The #1 Benefit of Smart Buildings

By Facilities Show

The #1 Benefit of Smart Buildings

Earlier this year, Facilities Show held a Smart Buildings Networking and Talk event at its very own 240 Blackfriars. Chris Edwards, Event Director, caught up with some of our speakers to learn their thoughts on the benefits of smart buildings. He asked: “According to the research presented during the evening, the number one perceived benefit of Smart Buildings amongst FM’s is around Energy Management. What are your views on this?”

“I think FMs should be raising their aspirations and seeking to achieve more than just energy management. In either of the comparative ratios prevalent in the industry, energy represents a tiny proportion of operational business spend when compared with space/buildings and people. By approaching Smart Building from the other end of the scale i.e. enabling people, making them more productive and removing the roadblocks to them being able to do their jobs better, you can pick up all of the savings in space and energy efficiency without trying. As soon as you can help people take control of the space they are in, the rest is easy.”

Mike Brooman, CEO of Vanti

“The insight to Smart Building perception from your research is quite interesting. It highlights to me that the understanding of the value of smart buildings is still in its infancy and selling in a business case for Smart Building technology adoption and presenting the value goes way beyond traditional aspects of facility management. FM’s would be well advised to build an understanding of the value Smart Buildings deliver in area’s associated with people costs and some of the softer metrics associated with aspects such as employee wellbeing to complement the business value of sustainability.”

Colin White, Head of Product Marketing at SmartSpace

“Energy management is a logical place to look for savings because it is easily measured, quantifiable and it feels intuitive. There are two problems: 1) it tends to be rather small compared to other costs in buildings, and 2) it is a rather limiting mindset through which to look at the value of a smart building. So you should start with a broad hypothesis and look for all types of efficiencies across energy, maintenance regimes, space allocations, operating performance, capital deployment, staff allocation, the ability to fix issues remotely or at least at the first time of asking. This is what we call facilities optimisation.”

Rodolphe D'Arjuzon, MD and Global Head of Research at Verdantix

“Looking from a holistic perspective, the people within a building have to feel the benefit of any digital innovation. Any modifications need to feed directly back to the wellbeing of those using it. By enabling aa building to deliver a better user experience a company stands to increase productivity, reduce attrition and to attract talent. FM providers also need to be able interact effectively with their clients to ensure the level of service as kept high. Looking at how an FM company interacts with the users of a building has to be factored into and project for smart technology. ”

Catherine Folley, Facilities Management and Professional Services Transformation Lead at Oracle