How Will Smart Buildings Balance Efficiency And Tenant Experience?
Smart buildings offer the promise of peak efficiency, automation and comfort, all thanks to a network of sensors that can track everything from the temperature of a room to how many people are in each office and even when equipment needs repair. But as developers, owners and building managers adopt new technologies, they will have to reckon with a delicate balance between operational efficiency and tenant comfort.
“The question is really if they’ve considered every angle,” WiredScore CEO and founder Arie Barendrecht said. “Smart technology can yield great benefits if deployed correctly, but it can lead to unhappy tenants if it’s not thought through.”
Bisnow sat down with Barendrecht to learn how buildings can use data more effectively and discuss the best paths toward a smarter future.
Barendrecht: A smart building is any structure that uses automated processes to control its operations. That could mean something as simple as automatically adjusting the temperature in the lobby or as complex as tracking employees as they move through the entire building. Eighty percent of new construction involves at least one facet of the Internet of Things or related smart building technologies, according to a report from Research & Markets.
Bisnow: Where has building technology been in the past?
Barendrecht: Imagine a busy metropolitan office building. Every day, thousands of people pass through electric turnstiles opened by a keycard or fob.
Previously, a central data hub likely tracked activity within the turnstiles but only came into effect when there was an irregularity. For example, if somebody passed through the turnstile without a keycard, it would buzz to alert a security guard. Commercial properties would collect this data, but never examine it. The computer system was used to detect issues, not for optimization or prediction.
Bisnow: What might a smart building do instead?
Barendrecht: Instead of merely collecting data, buildings are now implementing analytics platforms that examine data and harness it to make the building work more efficiently.
In our turnstile example, a smart building’s analytics might “see” a spike in activity around noon as tenants exit for lunch. The building automatically decreases the HVAC system’s output to save energy while fewer people are in the building.
The key here is data-driven automation, which can extend to lighting, elevators, security and more. Automation saves property managers the headaches of constantly tinkering with different controls. It shows asset managers that the buildings are running on a more cost-efficient scale, and ultimately, it makes the building more profitable for owners and investors.
