Smart Buildings – More Than Just Energy Efficiency

The smartest people in the commercial real estate industry agree–if we really got energy efficiency in buildings right using smart building technologies, corporations could save so much money that there would be little need for solar panels or windmills. While most experts are still strong supporters of these alternative energy sources, they agree that extreme energy efficiency measures could have very dramatic positive results.

On the other hand, there are an increasing number of people who are growing disenchanted with the energy efficiency movement. It is not that they are against the idea, it just seems like it is an “all or nothing” proposition, and one of the major aspects of smart building technologies is the impact they can have on OPERATIONS and TENANT SAFETY/SATISFACTION as well as energy efficiency–which solar panels and windmills don’t offer.
In our world of buildings, a world that impacts us every time we enter an office, mall, school or sporting venue, and an environment that requires a great degree of operational support, why totally ignore the operational benefits, financial and human productivity possibilities, and tenant safety/satisfaction potential of intelligent, connected, high performance smart buildings?

This new generation of smart buildings, in which an IT infrastructure is laid on top of a building and every electro-mechanical device is IP enabled and connected with the ability to send data and be controlled, can provide energy savings and a WHOLE LOT MORE. The concept of centralized portfolio control with dramatically reengineered workflow, combined with advanced data analytics and visualization, could have an equal (if not greater) impact on the operational and tenant satisfaction bottom line of a building when comparing energy efficiency and savings.

Building owners care a lot about the costs of running a building. If these state of the art concepts and technologies can significantly reduce operating costs, why not exploit that fact? These details should be included in the overall strategy when cost-justifying the retrofitting of existing buildings. It makes sense to look at every aspect of these intelligent and smart buildings. Go through the front door with energy efficiency but, by no means stop there; operational efficiency and tenant satisfaction will round out the complete justification for making smart building investments.

One small, yet interesting example of this approach would be the management of fire extinguishers. Despite more technology in an iPhone than we had on the first space launch, we continue each month to walk every square foot of our buildings in search of a fire extinguisher with a small paper card attached and a hole to punch. With some pretty basic smart building technology, we can connect those fire extinguishers to a network and monitor them in real time, with almost no future financial investment. This also has a good sustainability aspect, as we are not using natural resources to transport humans in their search for cards to punch.

Another area relevant to smart building technology with a very fast payback is digital signage. Despite the fact that the hardware and technology costs have become very competitive, we continue to rely on analog solutions to communicate information in our lobbies. If you look at the cost and process, with multiple people and methods of getting a tenant’s name up on a lobby sign, it is a very inefficient way to communicate tenant information. In addition to a simple tenant directory, digital signage can also offer advertising (potential revenues), and fire life safety information in the event of an emergency.

Many different areas of a building’s operations would benefit greatly from automation: HVAC, lighting, security/access, energy, fire/life/safety, lifts, water management, landscaping/irrigation, audio visual, digital signage, parking, voice/data and more.

If we truly want to take our buildings to the next level of sophistication and take advantage of all available technologies, then start thinking of the three categories that make a smart building–energy efficiency and conservation, operational efficiency, tenant safety and satisfaction. If we include all of these categories in our financial justification models, it becomes a much easier decision to retrofit and move our buildings into the 21st century.

Measuring Energy Efficiency In It Managed And Cloud Services

As environmental issues begin to take center attention in the minds of people and on the agendas of legislature, saving energy has become an important issue facing many companies. For any business that deploys a significant amount of information technology resources, including anything from office computers to servers and data storage, reducing energy consumption while increasing resource efficiency is easier with cloud services.

Cloud services are on-demand, network-available computing resources, programs, and managed services. Also known as virtualization, physical IT resources can be utilized on a subscription or per-use basis through remote hosting. For example, software can be used through a remote provider via a network connection rather than purchasing and installing a local copy or license of that program onto every computer. Data storage can be leased in the same way instead of purchasing and installing more servers.

