International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 17, No 2, April 2025

THE STUDY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENT

BUILDING AUTOMATION CONTROL SYSTEM IN
HONG KONG COMMERCIAL BUILDING
Tony Tsang, Chang Kam Fai

Centre of International Education, Hong Kong College of Technology,

Hong Kong, China

ABSTRACT
Despite a few scholars providing narrow views of Building Management Systems (BMS), many studies
showed that the system could be applied in the electronic part, such as lighting, access control, and
power monitoring, which would contribute to the engineering industry in the future. The system is
called a Building Automation Control System (BACS). For example, facility managers, electronic
engineers, and their operations teams can use the system to monitor problems and perform basic
control, to ensure daily functions of the lighting system in the building. Therefore, this research aims
to discuss the possibility of realizing an intelligent building automation control system in Hong Kong
commercial buildings. To review design specifications for the BACS and evaluate the possibility of
adopting the system in Hong Kong commercial building, and provide general implications to
electronic engineering, the facility management industry, and the Hong Kong government to achieve
an intelligent city in the future

KEYWORDS
Building Management System, Building Automation Control System, Artificial Intelligent, Hong Kong
Commercial Building.

1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, with the rise of the concerns of energy efficiency and sustainability, different
stakeholders (e.g., tenants) are gradually changing their needs and expectations of the
sustainability of buildings. These problems are putting pressure on building owners, facility
managers, and system integrators, which they need to take the consideration in saving energy,
reducing costs, and maintaining availability, in the building while improving the experience
and well-being of occupants. One of the solutions to tackle the problems is to adopt building
management systems (BMS). The BMS integrated various information from all functions,
such as building automation systems (BAS), fire automation systems (FAS), and security
automation systems (SAS). The core of BMS is BAS, which is the key tool for safe, efficient,
and reliable building operations [1]. The system focuses on various parts of the building, such
as conditioning system, power transformation, and lighting system, which is suitable for
building owners to adopt the system to achieve the management of the artificial intelligent
building [2]. According to the Hong Kong energy end-use data conducted by EMSD [3], 87%
(108,102 TJ) of electricity was used in the commercial sector, which is significantly larger
than the residential sector (42,937 TJ). The data indicated that it is essential to take into
consideration that implements the building management system to achieve the saving of
electronic energy effectively and efficiently and sustainable development. However, Hong
Kong is not mature in the adoption of building automation systems in buildings, especially
the Artificial Intelligent -based automation system for lighting, to achieve artificial intelligent
DOI: 10.5121/ijcsit.2025.17201 1
 International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 17, No 2, April 2025
building in the future. Also, the main adoption of BAS is the HVAC system rather than the
electronic system [4].

Despite a few scholars providing narrow views of BMS, many studies showed that the system
could be applied in the electronic part, such as lighting, access control, and power
monitoring, which would contribute to the engineering industry in the future. The system is
called a building automation control system (BACS). For example, facility managers,
electronic engineers, and their operations teams can use the system to monitor problems and
perform basic control, to ensure daily functions of the lighting system in the building.
Therefore, this research aims to discuss the possibility of realizing an artificial intelligent
building automation control system in Hong Kong commercial buildings. Also, general
implications would be provided to electronic engineering, the facility management industry,
and the Hong Kong government to achieve an artificial intelligent city in the future.

1.2. Aims and Objectives

To achieve the expectation of this study, four objectives were established as the following:

(a) To identify the sustainability opportunities and development by adopting the BACS
(b) To review design specifications for the BACS and evaluate the possibility of adopting
the system in Hong Kong commercial building
(c) To determine general perceptions, trends and expectations of employers and owners
towards the adoption of BACS in Hong Kong
(d) To provide general implications to electronic engineering, the facility management
industry, and the Hong Kong government to achieve an artificial intelligent city in the
future

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction

In this chapter, relevant kinds of literature were reviewed and explained. This chapter would
be classified into 3 parts to describe the research concepts. Definition, design principle, and
integration of BACS are examined in section 2.2. In section 2.3, benefits, drawbacks of
implementing BACS were investigated.

2.2. Artificial Intelligent Building Automation Control System

2.2.1. Definition

According to Buckman et.al (2014), a building automation system (BACS), also called
Building automation system (BAS) or building management system (BMS), is an
indispensable part of artificial intelligent buildings. It includes complex internal systems. By
connecting subsystems of various parts in the realizes building functions that can complete
automatic building control according to the basic principles of automation [2]. Through the
system, it can monitor and control the energy use, environment, traffic, and safety facilities in
the building, which can provide a safe, reliable, energy-efficient, and comfortable to work or
live in the building [5]. In the building automation system, the main Including air
conditioning system, water supply and drainage system, fire protection system, lighting
system and security monitoring system, to play their respective roles, including building
equipment, building structure, building services and management. [6]

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 International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 17, No 2, April 2025

2.2.2. Integration of Building Automation Control System

The building automation control system is an important part of the development of artificial
intelligent buildings, which contain rich content to reflect the important components of
artificial intelligent buildings in terms of perception. Building automation control systems
have gone through latest three generations of development and innovation, included the direct
digital control (DDC) network system, web-based control system and Artificial Intelligent -
based control system.

