Developers are harnessing a growing obsession with data to
improve office buildings in ways that could cut costs and streamline
operations, saving owners millions of dollars annually.
اضافة اعلان
The field, known as property technology, or proptech, has
become a booming sector in commercial real estate as property managers seek to
use data collection and artificial intelligence to help control systems like
heating, lighting, air quality and even the flow of workers.
As building owners juggle the complications of workers
safely returning to offices after the pandemic, investors are pouring money
into proptech startups like Cherre and HqO.
But this data collection is raising cybersecurity concerns:
A 2021 Deloitte report found that “cyberthreats are increasing in
sophistication.” Thieves have become more adept at hacking, even using the
thermometer in a fish tank to gain access to the network of a Las Vegas casino.
The increased use of internet-connected sensors is turning
high-rise offices into “computers with a roof” that need to guard against
breaches, said Arie Barendrecht, chief executive of WiredScore, an organization
that certifies digital infrastructure in buildings.
“There’s a flip side to everything smart and connected, and
that’s increased risk,” he said.
But developers believe the industry is on the cusp of a
significant change: The post-pandemic reevaluation of corporate real estate
plans amid an oversupplied office market means there is even more pressure to
better understand and improve commercial real estate.
“There will be a dramatic increase in the information we
have about how people use our buildings, and sensors will be more common,” said
Charlie Kuntz, innovation officer at Hines, a large real estate investment
firm.
In Houston, for example, the planned office tower known as
1550 on the Green aims to be a state-of-the-art addition to the downtown area.
It is expected to open in 2024. Skanska, a Swedish developer, hired Danish
architect Bjarke Ingels to design the 28-story tower, which will feature an
array of environmental controls and smart building features.
The project will include a network of sensors tracking
movement, occupancy and efficiency. Skanska, which handles both development and
construction, plans to install thousands of sensors to collect anonymized data
across its 375,000 square feet, including cameras, optical sensors, parking
scanners and QR code readers on security turnstiles.
“Before, we’d build first and then talk about adding a
certain technology to a building,” said Robert Ward, president and chief
executive of Skanska USA Commercial Development. “Now, it’s, ‘How do we build
the building around the technology?’”
An array of apps and sensors, and the artificial intelligence
that will analyze the data they collect, will provide tenants with more
information on productivity. The immediate focus will be on how to get
employees back into the office safely, but the technology also promises to
uncover areas to streamline. Some sensors will be able to monitor air quality
and even environmental performance, improving energy efficiency and meeting
municipal emissions codes.
This data will eventually become part of the standard
disclosure between property buyers and sellers, said Kevin Danehy, chief
executive of North America at Willow, a building tech firm in Sydney.
“The only place where the owner and occupier used to have
shared concern was the lobby,” he said. “Only in the last three or four years
have these systems become affordable and scalable.”
The pandemic has amplified opportunities for the sector,
said Vik Chawla, a partner at Fifth Wall, a venture capital firm that has
backed proptech firms like Enertiv and Loft. He sees a coming “digitization of
the office asset.”
“Employees want a more high-tech, high-touch, technological
experience,” he said. “There will be orders of magnitude more investment this
year, and with offices empty, it’s the perfect time to retrofit.”
The idea of tracking how workers use space is a core tenet
of the corporate philosophy of the coworking giant WeWork, which often bragged
about its technological prowess.
“Hype and megalomania aside, WeWork was onto something when
it came to flexible space and the underutilization challenge,” said Dan Ryan, chief
executive and a co-founder of VergeSense, a company that manufacturers optical
sensors for buildings. “That philosophy, that we can all operate remotely, is
being adopted by every company.”
The technology being used to monitor office activity tends to
be nondescript. The VergeSense sensor, shaped like a smoke detector and roughly
the size of a deck of cards, counts the number of people in a space and
measures foot traffic. The firm has a proprietary algorithm that can tell if a
space is being used passively by someone who has momentarily stepped away.
Cisco and other enterprises with 10,000 or more employees have signed up to use
the devices with a subscription service.
But some industry insiders say the technology needs to prove
its accuracy before it is truly useful, said Greg Fuller, president and chief
operating officer of Granite Properties, which owns and manages 10 million
square feet of office space.
Granite is working with Fifth Wall to help get a read on
which technologies deliver.
“Real estate firms realize they have to stay competitive and
keep up with technology,” he said.
Others have raised questions of privacy and cybersecurity.
VergeSense, Hines and Skanska all say they use only anonymized data and do not
track individual workers, and a new SmartScore certification introduced by
WiredScore last week includes cybersecurity qualifications and has already been
embraced by dozens of large global landlords.
But it can be tempting to expand occupancy tracking, said
Doug Stewart, head of digital advisory at
Cushman & Wakefield.
“Is it important to know there are three people in a
conference room, or who those three people are?” he said. “The slippery slope
is when we start naming names.”
Still, others believe that building data can help inform the
design of the next office.
Skanska’s 17&M office building in Washington was
designed from the inside out with smart tech, said Ward, “like building the
engine before the car.” The aim of gathering data was to create a continual
feedback loop of design improvements.
Tenants will be preoccupied with returning to the office,
but the next few months after reopening may be a key decision time for firms
curious about this technology.
“It’s the
economic proposition,” Chawla said. “These
technologies mean decreased risk, decreased operating expenses and increased
rent. They’re not doing it because the tech is cool.”
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