Cloud services have been recognized as offering many companies flexible, low-cost technology solutions that can be scaled to meet changes in demand effortlessly, all without capital outlays and dedicated support personnel and overhead. Let us examine some specific examples of employing cloud services to both achieve energy efficiency and productivity.

Data Security and Reliability Through Remote Backup Services

The bread and butter of IT resources usually consist of data management and backup, whether it is customer accounts, order histories, or client records. Cloud services can be leveraged to streamline data storage through a single portal and a single location. Most companies end up adding storage capacity over time to accommodate growth, but that creates a lot of disparate data devices that all have to be maintained separately. Virtual data hosting simplifies the entire process.

Virtual data storage services provide a number of benefits for companies of any size. In regards to green IT, virtual data storage is performed on high-performance media that consume less energy and is dynamically scaled to meet demands without waste. Coordinated storage procedures through a single, remote source ensure reliable data backup procedures and easy disaster recovery. All of these features are purchased on an as-needed plan without in-house support departments and overhead.

Managed services for data reliability include procedures compatible with PCI/DDS, Sarbanes-Oxley, and HIPPA in a plug-and-play setup.

Efficient Document and Information Management through Email Archiving

Even companies that are not heavily dependent on data still generate and manage a large volume of emails and electronic documents. Email archiving is performed by nearly every employee in an office, quickly generating hundreds and thousands of data pieces, each managed in small quantities in a different manner by each worker. This quickly creates a situation where important emails are spread out between computer hard drives, backup disks, and network drives and are not easily accessible.

Secure email archiving works to consolidate all of this data and creates effective standards in order to improve accessibility and increase reliability. This data consolidation utilizes high efficiency storage devices to save on costs and energy usage. Email archiving routines will consolidate emails, remove duplicates, and compress data all through remote managed services and internet connections to data centers. Add in retention policies and automated backup sessions and the increased efficiencies translate into saved costs, time, and energy.

Expanding IT Resources with Virtual Infrastructure

In addition to data storage and management, nearly any IT device or infrastructure can be virtualized. Cloud services cover everything from operating system virtualization, such as applications and software, to hardware, like networks, servers, and data centers, to managed services, such as regulatory compliance, industry best practices, and security and reliability procedures.

The power of virtual infrastructure lies in its scalability. Instead of periodic capital outlays for upgrades and expansions, cloud services are matched to current and future needs with instant expansions and reductions in services to follow the business cycle and seasonal operations. This efficiency translates into cutting excess costs and consuming only the minimum amount of energy. In addition, remote managed services create a safety net through redundant systems and backups for quick disaster recovery with a minimal loss in business continuity.

Like a utility provider, customers only pay for what they use without ever having systems running idle. The reductions in power consumption can form the basis of green initiatives that enable companies to rethink mission statements and company values with environmental concerns in mind. Beyond corporate culture, green solutions also carry the potential for securing incentive programs from local and federal governments. In the end, green cloud and managed services allows business to run more efficiently.

Get Datacenter Energy Efficiency Easily

Presently the organizations have been aiming at efficient ways and procedures to attain more with less, reducing IT expenses and even minimize the incidental costs associated with data center growth and expansion. In today’s competitive market scenario data center managers need to focus on establishing effective operating environments to support the life of the existing data centers. There are numerous ways in which companies can attain data center efficiency and is inclusive of setting up a cold aisle containment system, efficient utilization of outside air and maximize compute densities. The main component however is to maintain a comprehensive metric system to evaluate how efficient is the data center and what are the efficiency enhancements that have been created.

How to estimate data center energy efficiency?
PUE, i.e. power usage effectiveness is one of the most common metrics used for calculating data center energy efficiency. It is calculated by taking into account the overall power consumption of the data center facility and then dividing it by the power consumed by the devices. The ratio that you arrive at is the effective power overhead for a single IT unit load. Most data center managers today are expected to find out ways to reduce the PUE so that the data centers can find a better way to expand.