2.2.2.1. Direct Digital Control (DDC) Network Integration System

With the development of field busbar technology, direct digital control substations (DDC)
connect the input and output modules of sensors and actuators by applying field busbars and
moving from the inside of the substation to the equipment site to form a distributed input and
output field network layer [7]. Therefore, the configuration of the system is more flexible.
Due to the openness of the LenWorks technology, the substation has a certain degree of the
open scale. The BACS network has formed a 3-layer structure, namely the management layer
(central station located on the top of Figure 1), the automation layer (primary control layer of
Figure 1), and the field network layer (second bus layer of Figure 1).

Figure 1: System Architecture of Direct digital control (DDC) Network

2.2.2.2. Web-Based Interface System

Web-based interface system refers to the formation of one or more AI control loops through a
series of communication channels and has the functions of signal processing, optimal
decision-making, and control operations [8]. The controller can be dispersed in different
locations in the network (HTTP). When BACS is integrated into a AI local server, it can be
easy for people to take the form of web pages as the working mode to manage the artificial

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 International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 17, No 2, April 2025
intelligent building automation control system. For example, control of the building can be
transmitted and processed by receiving responses through a AI system (detail in Figure 2).

Figure 2: System Architecture of Artificial Intelligent Control System

2.2.2.3. Artificial Intelligent - Based Control System

The Artificial Intelligent refers that each device or object being equipped with the AI chip
(KL520 - Kneron AI) to processing the data collected by it to a data processing localization
through an AI station for real-time analysis and real-time response or applications.

Compared with the traditional control system, Artificial Intelligent -based control system
allows devices and devices to communicate with each other and exchange data with each
other and make required instructions, that is, devices and equipment can be processing
through the "localization AI pro-processor (KL520 - Kneron AI)" to manage the building
(Figure 3). Through this AI computing as a centralized management and control platform, the
AI control system of smart buildings can automatically track property data, understand the
preferences of property personnel, and automatically configure lighting, HVAC, elevators
and other systems, to provide customers with a better services experience, create business
opportunities for businesses, and even achieve sustainable development [9].

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Figure 3: System Architecture of artificial intelligent - based Control System

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research and design of the project was carried out in two phases, again as described
below.

Phase 1 - Research to determine general perceptions, trends and expectations Associated

engineers, engineers, project managers, managers and clients assist in the design and
construction of optimal management and optimal allocation of resources from the control
system with real-time control information not involved. During the first stage of research, a
questionnaire-based research method should be developed to collect raw data to gather
people's perceptions, trends, and expectations. The information gathered in this way about the
building's mobile control power system should help in an overall understanding of the
problem/problem, Operational visits, trends, and other such factors. About 100 people in
related industries will be interviewed in this project research to take samples.

Please see Appendix B for the questionnaire designed for the study. The questions are simple
multiple-choice questions.

After data collection, rigorous qualitative analysis and graphical representation to gain key
insights and identify patterns and broader trends, issues/issues faced, usage trends,
expectations, and other factors relevant to building a mobile control power system.

The second stage-use APP to build the prototype design and construction of the mobile
control power system. The second stage should adopt the qualitative method of exploratory
research, through detailed/using academic websites, textbooks, publications, and publications
based on the collected data. Other reliable sources should be critically analysed to obtain key
knowledge and other knowledge. It is also suitable for designing prototypes and building
low-cost power systems, reliable and scalable, and can be used to improve and system
interconnect other devices, such as alarm systems, electrical appliances, and all door locks,
smoke detectors, surveillance cameras, and amplified signal receiving areas.
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4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
4.1. Questionnaire Research Study

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 1

Q1. What engineering industry are you in?

Choices Survey Results
Assistant Engineer 30
Engineer 45
Project Manager 18
Manager 5
client 2
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 2

Q2. How many square feet do you have access to commercial buildings?
Choices Survey Results
Less than 8000 Sq. Feet 16
8000 to 9999 Sq. Feet 15
10000 to 11999 Sq. Feet 20
More than 12000 Sq. Feet. 49
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 3

Q3. Are you considering implementing a mobile control system for your building?
Choices Survey Results
Yes 67
May be 19
No immediate plans 14
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 4

Q4. Do you think there is a need to improve the efficiency and quality of commercial
buildings if a kind of artificial intelligent building automation system is installed?
Choices Survey Results
Yes 79
No 21
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 5

Q5. Factor in the cost of an artificial intelligent building automation system to install an artificial
intelligent automation system in a building? (5 means great emphasis, 1 means least emphasis)
Choices Survey Results
1 13
2 13
3 38
4 13
5 23
100

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Table 3 – Data Collected from question 6

Q6. Are they in the industry that factor in the operational complexity of the artificial intelligent
automation system operator interface as a factor for installation? (5 means great emphasis, 1
means least emphasis)
Choices Survey Results
1 9
2 17
3 30
4 23
5 21
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 7

