Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that Factorial Seongsu, which uses its integrated building solution b.IoT, has become the first in South Korea to receive a Gold grade in a global smart building certification.

Factorial Seongsu is an office building created by developing a logistics site near Seongsu Station in 2020. Samsung Electronics and the project set a tech-ready building concept from the planning stage and worked together. The Gold grade is given to upper-tier smart buildings that, based on advanced technology, provide high operating efficiency such as energy management for building managers and a comfortable environment such as indoor air quality management for tenants.

SmartScore, run by smart city certification specialist WiredScore, assesses the extent to which advanced technologies such as IoT, AI and big data are implemented in buildings and their actual effects. It assigns grades in the order of Platinum, Gold, Silver and Certified.

Samsung Electronics' b.IoT solution played a key role in winning the Gold grade. b.IoT is an AI-based solution that integrates the operation of major building facilities such as HVAC, lighting and power on a single platform. It helps managers monitor overall building operations in real time and control them efficiently depending on conditions.

Based on AI, it analyses the building's energy consumption, facility operating status and heating and cooling efficiency and predicts usage patterns to support energy management. It checks facility status in real time and sends alerts in case of abnormal operation. It also supports connection to a DVM (Digital Variable Multi) geothermal system that uses underground thermal energy to provide efficient heating and cooling, which can improve building energy efficiency. As a result of operations, Factorial Seongsu reduced energy use by about 27 percent from June 1 to Sept. 30 last year by operating central HVAC and system air conditioners with the b.IoT solution.

b.IoT also supports digital twin technology that creates a 3D model of a real building in a virtual space and visualises the status of all facilities in real time. Managers can use the visualised 3D model in a virtual environment to simulate a range of management scenarios.

Park Chan-woo (박찬우), a vice president at Samsung Electronics' B2B Integrated Offering Center, said, "This certification has verified the convenience and competitiveness of the b.IoT solution equipped with advanced technologies such as AI and digital twins." He added, "We will continue to develop the technology with the goal of realising AI-based autonomous building operations."