Smart buildings are on the rise—and not just in terms of stature.
The global market surpassed $90 billion this past year and is expected to reach anywhere from $256 billion to $568 billion in the coming decade, propelled by growing urgency to get the built and natural worlds back in harmony.
Globally, buildings are responsible for roughly 30% of energy consumption and one-quarter of greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Smart buildings curb these steep climate costs by using advanced technologies to connect, analyze, and optimize key elements of performance. Research suggests that implementing smart technologies can reduce the average office’s whole-building energy use by 18% and, in some cases, produce savings as high as 70% over three years.
For architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) professionals, it all translates to lower costs; more efficient and data-driven processes; stronger alignment with net-zero carbon emissions targets; and happier, healthier occupants.
Smart buildings span many spaces and sectors where humans congregate, from airports, military bases, factories, and hospitals to shopping malls, stadiums, offices, and residential complexes. Regardless of setting, a smart building creates a productive, cost-effective environment by optimizing four basic elements of operation—structures, systems, services, and management—along with the interrelationships between them, according to the Intelligent Building Institute of the United States.
To do this, a central “brain” uses advanced technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and building information modeling (BIM) to integrate and streamline building capabilities ranging from HVAC, electrical, water, and elevator systems to the way tenants receive services and interact with their surroundings. The more encompassing and integrated these systems, the smarter the building.
Aside from its interoperability, a smart building is defined by its ability to produce actionable insights to help those who use it. By gathering anonymized data pegged to people, behavioral patterns, and building systems, it can detect current occupancy levels and distribution, track utility consumption patterns, and respond to these realities in real time.
If, for example, the sun is blazing on a hot August afternoon, a smart system might adjust shutters and air conditioning on both sides of an office building to maintain comfort and minimize cost. If some rooms are full of people while others sit empty, the system might sense the disparity and make appropriate tweaks.
Aside from net-new infrastructure, older buildings are increasingly being retrofitted with smart technology, such as sensors, IoT devices, and automation systems. This is a critical element of decarbonization because modern commercial buildings are designed to last for five decades or longer before requiring extensive maintenance or preservation.
This adaptive reuse process involves assessing the building’s infrastructure, upgrading the network for connectivity, and integrating sensors throughout the property to collect data. Building automation systems (BAS) are implemented to centralize control of various systems, and data analytics and AI are used to process the collected data for optimized energy usage and proactive maintenance.
Today’s smart buildings draw on a decades-long lineage. The concept traces back to the early 1980s, when the Cityplace commercial skyscraper in Hartford, CT, was hailed by its developers as “the world’s first intelligent building” due to its fiber-optic network integrating functions such as heating, ventilation, lighting, security, fire protection, and telecommunications. Such early efforts focused primarily on a building’s technical capabilities; today, the ability for users to shape their experience is just as important.
Modern smart building technology falls into several categories:
Automation and control systems: Various systems—such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, security, and access control—are integrated into a centralized automation platform to optimize performance and reduce waste.
BIM: Defined as the holistic process of creating and managing information for a built asset, BIM allows architects and engineers to capture images, create 3D models to rapidly prototype and test building designs, and efficiently use space based on geographical or financial limitations.
IoT and sensors: Sensors that “talk” to each other through the internet can arm building managers and occupants with actionable data on everything from footfall and occupancy levels to indoor air quality, climate, and even viral risk. In many cases, these settings can be manually or automatically adjusted based on conditions or preferences.
Big data and analytics: Data is collected from sensors, meters, and other devices, then analyzed to gain insight into building performance, occupant behavior, and potential areas for improvement and sharper decision-making.
AI and machine learning: Algorithms translate real-time data from IoT sensors into actionable insights that optimize a building’s performance and inform future projects. Recent advances enable smart buildings to learn from the data they collect to model different occupancy scenarios and generate responses that continually fine-tune the building’s user experience.
The benefits of smart buildings are wide-ranging:
Feedback loops from previous smart buildings help construction professionals build more resilient structures and building operators streamline long-term maintenance. Generative design, meanwhile, empowers architects to iterate toward a more efficient blueprint by using algorithms and set parameters to rapidly cycle through design concepts.
Features such as efficient HVAC systems, optimized lighting, and intelligent power management lower energy consumption. Other eco-friendly design elements, such as optimized resource usage and renewable energy, further reduce a building’s carbon footprint and overall environmental impact.