Q7. Factor concerns about the current technological backwardness of artificial intelligent
automation systems as a factor to use them in the industry? (5 means great emphasis, 1 means
least emphasis)
Choices Survey Results
1 28
2 52
3 13
4 4
5 3
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 8

Q8. Consider artificial intelligent automation systems a non-essential technology in the industry
as a factor in installing them? (5 means great emphasis, 1 means least emphasis)
Choices Survey Results
1 20
2 55
3 14
4 7
5 4
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 9

Q9. Do you think the realization of artificial intelligent building automation is the future trend?
Choices Survey Results
Yes 70
No 4
May be 26
100

Table 3 – Data Collected from question 10

Q10. If the security and installation convenience problems are solved, would you recommend
the industry to implement smart building automation?
Choices Survey Results
Yes 64
No 4
May be 32
100
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4.2. Data Analysis Graphical Representation

Figure 1 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 1

Figure 2– Survey Questionnaire – Question 2

Figure 3 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 3

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Figure 4 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 4

Figure 5 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 5

Figure 6 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 6

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Figure 7 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 7

Figure 8 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 8

Figure 9 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 9

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Figure 10 – Survey Questionnaire – Question 10

5. DISCUSSION
The data in the questionnaire research provided us with several pieces of analysis that help in
the design of intelligent automation systems—

 Many respondents in the industry participating in commercial buildings are larger than
12,000 square feet. In the design of this project, most of the needs in a large area
should be met, so that more attention should be paid to the problem of large area.
 Among the surveyors in the industry, it is necessary to add convenient quality to
improve daily performance in intelligent automation systems
 The biggest obstacle to considering the use of intelligent automation systems is cost,
technical operation and system maturity and obsolescence, which has delayed the use
of intelligent systems
 while survey respondents in the industry do not consider intelligent automation
systems to be a non-essential tool
 Researchers of intelligent automation systems in the industry reflected that they are
optimistic about the application of intelligent systems in the current buildings and
buildings in the future
 Researchers in most industries believe that intelligent automation systems only need to
solve security and installation difficulties before this tool can be implemented in the
industry

6. CONCLUSIONS
One of the solutions to tackle the problems is to adopt building management systems (BMS).
The BMS integrated various information from all functions, such as building automation
systems (BAS), fire automation systems (FAS), and security automation systems (SAS). The
core of BMS is BAS, which is the key tool for safe, efficient, and reliable building
operations. The system focuses on various parts of the building, such as conditioning system,
power transformation, and lighting system, which is suitable for building owners to adopt the
system to achieve the management of the intelligent building. To review design specifications
for the Building Automation Control System (BACS) and evaluate the possibility of adopting
the system in Hong Kong commercial building, and provide general implications to electronic
engineering, the facility management industry, and the Hong Kong government to achieve an
intelligent city in the future.

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 International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol 17, No 2, April 2025
REFERENCES

[1] Wang, S. (2009). Intelligent buildings and building automation. Routledge.

[2] Schein, J. (2007). An information model for building automation systems. Automation in
construction, 16(2), 125-139.
[3] https://www.emsd.gov.hk/en/energy_efficiency/energy_end_use_data_and_consumption_indicat
ors/hong_kong_energy_end_use_data/data/index.html
[4] Salsbury, T. I. (2005). A survey of control technologies in the building automation industry.
IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 38(1), 90-100.
[5] Xiao, F., & Fan, C. (2014). Data mining in building automation system for improving building
operational performance. Energy and buildings, 75, 109-118.
[6] Yu, H. (2021, November). Application and Design of Intelligent Building Automation Control
System. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2074, No. 1, p. 012077). IOP Publishing.
[7] Hui, S. C. (2007). Latest trends in building automation and control systems. In CAI symposium
on intelligent facility management and intelligent transport, Hong Kong, 28th March
[8] Bhatt, J., & Verma, H. K. (2015). Design and development of wired building automation
systems. Energy and buildings, 103, 396-413.
[9] Fortino, G., Russo, W., Savaglio, C., Shen, W., & Zhou, M. (2017). Agent-oriented cooperative
smart objects: From IoT system design to implementation. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man,
and Cybernetics: Systems, 48(11), 1939-1956.

AUTHOR
Tony Tsang (MIEEE’2000) received the Diploma and Higher Certificate in
Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1986 and 1988. He received the BEng
degree in Electronics & Electrical Engineering with First Class Honors in
Liverpool, U.K., in 1992. He studied the Master Degree in Computation from
Computing Laboratory, Oxford University (U.K.) in 1995. He received the
Ph.D. from the La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) in 2000. He was
awarded the La Trobe University Post-graduation Scholarship in 1998. Dr.
Tsang earned several years of teaching and researching experience in the
Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, La Trobe University. He works in Hong
Kong Polytechnic University as Lecturer since 2001. He works in Hong Kong College of Technology,
Sunderland University, in 2014. He has numerous publications (more than 160 articles) in international
journals and conferences and is a technical reviewer for several international journals and conferences.
His research interests include Artificial Intelligence (AI), mobile computing, networking, protocol
engineering and formal methods. Dr. Tsang is a member of the MIET, the MIEEE, and MII
Management.

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