GB2594442A

GB2594442A - A building element and building element monitoring system and method

Info

Publication number: GB2594442A
Application number: GB2001813.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Allen Deyrick
Original assignee: Iot Horizon Ltd
Current assignee: Iot Horizon Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-10
Filing date: 2020-02-10
Publication date: 2021-11-03
Also published as: GB202001813D0

Abstract

The building element comprises an electronic information tag having data stored thereon which is indicative of characteristics of the building element. A building element monitoring system comprises an electronic information tag reader for reading the information stored on the electronic information tag. The information tag might be an RFID device embedded in the element contains information such as date of manufacture and manufacturing identity. The element may also include a sensor for temperature or moisture. Also claimed is a element monitoring system comprising information tags on a building element. Also claimed is a method of manufacturing an intelligent building element by writing data onto an information tag which indicates characteristics of the building element.

Description

A BUILDING ELEMENT AND BUILDING ELEMENT MONITORING SYSTEM AND

METHOD

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present invention relates to a building element and building element monitoring system and method and particularly, but not exclusively, to building elements comprising insulation material.

BACKGROUND

Building elements are used in the construction of a building and may include prefabricated building elements such as prefabricated cladding panels, windows, doors, building blocks and bricks.

Building elements also include insulated building elements such as, for example, rigid panels, insulating concrete forms, structural insulated panels, glass wool and natural fibre.

Rigid panel insulation (also known as continuous insulation) may be made from foam plastics such as, for example, polyisocyanurate or polystyrene, or from fibrous materials such as, for example, fiberglass, rock and slag wool. Rigid panel insulation is used, for example, to provide a thermal break in a building envelope to reduce thermal bridging between the inside and outside of a building.

Insulating concrete forms (ICF) is a system of formwork for reinforced concrete usually made with a rigid thermal insulation that stays in place as a permanent interior and exterior substrate for walls, floors and roofs. The insulating concrete forms are interlocking modular units that are dry stacked (without mortar) and filled with concrete. ICF construction is commonplace for both low rise commercial and high performance residential construction as more stringent energy efficiency and natural disaster resistant building regulations are adopted.

Structural insulated panels (SIPs) may also ne known as stressed-skin walls. SIPs are formed in the same way as foam-core external doors but are panels which are used in the construction of an entire building, such as a house. SIPs can be used for ceilings, floors, walls and roofs. The panels usually consist of plywood, orientated strandboard, or drywall glued and sandwiched around a core consisting of expanded polystyrene, polyurethane, polyisocyanurate, compressed wheat straw or epoxy. SIPs are made in various sizes and, when constructing a building, are glued together and secured with a lumber. The SIPs provide structural support in the building.

Glass wool insulation is typically in the form of batts and blankets. Glass wool insulation can be made from, for example, rock and slag wool, fibreglass, and plastic fibre. Batts are precut, whereas blankets are available on continuous rolls. Glass wool is used, for example, to provide a thermal break in a building envelope to reduce thermal bridging between the inside and outside of a building. It is often used laid on the across an unfinished attic floor to prevent heat bridging through the roof of a building.

Natural fibre insulations can be formed into flexible or semi-rigid panels and rigid panels using a binder (mostly synthetic such as polyester, polyurethane or polyolefin).

Cladding panels are typically used as the outside skin of a building and may provide, for example, a degree of thermal insulation, weather resistance and to improve the appearance of buildings.

In general, building elements such as, for example, prefabricated building elements such as cladding panels, windows, doors, building blocks and bricks and insulated building elements, such as, for example, rigid panels, insulating concrete forms, structural insulated panels, glass wool and natural fibre, are manufactured and specified to meet predefined regulations with respect to, for example, one or more of structural integrity, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, fire resistance and weather resistance During design of a building, the proposed building elements and construction are usually submitted to a government agency for approval. Following approval, during construction of the building, the government agency usually inspects the construction to ensure the approved specified building elements are being used and the building is being constructed properly to meet the regulations of, for example, structural integrity, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, fire resistance and weather resistance.

Building inspectors working on behalf of the government agency will typically inspect the building elements which are on-site prior to being used in the construction and undertake a visual and physical inspection of the construction.

However, in some countries building inspectors are often prevented from carrying out visual and physical inspections due to health and safety legislation, which prevents them from accessing roof spaces and under-floor areas.

Furthermore, the existing method of building inspection is particularly disadvantageous because, for example: it is a relatively time-consuming activity; it is not an objective inspection in that the conclusion is relative to the knowledge, experience and character of the building inspector; it does not provide any indication of specification, authenticity or the original source of the building elements being used.

