In an exclusive interview with CM today, Sultan Chatila, Chief Commercial Officer, Honeywell Building Technologies - Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, talks about the latest trends in smart building solutions.

1. What regional demand trends do you see for smart and sustainable building solutions? What is driving them?

In a recent shift in policies, regional governments such as UAE and Saudi Arabia have announced net-zero goals, fostering the digitalization of industries. This is accelerating the adoption of new technologies focused on creating greater efficiencies and better facilitating sustainability goals.

This means there is an even greater emphasis on the need to reduce buildings’ energy use and carbon emissions across all sectors.

We also see increased demand for smart building solutions from building operators themselves given increased pressures on operational costs. Building operators are also looking for ways to maximize their operational efficiencies and be more resilient, all while providing a healthier environment and a better experience for the building occupants.

2. How can building managers reduce operational costs? What role does energy consumption play in this?

To help reduce operational costs, building owners and operators need to optimize how their building operates. By strategically implementing technologies that incorporate the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced data analytics into building operations, they can uncover insights and opportunities to more accurately predict when a problem is likely to occur and how to optimize systems. Additionally, they can automate routine tasks and provide their operational workforce with data to be more informed and respond appropriately, improving uptime, and decreasing maintenance costs.

Energy management plays a significant role in the overall operational efficiency of a building. Advanced technologies can help enable improved energy use, reduce carbon impact, enhance asset lifecycle, and support occupant comfort and well-being. It is also one of the most common areas of investment for business leaders and decision makers’ ESG strategies. According to the YouGov research commissioned by Honeywell, 41% of respondents said energy management is the most commonly invested ESG area, while 50% said occupational health and safety is the most important.

3. What smart building solutions does Honeywell provide? How do these solutions help property managers and the people using these facilities?

Honeywell has an established track record of delivering advanced technology solutions for buildings across the globe and in the Middle East region, with the aim to create more efficient, safer, secure, and smarter facilities. From building management systems to helping improve indoor air quality, smarter energy management, life safety, and video systems, we offer a range of solutions and services to support our goals. Across the region, we bring deep domain expertise in commercial buildings that include airports, healthcare facilities, and hotels, as well as data centres and educational establishments.

Our integrated solutions include Honeywell Forge, an enterprise performance management software-as-a-service solution creating a single system of record from building systems and using AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) to maximize building health while driving real-time improvements in sustainability, operations, and occupant experience. Honeywell Forge Energy Optimization is a patented, cloud-based, closed-loop solution that connects to a building’s existing HVAC systems to optimize energy consumption. This closed-loop solution operates without the need for customer intervention by regularly analyzing near real-time conditions data – weather and occupancy – with predictive, machine learning models that compute and adjust set points automatically over a facility’s entire HVAC distribution system. This solution was implemented in the United Arab Emirate’s first accredited smart university – Hamdan Bin Mohammed University – resulting in double-digit energy savings.

Honeywell City Suite Software integrates data from critical city infrastructure systems such as traffic, streetlights, environment, emergency services, public safety and security, and utilities into a single, unified view for improving the quality of life for residents through services such as scheduled waste collection and overall improved management of smart services. The Honeywell City Suite is deployed in 75 cities worldwide, helping to improve more than 100 million lives.

We also provide innovative platform solutions such as Honeywell Connected Life Safety Services (CLSS), which essentially improves access to information to mitigate life safety events. This is a compliant, reliable, and remote fire, and life safety solution with a suite of tools that allow systems to be tested and serviced more efficiently than ever before, resulting in less disruption within facilities.

To help safeguard occupants and streamline processes in the event of an incident, Pro-Watch Integrated Security Suite creates intelligent customizable Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) workflows, reducing compliance exceptions, security risks and response times. The suite itself provides a comprehensive security software platform that helps protect people and property by using video analytics, sensors and access control – all from one intuitive and user-friendly interface.

4. Which smart solutions do you see the highest demand for?

According to the YouGov research, 80% of respondents said the importance of energy management and sustainability in their organization has increased over the last two years. No matter the size of the real estate portfolio, we anticipate the demand for advanced technologies that help manage energy demand and drive business continuity to continue to grow.

We also see an increased focus on energy management and sustainability to become standard even in the Small and Medium Buildings space, where, historically, such solutions were too complex or costly to be deployed. To support outcomes for this market segment, Honeywell recently launched Honeywell Small and Medium Building Administrator powered by Honeywell Forge, an affordable and scalable building portfolio management system designed specifically for small-to-medium-sized buildings. It enables users to save up to 30% in facility energy costs, improve visibility into building portfolio performance, and help facility managers optimize occupant comfort, operational performance, and asset management.