Innovation in education technology design is pushed forward by the desire to overcome or even anticipate that human factor .
system can communicate with the BMS to shut down the HVAC , so it isn ’ t running inefficiently . We anticipate the rate of automation to accelerate even more , contributing to greater system integration and communication .
Another trend is concerned with upgrades to what are considered “ passive ” controls , such as key cards or access codes , that are vulnerable to hacking . The industry is moving toward biometric verification , where some aspect of an individual ’ s biological identity verifies who they are . This can be a fingerprint , retina scan or full facial recognition . The industry is also moving toward triple authentication — which would be :
• Something you have — such as key card or credential
• Something you know — a pin number
• Something you are — the biometric aspect
By doing this , the security system will begin to play an even more autonomous role . The “ human factor ” remains the challenge . For example , a person with legitimate access is followed through the door by an intruder . There are technologies to prevent this scenario currently on the market , like using a photo beam to count the number of people entering . But K-12 budgets are restrictive and place these technologies out of reach for most schools . We anticipate that as these new technologies expand and become cheaper , they will become ONVIF ( Open Network Video Interface Forum ) compliant and more affordable for K-12 districts . ONVIF specifications , which most manufactures design to , is a standard written into most K-12 design specifications .
MEP design is less active in directly addressing school safety from human actions . MEP designers take care to place infrastructure in inconspicuous locations and protect it from tampering through barriers like fences around electrical equipment . These systems were once “ hidden ” because they ’ re not esthetically pleasing , but today the reason veers primarily towards stopping tampering . However , at this point , MEP design doesn ’ t yet design specifically to prevent equipment disabling or , for example , using active deterrents to drive away introducers . MEP design looks to evolve to not only incorporate the technology backbone and system designs but site design as well , taking into consideration fences and other barriers around the campus during site design .
MEP ’ s safety focus has been toward fire / life safety — which has been working remarkably well . In fact , a child has not been lost to fire in a school since the 1950s . These systems are mature technology that doesn ’ t require major design upgrades , but the systems are currently being integrated with security systems such as surveillance and emergency and evacuation communications . For decades , fire / life safety systems have been the highest priority systems , which could not be overridden . With the increase of school shootings , a mass notification system ( voice over , emails , phone calls , SMS texts , LCD signage , etc .) can override the fire alarm system in the instance of false alarms . Instead , the mass notification system would instruct occupants to shelter in place , rather an evacuate .
Emerging technologies and new design trends promise to better secure our students . It ’ s up to the design industry to inform school districts of the all the possibilities and to create the most secure building systems that they can . As districts begin to adopt new technologies and security protocols , governments must ensure that all schools have the resources to implement these potentially life saving measures . And as citizens we must ensure that there is a political will to give school the resources they need to keep students safe . This is one issue where everyone has a part to play .
We interviewed P2S Senior Security System Designer , Steve Burman , and K-12 Mechanical Engineer , Gareth Owens , for this piece .
1 . Source : CNN , https :// www . cnn . com / 2018 / 03 / 02 / us / school-shootings-2018-list-trnd / index . html 19