Both property managers and facility managers are showing a growing interest in adopting smart building solutions to make their operations smoother and more cost-effective. It’s an interest fuelled by demand from operators and tenants.

According to Franco Atassi, CEO, Smart Infrastructure, Siemens Middle East, companies are trending towards an ‘adapt or fail’ philosophy to stay competitive and in business.

“Forward thinking property managers are quickly adopting a digital approach to building operation and management. Smart solutions attract occupants and tenants due to the practical use of time and space.  

Robert Stringer, Director for Professional Services and General Manager, FSI, agreed. “We are starting to see facility managers wanting to adopt smart solutions. Building occupiers now have far more choice on where they operate from or where they choose to live. A well-managed, maintained and operated commercial or residential building or community is going to be far more attractive to an occupier or investor. Utilising smart solutions can be the differentiator that makes the difference to the end user and in turn to the owner or investor,” he said.

Property managers and facility managers are looking to reduce their operating costs and capital expenditure in the long run and one of the feasible ways of doing that is by adopting smart building technologies. 

Robert White, Head of Technology and Innovation, ENGIE Solutions UAE, said, “We have noticed there is a significant requirement for property managers to reduce their operating costs and capital expenditure. This is to improve their carbon footprint, the lifecycle of the assets and the attractiveness of their building to tenants. This cannot be both achieved and sustained over long periods without smart building technology.”

Smart buildings are those which can 'sense' their surroundings through sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and Artificial Intelligence (Al) to adapt and change their functions and operations. By collecting data through sensors, a smart building can use automated processes to control processes like lighting, access control, security, and air conditioning.

“IoT sensors can be used to remotely monitor assets such as chillers, pumps, streetlights, energy metres and water metres, while AI tools help in collecting data in the predictive maintenance of critical assets," said Charalampos Sarafopoulos, Executive Director, Al Shirawi Facilities Management

Benefits of smart building solutions

Smart building solutions reduce the need for manual labour as they can be controlled remotely through web-based applications or mobile apps.

“Property managers can see live performance metrics of their buildings, including comfort, energy, asset performance and availability. Also, engineers and technicians can view live asset data via mobile applications. The insights received enable users to make proactive decisions regarding operations and maintenance of assets, thus maintaining equipment more effectively. It reduces costs while improving system reliability by optimising energy use and freeing up resources.” says White.

Some of the most common technologies used include smart HVAC systems, intelligent lighting, as well as smart access control and security solutions.

According to Karthik Raval, General Manager, Leminar, smart lighting systems are seeing the highest demand. 

“Lighting control systems have the highest demand as compared to chillers and access systems owing to the fact that their implementation is less complex and the return on investment is substantially better,” said Karthik Raval, General Manager, Leminar.

“Some smart lighting are sensitive to the time (morning or evening) or weather (rainy, cloudy or sunny),” said Shady Yehia, Head of Facilities and Real Estate Management, Genpact - Egypt.

“In some instances, HVAC systems can be aligned with the lighting sensors to switch on and off. Smart lighting, in some cases, can also be connected to access control and CCTV systems. So, in case the light switches on, you get warned of a security breach,” said Shady.

Smart HVAC systems use wireless technology to communicate with other smart devices and sensors, allowing them to automatically adjust themselves, based on a number of custom settings and schedules, while with smart security systems, one can use wireless sensors, smart locks and surveillance cameras, to manage a building’s security system on the web or mobile application. phone.

Smart buildings react to their external environment to maintain conditions and reduce operating costs.

“Smart solutions can be used to enhance a facility’s operations by reducing operating costs as well as increasing the life cycle of the critical assets through predictive maintenance, providing the right solution at the right time, remote monitoring, and providing easy access for property and facilities managers and developers on the data such as energy consumption and operating hours,” said Charalampos.

Sustainable and energy-efficient

Smart buildings can play a vital role in sustainability and energy management initiatives. 

“Smart building solutions continually identify opportunities for operational and energy savings. They optimise the performance of existing systems by combining AI and Machine Learning, helping facility managers to predict maintenance issues before they occur,” said White.

“Smart solutions are energy-efficient products that enable buildings to comply with LEED and Green Building Regulations. They greatly help the sustainability agenda by reducing overall power consumption and increasing savings for buildings and townships. Energy-efficient products allow property managers to reduce their electricity bills, which results in increased cost savings while enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint,” says Karthik.

“The benefits of smart buildings include improved energy efficiency, operations, and maintenance. All of which have a positive impact on sustainability including reduced utility use, carbon footprint, labour and material use. For example, we have demonstrated energy savings of up to 40%, and improved operational efficiency by 22–45%, reduced planned maintenance time by 18–32%, and reduced breakdowns by 23%,” says White.

However, he is quick to point out that this is not automatic. “If not monitored proactively, building performance does drift over time. Therefore, it is imperative to engage with the right partner to accelerate the smart building journey.”

Building automation systems can be retrofitted to existing buildings, so building operators or owners do not need to build a new building to get the benefits of a smart building.

Need for integration

While smart building solutions can deliver actionable intelligence about what’s going on in specific areas of a building, using them to their full potential requires integration. This integration allows building owners and managers to view all of their core building systems anytime and anywhere via a single interface.

This is particularly useful for FM players. “Smart technologies enable a virtual facility management approach, building will call out for maintenance as needed as well as providing continuous commissioning for buildings operating mechanical and electrical systems,” said Franco.

“With IoT and AI-driven solutions, we can proactively monitor and control assets from our Operation Control Centre, which allows researchers and operations staff to connect to intelligent infrastructure from the smart grid,” says White.

“With integrated workplace management systems (IWMS), we can not only take feeds from smart building solutions,  but also control and change the building environment remotely and automatically. If a company has several meeting rooms that aren’t being fully utilised it is not efficient to light and cool the space if it is not being used. With an integrated system, we can ensure that the rooms' AC and lights are only turned on prior to the meeting starting and are turned off after a meeting has finished,” said Robert.

While smart building solutions are all about improving the experience of the occupier of the space, not all data collected by the software will be useful to them.

“For example, an occupier will not care about pump vibration, but this information will enable the FM to provide proactive maintenance and ensure that the environment that the user occupies is not affected. Ultimately there will be some cross-over of information from the FM’s to the occupiers if it provides value,” Robert explained.

Smart space planning software

The pandemic and the subsequent social distancing needs has been responsible for laying an increased focus on space and occupant management. With smart space planning software, facilities managers can oversee and optimise the workplace and individual workspaces. 

Smart space planning software helps in space planning, locating employees, measuring occupancy levels in real-time, and also predicts future occupancy levels. “They allow occupants to utilise spaces more efficiently while totally reducing energy waste and consumption,” says Franco.

“As many companies go back to the office and look to operate in a smarter and more flexible way, we are seeing increased inquiries for space management, hot desk booking and people presence tracking. Occupier engagement apps are in high demand by building owners and operators,” said Robert.

What’s the holdback

Charalampos points out that “there still remains reluctance in adopting smart solutions.

This is due to a lack of awareness on life cycle cost analysis. There is also a huge influx of smart building solutions in the industry with little literature and proven case studies for the products,” he says.

“The cost of adopting smart building solutions can be easily justified via multiple ROI models. At the end of the day a digital approach to buildings and occupants' usage allows for efficient utilisation of utilities and more precise utility consumption,” adds Franco.