SMART TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTIVE BUILDINGS

Answer

1. SMART TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTIVE BUILDINGS

   What is a Smart Building?

   • Verma et al. (2019) defines smart buildings as modernized buildings that use technology to share information about what happens inside them.
   • These buildings use sensors, microchips, and actuators to collect and manage information within the building.
   • Core systems in a building like lighting, water meters, power meters, fire alarms, and ventilation systems in the building are connected to the system. Buildings can also connect other extensional systems like elevators and doors.
   • Smart buildings provide the foundation for developing a smart city.

   Smart building technologies

   Benefits of a Smart building

   • Smart buildings are eco-friendly.
   • Smart buildings enhance users comfort.
   • Smart buildings support preventive maintenance of equipment.
   • Smart buildings are more secure.
   • Smart buildings allow for data control.
   • Smart buildings promote controlled energy consumption.

   Technology used in a smart building

   • Different software systems will run and manage sensors within the building.
   • The software is programmed to meet specific conditions or ranges within a building, such that beyond the programmed conditions, they are required to make adjustments within the building.
   • The sensors detect changes within the building. For example, an increase or decrease in temperature and motion changes in the building.
   • These sensors are distributed across the building in areas that require smart operations.

   Internet of Things (IoT)

   • Devices either connected directly or indirectly to the internet make part of the IoT.
   • These devices can communicate with each other in real-time without external interference.
   • Each device is equipped with sensors to detect varying variables in the environment.

   What are the benefits of IoT?

   • Using IoT devices allow for access to a lot of data regarding their internal and external operations in a building.
   • IoT enhances transmission of data about operations of the building. Hence, necessary adjustments can be made in real-time.
   • For individual consumers, they can control several devices like thermostats, lighting and TVs using their smart phones.
   • For the environment, IoT applications can detect the carbon footprint of a building.

   Disadvantages of IoT

   • IoT devices do not encrypt data that is in transit or at rest. Therefore, they are prone to cyber attacks from hackers.
   • Because the IoT is directly linked to the physical world, attacks in the digital world will manifest in the physical world. For example, a hacker may shut down the power grid and the entire city would lose power.
   • IoT devices are at permanent risk of irreparable damage, making them costly to repair when impaired.

   Cloud Computing

   • Abbassi (2019) describes cloud computing as the distribution of various computing services such as processing power and storage over the internet; and these services are financed.
   • Models of cloud computing are private cloud, public, hybrid cloud and multicloud.
   • Advantages of cloud computing include:
   1. Improved swiftness with time-to-value.
   2. Lowers costs associated with IT.
   • It allows users to scale more quickly.
   • Categories of cloud computing are:
   1. SaaS (Software-as-a-Service).
   2. PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)
   • IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)
   1. Serverless Computing

   Improving data security

   1. Introducing data encryption.
   2. Sharing responsibility for the security of the data between the provider and user.
   3. Compliance and security monitoring.
   4. Collaborative management.
   5. User identification.

   Building Management System (BMS)

   • Facility managers rely on BMS to control and monitor the core elements of their buildings like temperature and ventilation.
   • Advanatges of using a BMS include:
   1. BMS eases the management of any facility.
   2. BMS increases the efficiency of the building.
   • BMS enhnaces the facility's security.
   • Disadvantages of a BMS are:
   1. The initial cost of setting up a building management system is high
   2. Distinct systems embedded in a building may refuse to collaborate or communicate with each other
   • There are limits in the data that BMS collects and provides.

   Smart buildings

   • Types of smart buildings include:
   1. Zero Energy Building and Energy Saving.
   2. Passive buildings.
   • Green buildings.
   • Modern examples of smart buildings:
   1. Siemens’ The Crystal, London.
   2. Edge / Amsterdam -Nederlands 2015.
   • 4.3 Italy Pavilion - Milan Expo 2015 Nemesi.

   Converting a traditional building into a smart building.

   • Residential buildings will incorporate Human-Building Interaction (HBI).
   • This means that the smart building sensors will learn and understand human behavior, and use the information accordingly.
   • The smart design of the building will be founded on three layers; connection, information and data layers.
   • These layers are then combined under one interface.
   • The interface can be accessed using smart devices like smartphones and laptops.

   Future of Smart Buildings

   • As the years go by, more and more buildings will adopt the smart concept of construction and maintenance, owing to the several benefits and government regulations controlling the carbon imprint in the atmosphere.
   • Eventually, this adaption will lead to the creation of smart cities, developing a network of smart technologies.
   • It is also important to note that the number of smart cities will be significantly influenced by world trends.
   • Smart buildings will bridge the gap created between the physical and digital worlds. 

Answer

Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” Movie Analysis

            While delivering a speech, persuasion is essential in convincing the audience to listen to their ideas in their address. In An Inconvenient Truth, former US Vice President Al – Gore speaks on global warming as an encroaching crisis affecting its atmosphere and the environment as his central message. Al- Gore effectively persuades the audience into joining his cause against global warming by using persuasive communication strategies, a solid introduction, rhetoric strategies, oral citations, proper speech delivery, and presentation aids to evoke the audience in supporting his cause.