Advanced security measures—such as biometric access control, surveillance systems, fire detection systems, and anomaly-detecting AI systems—protect buildings and residents from potential threats.
Energy efficiencies and automated processes lower operational costs and maintenance expenses.
Analysis of space utilization data helps optimize the layout and usage of rooms and facilities.
Personalized settings for lighting, temperature, and other amenities create a more comfortable, productive, and healthy environment.
Real-time monitoring of equipment performance ensures potential issues are detected early to reduce downtime and repair costs.
According to a 2018 industry report from the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA)’s Intelligent Buildings Council, smart infrastructure projects are carried out by adapting familiar methods, such as bid-and-spec and construction management.
Within this familiar project framework, smart building technologies and strategies can open new doors.
When it comes to smart architecture, sensors can collect data across a hotel chain or series of offices to better inform designers about how new buildings should look and function. Smarter plans make structures more resilient and allow for easier repair and replacement of worn-down parts or old mechanical systems. Data-driven decisions, meanwhile, can reduce excess heating and cooling needs and realize energy savings as high as 30%–50% (PDF, p. vi), according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
Techniques such as generative design can eliminate unnecessary waste and help designers embrace new approaches such as biomimicry, which emulates nature to achieve greater energy efficiency and performance.
These technologies and insights can also enhance construction, reducing cost and build time for techniques such as prefabrication and modular construction, which involve factory-built materials and repeatable parts assembled onsite.
Thanks to the 360-degree operational vantage point that smart buildings provide, facility managers can enjoy enhanced proactivity in core tenets of their job, such as:
Energy management: Robust analytics offer real-time insight on energy usage, predictions on future trends, and the ability to set targets accordingly.
Predictive maintenance: Sensors can flag high-traffic building areas or potential issues within machinery and supply cables, enabling facilities managers to schedule preventive maintenance, avoid disruptive breakdowns, and extend the lifespan of critical equipment.
Tenant well-being: Smart tech can promote health and happiness by optimizing indoor air quality, lighting, and temperature while offering ways for tenants to personalize these conditions in their spaces. Plus, smart buildings often incorporate automated systems for desk and meeting room reservations that eliminate the possibility of double bookings and let cleaning crews know when to prepare a vacated room for the next occupants or catering teams know when it’s time to restock refreshments. It all boils down to big time savings for smart building facility managers, who need no longer be go-betweens.
For all their promise, smart building projects also come with their fair share of challenges.
With so much data being collected and processed by algorithms, concerns about cybersecurity and data privacy inevitably arise. Although smart buildings collect information anonymously, some experts worry that AI can create unintentional breaches by finding unexpected patterns between data sets and disclosing the identity of individuals.
Additionally, smart technologies such as BAS and IoT devices have proven vulnerable to cyberattacks. Individual users can exacerbate such threats by accessing malware, using an insecure password, or falling behind on downloading the latest software.
Another potential cyberconcern is the need for reliable broadband internet connectivity to run smart-building systems. What happens to building security systems after a period of network disconnection? How about if a nearby cell phone tower is knocked down during a storm?
When it comes to retrofits and renovations, project partners may also run up against limitations or incompatibilities when integrating new and existing systems, CABA’s Intelligent Buildings Council says.
To guard against cyberthreats and protect personally identifiable information, facilities managers should partner with experts to shore up networks and to ensure occupants are trained in individual security best practices. The most critical systems to safeguard include surveillance cameras, access control systems, smart meters, and location tracking tools, says Buildings Magazine. Data protections should center strict controls over collection, encryption, and storage; consent forms for tenants; and third-party security audits.
Pressure is mounting to implement sustainable practices at scale. The Paris Agreement aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and the US government announced plans to invest $80 million from the Inflation Reduction Act toward smart building technology for more than 500 federal buildings.
Although such efforts are energizing, keeping pace with an ambitious, ever-evolving compliance landscape can be just as daunting. Indeed, the building sector is lagging a bit on the path to net zero by 2050, according to the IEA, though China, Japan, the European Union, and the United States have made “notable” recent strides in decarbonization. Smart tech can also help on this front, allowing building owners, operators, and developers to implement—and deliver on—rigorous energy-reduction targets.