Furthermore, the current visual and physical inspection often leaves opportunities for contraventions of the specified building elements and building regulations to be hidden from the visual and physical inspection of the building inspector. For example, an inferior building element or poor workmanship is often used in a non-visible, covered and inaccessible location to save costs in the construction budget.

Cloning of materials to provide less-expensive inferior products with plagiarized data sheets and technical information is often passed off as authentic building elements, thereby having a detrimental economic effect on the construction industry, a potentially dangerous effect on the general public and a potentially detrimental effect on the environment. The UK Government commissioned a review into protection standards and enforcement for energy efficiency and renewable energy by Dr Peter Bonfield, OBE, FREng: Each Home Counts (2017) -[https://www.gov. uk/government/publications/each-home-counts-review-of-consumer-advice-prot ection-standards-and-enforcement-for-energy-efficiency-andrenewable-energy ].

Moreover, once the building has been constructed, it is not possible to monitor the performance of building elements, such as for example, the change in thermal properties of a thermal insulation building element over time. Therefore, it is currently unknown whether the building elements are performing as they were intended to do when originally specified and approved by the government building inspection agency.

Therefore, there is a need in the industry for there to be building elements, and a building element system and method which enables the authenticity and performance of the building element to be monitored and adherence to the building regulations and approved specification of building elements and construction to be monitored during and after construction of the building.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a building element comprising an electronic information tag having data stored thereon which is indicative of characteristics of the building element.

The information tag advantageously comprises an RFID device. The RFID device is preferably UHF RFID device.

The electronic information tag advantageously comprises a secure encrypted key.

The electronic information tag is advantageously embedded within the building element. Additionally, or alternatively, at least part of the electronic information tag may be exposed to the environment without the building element.

The building element may be an insulation building element. The insulation building element may be a panel, batt or blanket.

Alternatively, the building element may be a non-insulation building element.

The building element may comprise a plurality of electronic information tags. The plurality of electronic information tags may be disposed in a predetermined spatial arrangement.

The data stored on the electronic information tag advantageously comprises at least one of a product specification, identification of manufacturer, product authentication, and date of manufacture.

The building element advantageously further comprises one or more passive sensors. The at least one of the one or more passive sensors is advantageously a UHF RFID sensor. At least one of the one or more passive sensors is advantageously operable to monitor moisture. Additionally, or alternatively, at least one of the one or more passive sensors is advantageously operable to monitor temperature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a building element monitoring system comprising an electronic information tag reader and one or more electronic information tags as claimed in the first aspect of the present invention.

The electronic tag reader advantageously comprises an RFID scanner. The electronic tag reader advantageously comprises communication means operable to communicate with a remote server. The communication means advantageously comprises a mobile network communication means. The mobile communication means preferably comprises a mobile communication device in communication with the electronic tag reader.

The communication means is advantageously operable to transmit the data stored on the, or each, electronic information tag to the remote server.

The communication means is advantageously operable to transmit the geographical location of the electronic information tag to the remote server.

The communication means is advantageously operable to transmit the time of reading of the electronic information tag to the remote server.

The RFID scanner is advantageously a UHF RFID scanner.

The electronic tag reader is advantageously operable to read data from one or more passive sensors disposed in, or on, a said building element.

The electronic tag reader is advantageously operable to read data from at least one UHF RFID sensor.

The electronic tag reader is advantageously operable to read data from one or more sensors operable to monitor moisture.

The electronic tag reader is advantageously operable to read data from one or more sensors operable to monitor temperature.

The building element monitoring system advantageously further comprises a computer server disposed remote from the, or each, said electronic information tags.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing an intelligent building element comprising: providing a building element; writing data onto the an electronic information tag; and disposing the electronic information tag in, or on, the building element; wherein the data on the electronic information tag is indicative of characteristics of the building element.

The electronic information tag advantageously comprises an RFID device. The RFID device is advantageously a UHF RFID device.

The method advantageously further comprises providing the electronic information tag with a secure encrypted key.

The electronic information tag is advantageously embedded within the building element.

Additionally, or alternatively, at least part of the electronic information tag may be exposed to the environment without the building element.

Alternatively, the building element may be a non-insulation building element.

A plurality of electronic information tags are advantageously disposed in, or on, the building element in a predetermined spatial arrangement.

The building element advantageously further comprises one or more passive sensors. At least one of the one or more passive sensors is advantageously a UHF RFID sensor.

At least one of the one or more passive sensors is advantageously operable to monitor moisture.