            Al- Gore’s successfully incorporates a solid speech introduction to attract the audience’s attention. He begins the introduction with a joke alluding to him being the “former future president of the United States.” The use of such a satirical comment evokes the audience wondering who would be bold enough to stand on stage after losing a race, such as the presidential election. This captures the audience to be more involving in his speech and sit for a better listening into the matters at hand. Later on, he introduces his speech topic by focusing on his central message, outlining his whole address's main points. Finally, it eases the audience by showing a mangrove parchment indicated to involve the audience in relating to a preserved environment before expounding on his speech. The audience is engaged after this as he gets into his central message and further engaging in his speech.

Al-Gore's excellently persuades the audience by using ethos as a rhetorical strategy throughout the speech.  Ethos employs a sense of trustworthiness and competence that enables the audience to believe in the speaker's credibility. He shows ethos by acknowledging his commitment to the earth as an environmental activist. Al- Gore's speech is based on expansive research that helps the audience trust his competence in speaking on the issue. Al- Gore's possesses charisma and positive energy that attracts the audience to remain rooted in listening to his appeal towards addressing global warming. As characteristics of applying ethos in a speech, the combination of dynamism and competence draws the crowd to become trustworthy with his presentation and remains attentive throughout the address.

Al- Gore’s effectively employs persuasive communication strategies that include positive motivation, negative motivation, cognitive dissonance, non-verbal communication, and appeals to self-esteem in his speech. Positive and negative motivations are essential in persuading the audience to venture into addressing global warming to achieve positive outcomes in the environment. Consequently, Al-Gore uses negative motivation to convince the audience that failure to look into measures of curbing global warming and climate change, the earth might end up like the few places he depicts in his comparison photographs and videos. Cognitive dissonance helps change one's perspective to something by discomforting norms and beliefs to persuade an audience towards change. At the start of the documentary, Al-Gore introduces a short video of a beautiful mangrove parchment that would stay in the back of the audience's mind on what should be safeguarded.  To destabilize the audience, he shows pictorials of areas devastated by global warming, evoking fear and panic for the world that has become dormant in addressing this issue. Intertwined, with his central idea, Al- Gore persuades the audience in a bleak and disheartened tone to fight for preserving the environment.

            In addition, Al-Gore’s effectually uses non-verbal communication in his body language is established through a dejected worrying tone for identifying with the audience on the prevailing situation. Al- Gore’s body movement showed confidence in his walk and constant interactiveness with the audience. Al – Gore also has a confiden, genuine smile appearing as a well- groomed and dressed man in delivering his speech. In the documentary, Al-Gore's clear expression of displeasure with people who negated around global warming instead of addressing is clear.  Al-Gore aimed to show concern for the issue. Al –Gore's self-esteem pushes his central message across the audience by focusing on positivity and the audience's contributions to curb global warming. His articulation of each point across helps in building confidence with the audience. His confidence in his speech persuades the audience to be on board the matter.

            Oral citations are well used in An Inconvenient Truth to capture the audience's attention. Al- Gore uses oral citations effectively to show reliability, credibility, and validity of information conveyed in his speech address. Denoting empirical evidence from videos, charts, and maps allude the audience into believing that Al- Gore critically researched the issue and came up with a profound speech to convince the audience to join his cause to remove fallacies on wrong information presented in his speech. Virtually, his research pays off as he captures the audience in his factual interactions on the matter.

Al – Gore excellently uses presentation aids like projected images, comparison photographs, short videos, satirical cartoons, and info graphs like maps and charts to help persuade his audience to come to his plea in preserving the environment by combating global warming. Projected images show areas adversely affected by global warming, including flooded areas. The short videos as well show people injured due to flooding. The graphs and maps show empirical evidence of the effects of global warming in areas. A comparison of videos and pictures shows how some places were before global warming and its impact after years. All these visual aids serve as areas involving the audience's concern and worry over the deteriorating ecosystem around us. Al-Gore was not shy off, including videos of politicians passing over the global warming issue through satirical cartoons while also poking at renowned scientists worldwide who showed the existence of climate change. As much as Al-Gore is a politician, he intended for the audience to understand that his concern was for the environment and endeavors towards combating global warming rather than politically-driven shows with aspirations of a political seat.

Lastly, Al- Gore successfully uses ethos, pathos, and logos strategies to capture the audience's attention in his speech. Ethos employs a sense of trustworthiness and competence that enables the audience to believe in the speaker's credibility. He shows ethos by acknowledging his commitment to the earth as an environmental activist. The documentary shows the incorporation of logos through his presentation of scientific facts that support his claims to global warming as an issue of concern. Lastly, his attributes to incorporate his son's demise into comparing it to his commitment to the environment show pathos as a rhetoric strategy.  Successful integration of photographs and videos of areas affected by global warming helped provoke the audience to support his cause towards alleviating global warming.

In conclusion, Al – Gore effectively incorporates persuasive communication strategies, a solid introduction, rhetoric strategies, oral citations, proper speech delivery, and presentation aids to evoke the audience in supporting his fight against global warming.  Using all these techniques successfully convinces the audience to have a concern about the deteriorating ecosystem. Having watched the documentary, I am persuaded to carry on the legacy of conserving our environment as an environmental ambassador.         

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