Buildings IOT GraphQL API integration platform takes smart buildings data to scale
Buildings IOT has now unveiled its IOT Jetstream system, billed as a reliable, secure building integration platform that makes it possible to access a myriad of data from across the built environment in a single GraphQL API. Per information in a company announcement, as application developers begin to see smart buildings as a promising frontier for innovation, with IOT Jetstream, "building data is brought to the fingertips of software engineers," removing the need for them to understand complex underlying systems and proprietary communication protocols to create digital building solutions.
“We developed IOT Jetstream to make building data available at scale,” explains Patrick Gilhooly, product delivery engineer at Buildings IOT. “The platform empowers software developers interested in creating digital solutions to contemporary real estate problems – issues, for example, related to ESG reporting, sub-optimal operation of equipment, or poor indoor air quality – by providing access to normalized data specific to the building domain. IOT Jetstream enables innovation in proptech by bringing clean building data to the developers who use it to solve specific problems across commercial real estate portfolios today.”
Technology value proposition
As explained by the company, IOT Jetstream, with its unified data model facilitated through the Ontology Alignment Project (OAP), makes it possible for users to access data from separate and distinct devices, databases, and reporting systems. The API, commonly referred to as middleware in software architecture parlance, supplies the translation layer that unifies data across devices, systems, protocols, data models, and endpoints. Within IOT Jetstream, data is normalized and related to the spatial context of a specific building, giving meaning to the data beyond the device that created it. Buildings IOT contends these features enable software developers to craft solutions that ultimately impact energy usage, occupant comfort, and equipment operation across the built environment without having to become experts in each of the systems that create the data.
The IOT Jetstream platform's key features, as enumerated by Buildings IOT. include:
- A scalable and flexible integration platform built upon a developer-friendly and self-documenting GraphQL API.
- Utilization of OAP, an open-source, public data and relationships model that ensures scalable ontology among data protocols and data modeling standards.
- Command and control capabilities from connected user interfaces across various systems and devices, from a single login.
- A connector framework to bring data together from distributed sources (from Cloud APIs to Building systems).
- Faster fault resolution with digital twin and asset information model capabilities.
- Implementation of cybersecurity best practices.
For security, Buildings IOT said it safeguards its platform solutions by following industry best practices to ensure all data throughout each layer of the IOT Jetstream platform "has maximum protection from the cloud to the edge." Via utilization of user access control and authentication, encryption, and other advance security measures, Buildings IOT said IOT Jetstream helps protect building data as it mitigate risks.
Buildings IOT in a press release noted it has proven the success of the IOT Jetstream platform in “Chicago’s Smartest Building,” 800 Fulton Market in Chicago, IL. Completed in April with ambitions to achieve the SmartScore Gold mark, WiredScore upgraded this mixed-use office building to its Platinum designation for the advanced digital building capabilities afforded to it by IOT Jetstream. Central to this score upgrade were the criteria around an operational digital twin, which evaluates the property’s ability to provide the best owner and tenant experience in sustainability and cost-efficiency.
The IOT Jetstream platform offers three available packages that flexibly provide various services based on property size and features required. From the platform's Starter, Professional, and Enterprise packages, Buildings IOT works with building owners to ensure they have the best solution, fit for their needs.
“For building owners and operators, the IOT Jetstream smart building platform provides the flexibility and agility to adopt new technology and applications quickly, easily, cost-effectively, and in response to changing market and environmental conditions,” concludes Gina Elliott, chief services officer at Buildings IOT. “Without an independent data layer, it’s difficult and expensive to deliver cloud-based apps for a tenant experience or carbon reporting. Those apps require data from many different sources to provide value and consistency. The most effective way to enable those smart building features is through a platform that supports integrated data and interoperability from multiple mechanisms.”
