How Technology Is Changing The Future Of Commercial Real Estate
As with other industries, the future of commercial real estate is being shaped by technological advancements and the move to digital processes and big data. While the adoption of new technologies has been relatively slow in the commercial real estate sector, it is not an industry that is devoid of progress on this front.
The Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, Business Information Modelling, data analytics, and cloud computing have taken hold. However, we are merely at the threshold, with disruptive technologies set to revolutionise commercial buildings and, with them, the expectations and interests of all stakeholders.
In an industry that is notoriously complex, the most successful technologies will balance the interests of all stakeholders – often across multiple locations. Through the creation of smart buildings, commercial real estate of the future will leverage data to create optimised processes and connected, safe, and sustainable buildings.
In this blog, we take a closer look at what is driving digital transformation in the commercial real estate industry and the benefits of adopting IoT smart technologies from Smarter Technologies Group throughout the built environment.
What is driving digitisation in the commercial real estate industry?
Growing Populations and Urbanisation
According to the World Bank, the global population is expected to rise to 1.6 billion by 2045. By 2050, seven out of ten of these people will live in cities. This means that built spaces need to be streamlined as much as possible to create safe, functional, environmentally viable workplaces and homes for these rising populations.
Tenant and Occupant Experience
Providing an optimal experience for tenants and building occupants is arguably the most important consideration for every stakeholder in the commercial real estate industry. This tenant experience is becoming increasingly influenced by standards set by smart buildings and digital processes.
Tenants are also expecting raised levels of transparency on all fronts, achievable with minimal time and effort
Shifting Workplace Norms
As mentioned above, the commercial real estate experience is being altered by digitisation. According to Forbes, commercial tenants have expectations around monitoring for safety, mechanical processes, and for efficiency. This is achieved in connected environments with increased scope for automation.
The Growth of Business Intelligence
Business intelligence and the power of big data provides easily attainable benefits for property owners, developers, and other stakeholders. Real-time data insights, forecasting, and historical reporting allows for precision management and strategy across a comprehensive range of applications. These provide opportunities for cost-saving, simplification, and competitive advantage.
Investment Interests
The most effective corporate strategies are linked to digital strategies. According to McKinsey, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital processes. In a shifting – and often uncertain landscape – digital innovation and investment provide the necessary flexibility and resilience. Together with the other benefits of smart commercial building technologies, have become a strong marketable point for property owners and developers.
What are the applications benefits of smart technologies for commercial real estate?
Building Monitoring, Management, and Maintenance
By collecting, analysing, and reporting on full building data in real time, building management is drastically simplified and optimised. Smart building monitoring has a bearing on productivity, waste reduction, and cost savings.
By understanding every aspect of a building’s processes, you are empowered to react to issues in real time through pre-programmable alerts when thresholds are breached. This could be on anything from unauthorised access to undesirable atmospheric conditions and temperature levels.
By assessing historical data, trial and error is mitigated for effective strategic decision-making and measurable tracking of results over time. This encompasses everything from tenant usage and space management and surface optimisation to the management of individual assets and streamlined utilities management.
Applied to maintenance, data is used to create optimised smart preventive maintenance schedules for minimised disruption and reduced cost and downtime associated with reactive processes. It may also have the effect of increasing the lifespan of critical assets and mapping workplace health and safety.
Additionally, this data is collected and stored on a cloud-based dashboard for instant and easy access to maintenance records and property history as needed.
Improved Safety and Security
Virtually anything can be monitored with smart technologies. In even remote locations, alerts can be delivered to remotely accessible dashboards in real time in the event of unauthorised access or unusual activity.
Smart air quality monitoring, smoke detection and fire safety technologies are all conducted automatically, for example. This reduces the need for manual checks and ensures essential safeguards are in place. Two-way communication functionality also allows for remote adjustments to be made and insights to be provided in an emergency.
Simplified Compliance
Building compliance traditionally relies on time-consuming and labour intensive checks, burdensome record-keeping and reporting requirements, and the risk of human error. By collecting data around compliance metrics and making use of real-time and automated alerts, many of these compliance processes are automated.
An example of this lies in Legionella monitoring, which usually involves manual flushing, temperature testing, and reporting. Smart legionella autoflush systems automate this process for uniform testing standards, with alerts sent whenever undesirable results are detected. This is demonstrable commitment to compliance at the highest level.
Improved Tenant Satisfaction
Corporate tenants are increasingly interested in intuitive and connected smart building functionality. Smart technologies provide workplaces that are safe, focused on wellbeing and comfort, and foster productivity.
Data analytics help commercial real estate stakeholders to tailor occupants’ experience of the built environment in every way – from temperature monitoring to smart asset tracking and management and how their space is utilised.
From a cybersecurity perspective, the choice of data network employed in smart buildings makes an enormous difference. Trusted by private and public entities, Orion, The Real-Time Data Network™ provides a balance of secure and reliable performance for users.
By prioritising end-user needs, productivity and efficiencies increase. Smart technologies also have the effect of attracting and retaining talent and providing tools that are adaptable to hybrid working models.
Improved Sustainability
Environmental concerns and growing regulation have made sustainability a key consideration for commercial real estate stakeholders and tenants alike. Smart energy monitoring provides the tools for energy consumption to be understood – and so wasteful behaviour can be changed. This can be done in general and in relation to individual assets to guide efficiencies.
Identifying wastefulness around utilities and making shifts to greener habits is the first step. Done on an ongoing basis, data plays a central role in strategising and monitoring the progress of green objectives. Data also acts as a roadmap for the move to renewable and alternative energy sources with minimal impact to performance and continuity.
Make the move to smarter commercial real estate today
Contact Smarter Technologies Group today to find out more about smart technology solutions for the corporate real estate industry.