Some owners are wary of pursuing new or retrofitted smart-building technology due to budget constraints that emphasize the upfront cost, according to CABA’s Intelligent Building Council.
They add that, considering the long-term cost savings that smart-building projects promise, some hesitation over spend may stem from limited knowledge of available technologies. Similarly, occupants and project partners may be put off if they encounter new tech that seems intimidating or unapproachable.
Education is crucial to ensure all partners and occupants are on the same page when it comes to smart technologies, strategies, and value. “An improved adoption practice is directly linked to an increase in perceived benefits,” the Council states (PDF, p.52).
Smart buildings are standing tall around the world. Chief among them is The Edge, home to the Amsterdam office of consulting giant Deloitte, among other corporate tenants.
Considered by many to be the smartest building in the world, The Edge boasts a network of more than 28,000 sensors that control every aspect of the building’s operation, from booking conference rooms to adjusting light and temperature preferences in workstations. Designed to be ultraefficient and responsive, it constantly learns, self-diagnoses, and self-corrects based on usage and performance feedback from employees. All told, The Edge consumes 70% less electricity than the typical office building and clinched a 98.36% BREEAM sustainability score—the highest ever awarded.
IKON Global Innovation Centre, created by building-materials leader Kingspan, is another beacon in smart building. Nestled amid the lakes and rivers of Ireland’s County Cavan, the office blends current best practices in smart- building construction, design, and technology with future ambitions for a sustainable, self-managing workspace.
The building contains sensors that enable Kingspan engineers to measure energy consumption and the efficacy of different approaches to natural lighting, rainwater capture and disposal, solar panels, and other sustainable technologies.
After extensive energy modeling, IKON was built from materials composed of recycled plastic bottles. Roof-mounted solar panels generate enough power to meet 35% of the building’s energy demands. The car park contains charging points for electric cars, and the building’s toilet systems use rainwater.
IKON’s use of data; sustainable materials; and technologies, including Autodesk Platform Services, will continue to drive innovation for years to come. The company has already made plans to recycle between 300 and 400 million plastic bottles each year in its manufacturing facilities.
Thanks to rapid-fire innovation, experts predict that smart buildings will grow into ever-smarter ecosystems in the coming years. Expected advances include:
Whereas many smart buildings still rely on humans to act on the insight they produce, autonomous buildings can do much of the legwork—from adjusting window shades to issuing workorders—themselves. “I think we’ll see adoption of autonomous building technology really accelerate in the first part of the next decade,” one facilities leader told GlobeSt.
Building materials that adapt to changes in the environment are rapidly proliferating. Offerings include smart concrete that self-heals from damage caused by water, wind, stress, and pressure, thanks to a dormant bacterium that generates limestone to fortify fissures. Smart glass, meanwhile, can make spaces more comfortable for occupants thanks to embedded sensors that detect and block glare and excess heat without the need for blinds that diminish natural light.
Smart buildings and smart cities are fueling each other’s growth, according to Precedence Research. That means neighborhoods, districts, and entire cities have the potential to tap into tools and data-collection efforts—including those generated by the smart buildings within their bounds—to increase walkability, sustainability, resilience, and resource consumption as they grow and change.
Smart buildings like IKON may also help construction blend into the circular economy. With access to hyperdetailed building data, companies dismantling or refurbishing properties will know exactly which materials and components have been used and where they’ve been installed. That will make material recovery easier, turning demolition sites into resources rather than waste dumps. “IKON allows us to explore new directions with data,” says Mike Stenson, Kingspan’s head of innovation. “We’ve only scratched the surface.”
As smart technologies increasingly integrate into buildings, they offer unprecedented potential for creating more sustainable, efficient, and adaptable environments. These advancements not only reduce energy consumption and operational costs but also set the stage for a new era of intelligent infrastructure that responds in real time to occupant needs and environmental demands. The future of smart buildings will see them seamlessly merge with broader smart-city initiatives, contributing to a more resilient and circular economy. As these technologies evolve, they will redefine how spaces are designed, constructed, and inhabited, inching the world closer to achieving sustainability goals.
This article has been updated. It originally published in July 2020. Mark De Wolf contributed.
Delaney Rebernik is a writer, editor, and communications strategist for purpose-driven organizations. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband Todd and dog Spud, who’s named after her favorite food.
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Image created in Midjourney by Stephen Coorlas.
