Smart building technology isn’t new in the market, however, it hasn’t seen mass adoption yet. In order to understand how the property owners and managers see smart building technology, CIL Management Consultants talked to over 150 landlords, property managers, agents and suppliers in North America and Europe and published the survey results.
Smart building technology isn’t new in the market, however, it hasn’t seen mass adoption yet. In order to understand how the property owners and managers see
smart building technology, CIL Management Consultants talked to over 150 landlords, property managers, agents and suppliers in North America and Europe and published the survey results.
For real estate owners, improving the energy efficiency in commercial buildings has become their top priority in terms of building technology. 84 percent of the respondents have shown the willingness to increase their future spending on building refurbishments and system upgrades.
Currently, this investment focuses on LED lighting which can significantly reduce the cost of building maintenance compared to traditional lighting. In addition, the research has also shown that investment in expensive, advanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), which takes longer to reach a return on investment, is gaining traction.
The consulting firm forecasted that a five to ten percent growth rate over the next five years in the
HVAC and
Lighting sector will take place, by the increasing adoption of more advanced systems.
Facilities management asks for a better value statement
Predictive technology has given facilities management new abilities: from time-based to condition-based
maintenance regimes. Although the technology is still costly, some technology providers have won users with their services and products. For example, integrating monitoring and analytics into their solutions without reducing contract pricing.
“This is a new and exciting development for the sector,” wrote the report.
However, future investment in this sector isn’t positive from the survey. In the facilities management sector, 55 percent of respondents saw it important in building management but only 30 percent of them said they’d be willing to increase spending in it.
“Our research has shown that while facilities management is an important area of focus, it is not strategically valuable and therefore not an area for significant future investment,” wrote the report.
Smart controls and sensors seeing greater adoption
The smart controls and sensors sector, on the other hand, sees great opportunity in the near future. 58 percent of respondents see smart controls and sensors as an important component in building management, and 92 percent of respondents think spending on the sector is increasing.
Under the rising opportunity, the consulting firm pointed out that companies which offer cost-saving and conventional return on investment are the early winners in the sector. Those companies usually started from improving HVAC and lighting. After the economic benefits are proven, they will then introduce workspace utilization and build user engagement.
The report pointed out that properties in larger cities with higher rent, will see early investment in the sector, while older buildings and CRE outside of larger cities will take longer to adopt this technology.
“These developments do not just apply to new buildings either, by
retrofitting them with new technologies, older buildings can reap the benefits of smart technology. The enterprise providers, such as Honeywell or Philips, tend not to compete in this area and instead concentrate on large-scale contractor and architect-led projects. This opens the space to smaller players who can provide systems which are wireless and easy to fit,” wrote the report.