intelligentÜ - adjective (Environment) ( Science and Technology) Of an office or other building: containing a full set of integrated services such as heating, lighting , electronic office equipment , etc., all controlled by a central computer system which is capable of ensuring the most efficient and sound use of the environment's resources. Etymology: A further development from the sense defined in the entry above: the environment is controlled by an intelligent computer system, but when this runs all services within the building, it is the building itself that comes to be described as intelligent. History and Usage: The first intelligent office buildings were built in the US in 1983 and by the middle of the eighties intelligent had become one of the buzzwords of office design both in the US and in the UK. It is difficult to say whether this further development of the adjective will survive in the language, but it certainly seems to express a design concept which is in keeping with the prevailing concern for integrated and efficient use of resources. One of Britain's most advanced high tech 'intelligent' office developments, Northgate is nearing completion. Glaswegian Dec. 1986, p.
12 To a practitioner in the field of energy, 'intelligent buildings' involve energy engineering and building services, and suggest buildings whose facades, fabric and services combine (passively where possible) to optimise the environment and the consumption of energy. Architech June 1989, p. 43