The data-driven approach to building healthy involves using technology to collect real-time data from buildings.

For instance, smart sensors can be used to monitor temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, inanimate particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds. 

Johnson Controls’s OpenBlue Technology utilises data and AI to improve indoor air quality, regulate indoor temperature, control building access, and provide fire safety.

“By utilising and analysing data within the building and beyond, building operators can manage operations systematically and create safe spaces for occupants. By using the power of data-driven artificial intelligence, it is possible to provide advanced clean air solutions, real-time communication, adaptive cooling, and flexible environmental controls, as well as integrate fire and security systems to achieve increased safety, reduced OPEX, and significant return on investment. The use of location-based data provides key insights to building operators and occupants, giving them the flexibility to further integrate buildings across multiple locations,” says Ahmad M Abuothman, General Manager – Install GCC for Johnson Controls. 

For building owners, access to centralised building data gives a complete view of the scope of the entire operation for real estate owners- be it a single building or a large portfolio of buildings. Real estate owners are driven to invest in data-driven systems and software for their portfolios due to the numerous benefits it provides. 

Buildings are a powerhouse of data. But most often, due to the usage of disparate systems and tools for each use case, there is no visibility for owners into how their buildings are performing, says Prabhu Ramachandran, Founder and CEO of Facilio, a property operations platform designed for time and cost saving efficiency in building operations. 

"A majority of real estate owners consistently battle with three levels of silos – the system silos, building silos and functional silos. System silos are all the disconnected systems within buildings such as HVAC, lighting, fire, metering, elevator, surveillance, access control. All of these come with their own specifications, vendors and operating systems which become cumbersome for O&M teams to manage. Add on top of this, the building silos, created by disparate building-level systems that don’t talk to each other across

the portfolio. And then there are the functional silos being created by the numerous software building owners use to track maintenance management, energy management and reporting, asset performance monitoring, tenant or occupant engagement, and billing and expense management. Due to the lack of integration and the dispersed nature of data across system, building, and functional silos, building owners and operators lack visibility into their operations and the flexibility to modify processes to improve efficiency. Data gets locked away inside these different silos. What real estate owners need is a single-pane view of all this data so that different stakeholders can leverage it to make better business decisions,” he says. 

Having a holistic view of building performance, allows building occupants or owners to understand and eventually influence the ‘why’ behind what’s happening in their properties. 

“Once they gain this understanding, they will be able to empower their tenants to make meaningful real-time changes to optimise energy costs, employee comfort, and productivity. Our workplace management module provides an entire gamut of solutions ranging from space management and real-time space unitisation to hotdesking, and meeting room automation and controls,” adds Prabhu. An equally important but less focused aspect of collecting building data is ensuring its safety.

“In today's modern world where commercial buildings and large enterprises are managed via internet and cloud-based services, it is essential to understand where and how data is stored, how data moves across the network and is used to provide better operational experience. At Facilio, we are committed to keeping this data safe and secure, to ensure it is not accessed, shared with, or viewed by anyone without permission to do so. We also take protective measures that prevent unauthorised access to our databases, computers, and servers. All Facilio services are hosted in Amazon Web Services Cloud facilities and infrastructure,” says Prabhu. 

The use of data, AI, and IoT in the process of making buildings healthy is only going to increase. 

"We strongly believe that the world is changing dramatically in terms of global warming and technological advancement, and we want to actively contribute by using AI and IoT to make buildings and assets more environmentally friendly and at the same time increase the healthy environment in buildings," says Aina Olmos, Business Development Director of VISIO.

With a large wave of research and studies supporting the concept of healthy buildings coming our way, the need for new innovations and technologies that contribute to this will continue to rise. In many ways, we have the pandemic to thank for this – though greater prominence was given to operational changes such as increased cleaning and sanitation during the time, there was undoubtedly a greater emphasis on understanding how building structures and functions can be improved to create healthier environments. And this interest will grow and bring with it greater innovations and improvements to existing building automation technologies and those that contribute to improving air quality.