At least one of the one or more passive sensors is advantageously operable to monitor temperature.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of monitoring building elements in a building comprising: providing a building element monitoring system according to the second aspect of the present invention; receiving building information from the remote server to the communication means associated with the electronic information tag reader; using the electronic information tag reader to read one or more electronic information tags disposed in, or on, the building elements disposed within the structure of the building; uploading data associated with the information read from the one or more electronic information tags to a remote server; and comparing the uploaded data with records stored on the remote server.

The method advantageously further comprises using the electronic information tag reader to read a measurement of moisture associated with the, or each, building element.

The method advantageously further comprises using the electronic information tag reader to read a measurement of temperature associated with the, or each, building 30 element.

DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the following drawings, in which.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a building element monitoring system according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a method of monitoring a building element in a constructed building according to the present invention; and Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of the system and method of Figures 1 and 2 Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, The building element and building element monitoring system and method, according to the present invention addresses the problem currently experienced in construction industry and improves environmental issues in ensuring building are adequately and properly insulated.

The building element monitoring system and method provides a solution to these issues and provides, for example: Quality monitoring; Consumer confidence; Insurer Guarantees; Material Security; Safety; Designer and Architect Specification.

Referring particularly to Figure 1, manufactures of building elements are provided with electronic information tags and sensors. The manufactures embed the electronic information tags and sensor into the materials and building elements during manufacturing.

In an alternative embodiment, the electronic information tags and sensors are supplied to the construction company with the delivery of the building elements and the construction company applies the electronic information tags and sensors during the construction process.

Each electronic information tag comprises a secure digital identity associated with the building element product and has information which may include, for example, the specification of the product and an authenticity certificate.

In a preferred embodiment the electronic information tag is, for example, a UHF RFID Tags EPC 2.0 (such as NXP UCODE DNA or EM Microelectronic em I aura-C-EPC) which is embedded into the material of the building element. The electronic information tags will vary in design and depend on the type of material being used ito make the building element as well as the environment in which it is used.

Each manufacturer will register their building element products on the system including the specification of the building element products. For example, for an insulation building element this may include whether the product is a This will look at a solid panel, underfloor insulation or continuous roll glass wool and the specification data sheets associated with each product. The purpose of this is to help them get the right sensors embedded and also to make sure that the environment they are using them in is suitable for the building element monitoring audit process.

The RFID Tags (EPC 2.0) have a secure encrypted key stored on them that is provisioned on the chip before being sent to the building element manufacturer. Once the building elements are installed by the installer/contractor a building inspector completing the building element monitoring audit undertakes the inspection.

A handheld RFID scanner comprises an associated App which allows the building inspector to either upload a building manifest from a remote server or to manually enter the data relating to the building which is to be inspected. This could be, for example, a standalone mobile RFID reader or a Sled such as a Zebra 8500 and a companion mobile device.

The building inspector selects the building element to be tested and scans the relevant part of the building. Upon scanning the App will confirm that the correct electronic information tags have been located and that they have the correct encryption keys. Successfully locating the correct electronic information tags in the expected positions in the building confirms that the correct specification of building element has been used in the correct position in the construction of the building. The collected data may then be uploaded to the cloud/ remote server. The location and time can also be recorded with geo tags and also uploaded to the cloud/remote server.

Referring also to Figure 2, accordingly, when the building undertakes an inspection audit person they use a handheld scanner to verify that the sensors are present. This involves the building inspector authenticating themselves with the electronic information tags to prove that they have the right to read the data. The building inspector scans a certificate from the electronic information tags. Either local validation or on-line validation can be undertaken depending on trust/capabilities of the validation device.

Referring also to Figure 3, the building inspector auditor enters (or uploads) the data into the system specifying the requirement of each of the buildings in terms of building elements and materials (1).

The master audit data is passed to a secure WEB API and validated for correctness (2). Correct data is then written (and if necessary encrypted) into the SQL server database via a Microsoft Entity Framework (3). Confirmation is returned to the user (building inspector) in the form of a Web Ul page (4). At the time of the inspection audit, the building inspector auditor loads up the relevant building manifest with the relevant audits needed to be carried out and what building elements and components were specified for the building prior to construction and/or what specification of building elements the building is assumed to have (5). When performing the building element monitoring audit, the building inspector selects the building to Audit and a list of items relating to the building element specification for that building, and/or building elements which are assumed the building should have, are displayed upon the mobile application (6). The building inspector auditor carries out the building element monitoring audit and the application results are sent back to the cloud/remote server system via the Secure Web API. Any items "not found" are both displayed to the building inspector auditor and transmitted back to the central cloud/remote server database and subsequently reported (7). The audit is persisted to the secure database and an exception report generated (8). Back office Auditors can use the results of the audit data produced from the mobile audit application to produce any exception reports and contact builders who are in breach for remedial action (or otherwise).

