You’ve heard the term “Smart Buildings” before and perhaps have a general understanding of what makes a building smart. What you may not know is that smart buildings can boost employee productivity and support new standards for workplace design and strategy.
Additionally, smart buildings that support green office environments have been linked to increased cognitive function scores. According to a study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “these results suggest that even modest improvements to indoor environmental quality may have a profound impact on the decision-making performance of workers.”
So what exactly is a smart building? At its most basic level, a smart building is an integrated property that connects all the dots between lighting, thermostat comfort, air quality, physical security, sanitation and more to make occupants more productive. By having all of these core subsystems integrated it reduces costs and overall carbon footprint than a build that is not “smart.”
Creating and managing a smart building requires adding intelligence at every step, from design phase through to the end of a building’s useful life. For instance, smart buildings use information technology during daily operations to connect subsystems that typically operate independently. The benefit of linking these systems allows the property manager and owner to have shared analytics and make improvements to the building and tenants comfort accordingly.
Optimized Operations and Efficiency
Smart buildings encompass all aspects of developing and managing a property, from automation systems and HVAC, to energy control and wireless networks. But smart buildings look beyond their physical plant by being connected and responsive to the smart power grid. This enables buildings to interact with facility operators and occupants in a multitude of ways beneficial to both, including:
- Enhanced interactive services and amenities
- Lower costs of operations and maintenance
- Improved energy-efficient HVAC solutions
- Smarter lighting systems and controls
- Fully integrated systems, subsystems and controls
- Enhanced preventive maintenance analytics
- Improved tenant comfort and satisfaction
- Web-based interface for owners, operators and end users
- Enhanced safety, health and security
- Real-time response to occupant needs
Supporting Corporate Workplace Strategy
Today, corporate workplace strategy is focused on creating physical space to engage and attract new talent and support technology driven activity based workplaces. SME and large enterprises alike are making real estate decisions adding smart buildings to the list of requirements along with amenities, transportation and location.
