How can smart buildings save energy and reduce costs?

1 Benefits of smart buildings

Smart buildings can help you achieve several goals in your corporate real estate strategy, such as lowering energy consumption and carbon footprint, reducing operating and maintenance costs, enhancing tenant satisfaction and retention, and increasing property value and competitiveness. Smart buildings can adjust temperature, lighting, and air quality according to occupancy, weather, and time of day to reduce energy waste. They can also integrate renewable energy sources and store or sell excess energy to the grid. Furthermore, they can monitor the condition of equipment and systems, automate preventive and corrective maintenance to save time and labor, provide a comfortable environment for tenants with customizable preferences, improve safety and security with biometric access, video surveillance, and fire detection. Moreover, smart buildings can boost market appeal and reputation to attract high-quality tenants and investors, as well as improve asset performance and resilience for a better return on investment with reduced risk exposure.

2 Features of smart buildings

Smart buildings rely on a combination of hardware, software, and connectivity to enable the collection, analysis, and action of data from various building systems. These systems include sensors and actuators installed throughout the building, data platforms and analytics that use AI and ML to identify patterns and anomalies, automation and control to optimize the settings and operations of the building systems, as well as user interfaces and applications that allow building managers or tenants to interact with the building systems and services. These features can measure parameters such as temperature, humidity, light, motion, sound, pressure, and smoke. They can also generate reports and dashboards to show performance and efficiency of the building systems, send notifications and alerts to the building managers or tenants, as well as allow users to access data and analytics, control settings, or request services.

3 Implementation of smart buildings

Implementing smart buildings in your corporate real estate portfolio can be a complex and challenging process, depending on the size, age, and condition of your properties. However, you can take some steps to make it easier and more effective. Start by conducting a thorough audit of your existing building systems and infrastructure, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and evaluating their compatibility with smart technologies. Additionally, define your objectives and priorities – such as reducing energy consumption, improving tenant satisfaction, or increasing property value – before estimating the costs and benefits of implementing smart technologies in your properties. Furthermore, choose the best partners and vendors for your project based on their expertise, experience, and reputation. Then install and integrate your smart solutions in your properties, following the best practices and standards of the industry. Finally, monitor and measure the performance of your smart solutions using data and analytics from your platforms and applications. Evaluate the outcomes and impacts of your solutions to compare them with your baseline and objectives, as well as identify areas for improvement or optimization.

Smart buildings are not only a way to save energy and reduce costs in your corporate real estate portfolio; they are also a way to enhance tenant experience, increase property value, and differentiate yourself from the competition. With the right steps in place, you can implement smart buildings in your existing or new properties to reap the benefits of property technology and digitalization.

4 Here’s what else to consider

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