The cloud/remote server back end software solution will have a Roles Based System, secured by design (Two Factor authentication). It allows Integration into 3ffi party systems to extract data such as, for example, Government Database, Insurance companies, in agreed formats. The data collected from the electronic information tags and other passive sensors will be stored on a database in the cloud and used for Big Data and Analytic applications.

The data can also be used for Marketing Purposes (as the system collects building element and materials information by, for example, type, location). The data can be used to create a map of the country by material type.

The system allows insurance companies to check that the correct materials are used on building such as, for example, appropriate fire retardant building elements, underfloor insulation and cavity wall insulation. This helps prevent issues such as the Grenfell Towers fire whereby when buildings are constructed and also before commissioning of buildings agencies can test to make sure that the right materials have been installed.

The system enables users, including building inspectors, to see datasheets on the building elements and materials used in the constructions of a building. The datasheets may include fire regulations, warranty terms, health and safety specification and what standard they meet. This information is available to view in the App.

In an additional embodiment of the building element additional passive sensors can be embedded therein. For example, passive UHF RFID sensors can detect moisture within materials and insulation as well as confirm authenticity. This will also be sent back via handheld scanners. This enables an alert system when moisture is detected by the monitoring system. Temperature monitoring passive sensors collect temperature measurements within the building element such as, for example, within or across insulation building elements. For example, the temperature within a cavity wall can be monitored. The temperature within the room and also outside can also be monitored to thereby determine the efficiency and effectiveness of insulation.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A building element comprising an electronic information tag having data stored thereon which is indicative of characteristics of the building element.
2. A building element as claimed in claim 1, wherein information tag comprises an RFID device.
3. A building element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the RFID device is a UHF RFID device.
4. A building element as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic information tag comprises a secure encrypted key.
5. A building element as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the electronic information tag is embedded within the building element.
6. A building element as claimed in any of the preceding claim, wherein at least part of the electronic information tag may be exposed to the environment without the building element.
7. A building element as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the building element may be an insulation building element.
S. A building element as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the building element comprises a plurality of electronic information tags.
9. A building element as claimed in claim 8, wherein the plurality of electronic information tags is disposed in a predetermined spatial arrangement.
10. A building element as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein data stored on the electronic information tag comprises at least one of a product specification, identification of manufacturer, product authentication, and date of manufacture.
11. A building element as claimed in any preceding claims, further comprising one or more passive sensors.
12. A building element as claimed in claim 11, wherein at least one of the one or more passive sensors is operable to monitor at least one of moisture and temperature.
13. A building element monitoring system comprising an electronic information tag reader and one or more electronic information tags disposable in, or on, a building element as claimed in any of the preceding claims.
14. A building element monitoring system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the electronic tag reader comprises an RFID scanner.
15. A building element monitoring system as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the electronic tag reader comprises communication means operable to communicate with a remote server.
16. A building element monitoring system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the communication means comprises a mobile network communication means.
17. A building element monitoring system as claimed in claims 15 or 16, wherein the communication means is operable to transmit the data stored on the, or each, electronic information tag to the remote server.
18. A building element monitoring system as claimed in claims 15 to 17, wherein the communication means is operable to transmit at least one of the geographical location and time of reading of the electronic information tag to the remote server.
O 19. A building element monitoring system as claimed in claims 15 to 18, wherein the electronic tag reader is operable to read data from one or more passive sensors disposed in, or on, a said building element.
20. A method of manufacturing an intelligent building element comprising: providing a building element; writing data onto the an electronic information tag; and disposing the electronic information tag in, or on, the building element; wherein the data on the electronic information tag is indicative of characteristics of the building element.
21. A method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising providing the electronic information tag with a secure encrypted key.
22. A method as claimed in claims 20 or 21, wherein the electronic information tag is embedded within the building element.
23. A method as claimed in claims 20 or 22, wherein at least part of the electronic information tag is exposed to the environment without the building element.
24. A method as claimed in claims 21 to 24, wherein a plurality of electronic information tags are disposed in, or on, the building element in a predetermined spatial arrangement.
25. A method for monitoring building elements in a building comprising: providing a building element monitoring system according to claims 13 to 19; using the electronic information tag reader to read one or more electronic information tags disposed in, or on, the building elements disposed within the structure of the building: and comparing the data with records stored on a remote server.