Possibility of application of intelligent buildings (IBs) characteristics to improve the office buildings performance in Yemen

Abstract

Abstract At the beginning of the eighties last century, there was a qualitative leap in the architecture field, which was the beginning of the emergence of intelligent buildings (IBs). These buildings expressed the pinnacle of scientific and technical progress that humanity had reached in architecture. IB has an integrated intelligent system that can recognize, make decisions, and respond to variables on its own, in addition to achieving sustainability. With these new concepts in the architecture field, in Yemen, buildings are still traditional in their performance, where individual systems are used. This paper aims to investigate the possibility of applying the characteristics of IBs to Yemeni buildings, especially office buildings, to enhance these buildings’ performance in order to improve the employees’ productivity. To achieve this goal, the study reviewed the characteristics of IBs, specifically the IB’s systems, and the reality of architecture and informatics in Yemen by analyzing one of the contemporary office buildings that own and use technological systems. The review showed a high possibility of achieving the features of IBs in Yemeni buildings in terms of applying intelligent systems. However, to make Yemeni buildings smarter in their performance, their digital infrastructure and the information and communication technology (ICT) in Yemen must be updated.