Smart Building Technology: Examples and Opportunities

Introduction

With the increasing technological advancements and consumer demands in day-to-day life, everything is becoming intelligent. As a result, things around us have dramatically transformed from wristwatches to mobile devices, cars, and homes.

The next frontier evolution is smart buildings, rapidly transitioning the lifestyle of humans on personal and professional fronts. Due to innovative and eco-friendly infrastructure, the adoption of smart building technology is incrementally rising.

In 2021, the worldwide market size of building technology was valued at $67.60 billion. Concurrently, it could reach $80.62 billion by the end of 2022 and grow to $328.62 Billion by 2029.

Undoubtedly, massive reinforcement is underway! So let’s deep-dive more into it.

What is Smart Building Technology?

Definition : Smart building technology is a digital and intelligent framework encompassing IoT, AI, AR, and Building Management Solutions (BMS).

It primarily aims to:

• operationalize automation,
• generate data analytics, and
• establish consumer-centric experiences & real-time communication in a secure environment.

It also incorporates cost-effective and energy-saving systems that optimize resource utilization. As a result, there is a good demand surge for residential and commercial purposes.

In 2022, there are 45 million smart building deployments globally, that could exponentially rise to 115 million by 2026. On top of it, the massive production and installation of IoT devices for smart buildings are taking place.

Notably, the projection also shows solid growth of 2.5 Billion IoT device installations by 2027. It holds a whooping valuation of $92.88 billion from smart buildings set-up.

Why is Smart Building Technology Becoming Popular?

This technology is developed on a complex framework but is highly user-friendly and offers “convenience, comfort, and safety” altogether. Moreover, it minimizes utility and staffing costs and human error possibilities.

Also, smart technology helps stakeholders increase profitability by:

• facilitating an intuitive, tech-savvy, and ultra-modern consumer experience
• enforcing AI-powered predictive monitoring and maintenance that hassle-free identifies unexpected system downtime, faults, and anomalies
• incorporating a Digital Twin framework that creates a real-time simulation of the physical building and updates periodically (which enables building administrators to manage remotely, control, and map 1:1 accurate navigation)
• downsizing energy costs via the deployment of IoT devices and BMS

Smart Building Technology Examples

Here are the top 5 use cases and examples .

• Office Workplaces

Office workplaces need smart technology to syndicate daily business operations effectively. They require optimal working conditions to fuel efficiency, generate better ROI, and reduce business expenses.

From managing employee authorization to security surveillance, and corporate communications, the technology covers a series of tasks at different hierarchies.

Example 1: Apple Park in Cupertino, California, U.S.

The ring-shaped structural design of Apple’s headquarters is the center of attraction. The environment-friendly architecture can support the daily footfall of 12,000 employees.

Besides, every single operation in Apple Park is automated, driven by human-like capabilities. For example, tubes are installed on the ceilings and floorings to control the temperature and maintain in & out everything cool.

Example #2: Capital Tower in Singapore

Capital Tower is the fourth largest 52-story smart building, owned by CapitaLand Group. Its magnificent and ultra-tech architecture has won Green Mark Platinum Award for impeccable water and power efficiency.

Its features include motion detectors, low-emission double-glazed glass windows, intelligent elevators, and dual LCE (Low Carbon Energy) panels.

• Medical Institutions & Hospitals

Healthcare systems require robust ecosystems to bridge the gap between digital and physical touchpoints seamlessly. They need to integrate patient-doctor chambers, surgery rooms, laboratories, isolators, and AI-powered diagnostics.

Smart building technology can fasten treatment procedures, end-to-end information access, and patients’ journeys with quick data synchronization.

Example 1: Sint-Maarten Hospital in Belgium, Europe 

It is the epitome of intelligent and human-centric healthcare, and utilizes smart building technology and cloud-based energy capabilities.

The hospital aims to foster maximum patient-staff and doctor collaboration and operationalize all processes via automation.

Example 2: Sheba Medical Center in Israel

It is the largest medical institution in Israel, and the world’s best smart hospital, ranked at 13th position globally. Every year, the Center takes care of 1 Million patients using AI & Big Data solutions.

Also, it is a prominent healthcare contributor in the Middle East. The success factor behind this forward-thinking approach is Sheba’s ingenious Accelerate, Redesign, and Collaborate (ARC) program.

• Data Center Companies

Data center companies demand concurrent sync to manage, monitor, store, and visualize data for instant decision-making and forecasting.

This technology smoothly furnishes uninterrupted connectivity from stern to stern, ensuring high-end security and energy efficiency.

It eventually empowers companies with comprehensive and actionable data analytics, reducing power consumption and total cost of ownership (TCO).

Example 1: Worldwide Google Data Centers 

Google data centers establish a perfect balance of reliable storage, data security, 24X7 clean energy, and high performance.