A better way to expand is by partnering with a data center solution provider that will free organizations from all the worries of establishing and maintaining critical mission IT architecture. Advanced data center today fulfill all the needs for cloud computing services, shared hosting services, dedicated hosting services, collocation services and other security and firewall solutions. In addition to that, the organizations remain secure and well supported 24 x 7 with advanced facilities and industry leading SLAS.

Furthermore, these solution providers offer you the various ways to bring about a change and enhancement in data center energy efficiency. Two essential ways are:-

Minimizing the power that is used for the support infrastructure
Minimizing losses within the power system

By following the above mentioned ways you can ensure greater power entering the data center thereby improving its energy efficiency and reducing the PUE. At the same time, it is critical for an organization to bring down the power system losses and the power utilized for supporting infrastructure. Concurrently, it is also apparent that the mass power consumption in the data center gets transferred to the IT load. If an organization can bring down the IT load then it can naturally reduce the overall power required in the data center.

Study Guide For Oracle Soa Foundation Practitioner Certification

The test 1Z0-451 helps you get ready to take the Oracle SOA Foundation Specialist Examination (1Z0-451) exam by providing suggestions to resources that you can use in your planning.
Oracle as a worldwide IT company has the most recognized position in the world. On account of its efforts in the area of It, Oracle is improving its reputation day by day. Oracle qualifications are recommended in every large and method business and assurance the IT professionals highest possible chances of career development. The pattern of getting Oracle qualifications is improving with the passing of your energy and energy. Though, there are many other worldwide IT companies providing numerous IT qualifications yet the value and acceptability of Oracle qualifications remain untarnished.
Objective
The test 1Z0-451 helps you get ready to take the Oracle SOA Foundation Specialist Examination (1Z0-451) exam by providing suggestions to resources that you can use in your planning.
Targeted Viewers

Professionals who know how to set up the Oracle SOA Package 11g and perform the projects required to set up and handle it.
Field encounter with SOA Package 11g in dealing with customer incorporation possibilities is useful.
Up-to-date SOA Package 11g item exercising is highly recommended.
Exam Subjects
The Oracle SOA Foundation Specialist exam includes 11 topics:

1.Service-Oriented Structure Principles
2.SOA Blend Programs
3.Plugs
4.Orchestrating Alternatives with BPEL
5.Innovative BPEL Principles
6.Dealing with Arbitrator Elements
7.Human Work-flows
8.Oracle Business Guidelines Principles
9.Secure Alternatives and Blend Programs
10.SOA 11g Integration Points
11.Tracking and Handling SOA 11g Deployment
Exam Goals
The exam objectives are described by student or practitioner stage of knowledge:

Learner-level: concerns need the selection to remember details to determine the appropriate response. Example: Determine the term reasoning.
Practitioner-level: concerns need the selection to obtain the appropriate response from the application of their details, which can only be accomplished by comprehensive encounter with the item. Example: The consumer needs a reasoning execution for both intranet and extranet utilization. What would you suggest to address the need?

For each exam subject there have been determined alternative exercising alternatives that are available at Oracle. The exercising alternatives are separated into four categories:
The boot camps are designed as a “jump start” exercising to improve your skills by providing role-based exercising on industry-leading Oracle solutions and services. The boot camps are built as brief, comprehensive, and real-time exercising to give associates an aggressive advantage as they get ready to build highly effective solutions for their own utilization. Partners can choose to go to these boot camps in college or in a live exclusive category structure to increase the efficiency and enough time assigned to exercising. Partners can take any publicly-scheduled Oracle School programs at extreme reductions. Benefit from hands on encounter to gain actual operating expertise and work toward Oracle certifications
Online Training
Oracle associates are eligible free access to the Oracle Knowledge Center, a vast collection of registered item programs. New is regularly added to the collection, providing associates with the latest details and exercising to master new products or to increase expertise on the new produces.
Certification Guides, white documents, item user books and referrals books are available from Oracle on the web.