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Smart Monitoring And Sustainability: The Future Of Buildings Management

By Uwe Klatt, Vice President of Sales at Disruptive Technologies.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important across sectors. From manufacturing to healthcare, there is a move to consume less energy, generate less waste, and reduce total environmental impact. And the pressure is being felt within buildings management. While sustainability in the management of new builds can be aided by ecological construction processes – the use of renewable and recyclable resources, the integration of more efficient heating, lighting and water systems -older buildings present more of a problem. Is it even possible to work sustainable practices into the management of some premises? What aspects need to be considered? And what are the potential solutions?

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Why sustainability matters in buildings management

According to the World Green Buildings Council, the built environment contributes around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint. With operational emissions – heating, lighting, cooling – accounting for 28% of carbon emissions. This doesn’t factor in the emissions associated with construction – they add another 11% on top. If we can take control of our buildings and manage them effectively, the potential environmental benefit could be enormous.

But what can buildings managers do?

What sustainability solutions are available for buildings management?

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have disrupted the real estate and facilities management industry. And it’s here that buildings administrators will find the most advanced solutions for effective sustainability management.

The development of wireless IoT sensors allows for building assets to be both monitored and controlled from anywhere in the world. The advancements in the sensors: very small, long battery lifetimes and wireless technology combined, mean that IoT is a feasible and appealing solution in older buildings too. Enabling not just sustainability functionalities, but those that reduce costs, and improve tenant comfort and wellbeing. These include:

Predictive maintenance – enabling the remote identification and tracking of issues that could cause property and asset damage. Ensuring the health and proper operation of critical building infrastructures and automatic problem notification.

Data-driven asset management – with sensors providing real-time data on wide-ranging factors, from energy consumption to building occupation, it becomes possible for managers to maintain, control and redistribute assets as required.

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) optimisation – the environment and comfort plays an enormous part in employee performance. If a building is too cold or too hot, has poor lighting or limited ventilation, it won’t just impact employee motivation, but their health. Smart sensors can help businesses to manage these factors.

Smart resource allocation – Equally, smart sensors have the capability of supporting the efficient allocation of space. This prevents the over-burdening of facilities – heating, air-conditioning – through ensuring that space is optimised without being overused.

As well as helping to reduce costs and improve the built environment for its occupants, each of these features has the potential to make considerable sustainability gains. With predictive maintenance, for example, facilities can be repaired before major damage occurs – saving costs and reducing the resources necessary for tackling large scale repair. And as utilities are better managed, a corollary effect on costs will be perceived.

The future of buildings management

Despite considerable gains in the time of Covid, the IoT is still rapidly evolving. And with it, its supported technologies. In buildings management, there is enormous scope for improvement. With the potential for infinitely scalable solutions and large-scale deployments. Products are already falling in price and improving in performance, but as further sector investment takes place, we’ll see further enhancements. And as building intelligence becomes more broadly available – and more widely utilised – sustainability goals are going to become far more achievable.

Sustainability in buildings management levels down to three things: environmental, economic and societal. Corporate social responsibility demands that we all play our part in the Paris Agreement’s treaty on climate change because of the potential impact global warming could have on all of us. With smart monitoring, the adoption of sustainable practices is within the reach of all facilities managers.