On top of it, the building technology used in these centres fosters carbon-free energy. Google primarily focuses on water replenishment and geothermal advancements with carbon-intelligent computing.

Example 2: Hindmarsh Shire Council Corporate Center in Nhill, Victoria, Australia

The contemporary and elite corporate center subtly illustrates Victoria’s ecological and technological capabilities. The center brilliantly streamlines data operations with less energy consumption.

It includes LED lighting systems, thermal chambers, solar panels,  zoned motion-detecting, crossflow ventilation, and many other smart features.

• Smart Infrastructure and Construction

Consumers and corporations look forward to intelligently connected buildings, energy systems, and industries in the fast-paced internet world.

As a result, real-estate projects are inclining toward establishing smart infrastructure.

Example 1: Oakland City Center, California, U.S.

Oakland City Center is well-known for its greenest premium space. It is a vast hub of business centers, shopping stores, and dining facilities, supported by amenities plus parking services.

It perfectly shows the real-life innovative real estate sphere that efficiently maximizes smart building technology.

Example 2: Duke Energy Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.

Duke Energy Center is a 51-story high-rise smart building that recycles approximately 10 million gallons of water annually.

It utilizes over 45,000 LED lights to illuminate the building late evening and night. Furthermore, the entire center is integrated into one central network, which minimizes business expenses and power consumption by 22%.

• Smart Stadiums

Smart building technology is transforming the conventional stadium arena.

With the increasing number of mobile devices and OTT, stadiums need to develop something exceptional to revive the field enthusiasm. This is why the brand-new concept of smart stadiums boomed.

It offers hassle-free smart navigation, giant HD screens, live game statistics, supersonic internet speed, personalized fan experiences, and shopping perks.

Example 1: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, U.K.

It is a state-of-the-art stadium with 1641 Wi-Fi access points, 1800 HD screens, CCTVs, and AI-powered point-of-sale systems.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium improves consumer experience and safety through in-app information. From seat upgrades and food discounts to suspicious activity alerts, it covers a wide range of “smart” facilities.

The exciting part is the stadium’s automated flooring that switches grass field to turf and vice-versa within just 30 minutes.

Example 2: Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia, U.S. 

The smart stadium outshines with a cutting-edge audio system, 1800 Wi-Fi access points, and 2000 HD screens. Its full credit goes to smart technology integration with traditional infrastructure.

Above all, the fans leverage a 63,000 square feet and 360-degree HD video board that boosts live game engagement on a whole new level. This uplifts bookings and in-stadium sales.

What Opportunities Can Smart Building Technology Provide?

The technology opportunities are endless and continually evolving per consumer and corporate needs. Below are five critical future expectations.

• Detect occupancy to manage energy consumption

The installed smart occupancy sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) applications can effortlessly trace the concurrent footfall and optimize energy usage accordingly.

It is the priority concern of businesses and enables administrators to monitor resources and maximize space utilization.

• Optimize air and temperature quality

Smart building technology can offer a trusted, healthy, and safe environment by constantly tracking air conditioning and humidity.

• Its integrated temperature programming balances cooling and heating systems to automate energy usage corresponding to real-time footfall.
• The centralized Chiller Plants optimize the cooling of the entire building and minimize fuel consumption using live weather information.
• Embedded weather monitoring stations on the exterior measure atmospheric conditions, improve air quality, remove pollutants, and maintains the temperature and ventilation system.

• Control electric loads to prevent power breakdown

The smart-direct load control and automated load-shedding seamlessly manage power distribution. This, in turn, helps administrators to prioritize and sort electrical loads following the current occupancy in the building.

This centralized and innovative architecture saves energy costs and conserves power during peak operating hours.

• Manage water supply system

Internet of Things (IoT) tools and technologies in smart buildings effectively manage the sustainable water supply. The robust smart water devices integrated with BMS generate tamper-proof insights, highlighting water utilization at current locations.

The transparent and intelligent monitoring system proactively detects leakage, upkeeps quality, and recycles water resources.

• End-to-end remote maintenance reducing on-site costs

Smart building technology offers remote preservation that directly reduces on-site high maintenance costs. Because it implements quick Over-the-Air (OTA) updates which save stakeholders (or consumers) time to a great extent.

The best part is: the maintenance process keeps internal real-time communication and data flow intact.

The Bottom Line

Integrating this smart technology into your existing infrastructure can expedite productivity 360-degree. Above all, it exponentially augments occupancy capabilities with smooth functioning, high security, and ease of comfort.

What’s surprising is: the high-tech stack involved in smart building technology seems to be super expensive. However, it is economical, energy-efficient, and scalable. Also, you can get it personalized as per your specifications.