainable
intelligent building.
6. Correspondingly, this study showed how cities can be con-
sidered ‘‘Intelligent” by dwelling on definitions, factors, and
evaluation criteria of selection.
It is in hope that this paper will be useful to architects and
decision makers who are seeking to learn how to identify intel-
ligent buildings, plan incentives for their development, and to
observe and witness the ‘‘smart” progress of their buildings.
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