Define, Design, Deliver

If ROI is lacking, or if the technology has fallen short of living up to its promises, the problem is not usually the technology itself. One can argue there is too much technology and not enough of a strategy to produce the experience desired by a building’s stakeholders: the owner, the FM and the occupants, to name a few. 

Solving this problem requires integrating building systems around the desired experience. This ensures the resulting technology is easier to manage and can deliver aggregated data to make a building smart. With little or no systems integration, FMs are left with too many, and often redundant, systems to operate and manage. Without aggregated data, it is hard for owners and FMs to make informed decisions that can impact safety, security and the cost of managing the facility.

Define: What experience does an organization want to achieve?

A crucial first step toward integrating building systems is a conversation involving all stakeholders to uncover the use cases. This holistic approach will determine the appropriate technologies and the level of data integration to achieve the desired experience of every stakeholder. 

Those experiences can fall under any of six key building elements for which smart systems can impact building performance: 

1. Power and energy systems track energy use and provide analysis, but also account for demand response, grid interoperability and distributed energy resources.
2. Health and well-being related systems manage indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual human comfort, light and noise control, potable water quality and odors. 
3. Life safety and property security systems drive situational awareness and enhance emergency communications while strengthening building emergency plans. 
4. Connectivity ensures accessibility to the world beyond the building while accounting for security, coverage, expansion and resilience.
5. Cybersecurity includes practices that identify threats and ensure protection, detection, response and rapid recovery. 
6. Sustainability can be measured using criteria provided by leading global sustainability programs.

Improvements in any one of these areas can help building owners lower operating costs, better attract and retain top talent, and increase the value of their real assets. The problem, however, is focusing on each one of these areas rather than taking a holistic approach to how technology can create the desired experience.

Owners typically install systems one at a time to gain specific benefits without thought to the system duplication that adds to upfront costs and long-term maintenance. For example, installing sensors for a security system can deliver visibility into key property areas. But if occupancy sensors are already in those same areas to turn off lighting when the room is not in use, there is now redundancy in both sensors and cabling. 

When FMs plan around the use cases built for each type of building user, they can define the specific technology required for the building and reduce duplication. This experience-focused approach can also establish the level of integration and data aggregation needed to achieve operational goals. These integrated systems make it easier to live up to sustainability promises, while creating safer, more comfortable environments. 

Integrated systems can also provide building owners with opportunities to generate new revenue. Under traditional models, a service provider may install internet, voice or other network cabling at no cost to the owner in exchange for monthly revenue from building tenants. In this arrangement, the service provider will usually only pay a one-time customer acquisition fee to the owner. However, when owners install low-voltage systems that can power a whole host of building systems from lighting to internet and security, they can own their infrastructure and lease it back to third-party service providers. Savvy building owners can also contract with a third-party provider in a revenue-share model. The provider can install infrastructure and deliver service while the owner can now bill tenants directly, with additional fees for advanced features today, as well as future service as they become available. 

By creating a holistic smart building approach, FMs can reduce upfront costs, perform a broader range of actions with each system installed and reduce operational costs. 

Design for the desired experience 

With all use cases in mind, the design team can begin selecting the technology to deliver the desired amenities and functional features. This will prevent the need for change orders during construction, adding additional infrastructure and third-party agreements that may not be as owner friendly. 

The more integrated the systems, the more complex this task becomes overall. This is where smart building goals sometimes lose momentum. Truly smart buildings require early discussions with network partners to identify opportunities to maximize value. They also require an investment in creating the technical documentation needed to define how systems must connect. As system designs become more complicated, more coordination is required with design and engineering teams and, potentially, code officials. For example, network installation partners may need to coordinate with the mechanical engineer for the building automation system, interior and electrical designers around lighting, and code officials around making the switch to low-voltage DC power. 

Deliver: Reaping the benefits of smart buildings

What poor execution looks like

A lack of integration may prevent FMs and building owners from maximizing the advantages possible from their smart system. Additionally, it can lead to significant costs and frustration.

This was the case for a utility along the U.S. Gulf Coast that wanted to invest in a low-voltage lighting system to reduce energy usage and integrate lighting with other building systems such as window shade control. These low-voltage systems eliminate power loss that occurs when converting AC power back to DC at every LED lighting fixture. While reducing energy usage, low-voltage systems also extend the life of LED fixtures and make it easier to utilize the lighting system as a hub for a Building Internet of Things (BIoT) network. This utility heard that a neighboring utility had invested in a similar solution and decided to see if they could reap the same benefits. 

Once the smart lighting network had been designed and approved by the manufacturer, the documentation was passed onto the general contractor, in keeping with the traditional design-bid-build process. The general contractor hired an electrical contractor who lacked experience installing low-voltage systems. By the time the electrical contractor was ready to begin installing systems, a year and a half had passed, and technology had changed. Rather than following up with the smart building system manufacturer or the design team, the electrical contractor began purchasing outdated equipment. They left in much of the infrastructure needed to support traditional line voltage, lighting solutions, a system duplication that inflated the overall cost of the project. 

The result was an over-budget system that did not work for months after it was originally installed. The smart building system manufacturer had to reprogram the system and replace hardware. 

These problems might have been avoided through stronger advanced coordination between the architect and smart building network designer. With an integrated design-build team, the general contractor might have been better prepared to go to market to find a qualified and experienced smart lighting network installer. Barring that, the electrical contractor might have taken time to upskill to install a system that streamlined operations. With a more integrated team, the smart building integrations were bound to fail. 

A smarter strategy for achieving smart buildings

Ultimately, creating a smart building is not about using a different technology; it is about using a different approach to selecting, designing and installing technology, some of which FMs may already be using. 

Great technology that is poorly installed leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. It contributes to the perception that the technology does not work. So, a critical step in creating smarter buildings is to look beyond the traditional design-bid-build process. 

Smart building design tasks are incredibly involved, technically complex, and require a higher level of design and construction coordination. Because the materials may be different from what contractors are used to installing, it may require earlier involvement from qualified systems integrators and electrical contractors to develop appropriate bids. Installing low-voltage networking and integrating smart building systems requires more specialized skill sets and greater coordination among tradespeople.

In an ideal installation, a master service provider (MSP) would be hired to write the Division 25 specification document that spells out the level of integration required between every piece of low-voltage hardware and software going into a facility to achieve the desired use cases. This documentation includes details on low-voltage network cabling, as well as systems as wide-ranging as irrigation control, lighting control, building automation, security systems and audiovisual systems that are increasingly being tied into life-safety systems. 

That MSP partner could work with the general contractor to find and vet specialty contractors who are able to achieve the specified level of integration. This master service integrator (MSI) would be certified, hold experience installing low-voltage networks and be fully prepared to deliver the high-end, integrated, expected experience.

A new way of thinking

It is easy to think that more systems can lead to a smarter building. It can have the opposite effect if those systems and their data are not effectively integrated. A truly smart building connects systems into a single view of system operation while requiring less infrastructure and human interaction to maintain. With the right upfront planning, a smart building should ease the burden on FM staff while improving building operation, lowering costs and environmental impacts, and enhancing occupant comfort. This makes the building more attractive to tenants and a better investment for owners.

Getting to this point, however, may require a shift in approaching design and construction projects. It may also require the support of a technology-agnostic smart building consultant. After all, smart building systems are not more effective because they have a patchwork of various systems. They work better because they have been designed according to the desired experiences of stakeholders. If FMs are going to transform how buildings operate, they will also have to transform the way they build.