Helping buildings weather the (economic) storm

by sadia_badhon | February 25, 2021 8:42 pm

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by Jeremy McCullough

The word ‘resiliency’ is often used in discussions related to preparing for or dealing with the after-effects of a hurricane or a flood, but it is an important consideration when managing various other types of disasters, too. Today’s construction specifiers and building owners are increasingly hearing this word because of a different type of emergency—a fiscal one.

This is not the first time the world is facing an economic downturn, and it certainly will not be the last. However, with universal stay-at-home orders,
it is one of the first times building occupancy is very low at such a large scale. How can owners weather the storm, take action now, and bounce back as life returns to normal? In the pursuit of resiliency, the industry is progressively turning to Internet of Things (IoT)-based design in building management systems, lighting, HVAC, controls, security, and more. This adoption not only saves time and money in the long run, but also makes buildings more attractive to prospective occupants, especially important in the competitive climate that is likely to occur in the coming months.

With today’s digital buildings, owners are afforded more tools than in traditional facilities, saving capital and investment, and ensuring the health and safety of all occupants. With the rise of millennials and Generation X in the workforce (38 percent in 2019 and a projected 58 percent in 2028), occupants and facility staff alike will expect—not just appreciate—connected buildings[2]. The expectation, built from a digital-native life of smartphones, pervasive internet connectivity, and a growing investment in smart home devices, makes an IoT-based and digital workplace essentially mandatory. Incorporating that consideration into any construction project, whether a single building or an entire campus, ensures projects stand out among an abundance of options for prospective occupants or buyers, and remains resilient in the face of economic uncertainty.

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Making the case for a digital building

One of the biggest hurdles that design professionals face when trying to integrate IoT-based and digital technologies is convincing stakeholders to buy into the decision in the first place, as these services are considered expensive, with little return on investment. Too often, clients are looking to build a property and sell it quickly, with no consideration for the ultimate end-user’s comfort or ease of use. However, this discards the added value IoT implementation can tack on to the sale price. Digital implementors today are seeing large increases in rental and occupancy rates, as well as a very significant rise in the sell-through number—as much as 15:1—in additional monetary return when the building is sold.

The conversation to garner buy-in is important, but that is only truly effective when done at the very beginning of the specifying process—and only when it is between all verticals and disciplines involved. To conduct a successful project, all parties must be at the table to discuss the how and the why from the outset. If not, it could create greater costs in the long run. For example, imagine an electrical specifier makes the decision to digitize the building, and, therefore, adds a motorized breaker control system to the design. However, the general contractor decides to remove it from the job due to perceived costs. Ultimately, the mechanical team will have to adjust their installation and include onsite buildout of an additional panel, CTs, and relays because the digital communication in the motorized breaker is no longer available. In the end, the cost of removing the motorized panel is greater than if they would have left it in the job. Also, it would have provided a nicer, more efficient solution for the end-user.

To reach a consensus on the utility of a digital building, a design professional can then highlight the numerous advantages of IoT-solutions.

Remote management & 24/7 commissioning

In this day and age, remote management is important, giving facility managers and owners the flexibility to operate a building or multiple structural portfolios without being onsite. This is useful when a time-sensitive issue arises during off-hours, which in a traditional building would take up to 48 hours and a significant dollar spend to address. Without an IoT-based system, course correction would involve rolling a maintenance truck out to identify the issue after hours; then if maintenance does not have the tools or knowledge on hand to fix, they would have to leave and then return to the site; get connected; troubleshoot the issue; and ultimately fix it. With a digital building and its connected metering, HVAC, and lighting, among other installations, facility managers can pinpoint exactly what is going on and often put the system back in use remotely within minutes. Even if it is not possible to fix remotely, like a broken valve, one can still send in an appropriately trained maintenance crew, armed with complete knowledge of the issue and the exact tools they need to fix the valve—saving everyone involved time and money.

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Inefficiency identification

With an IoT-based system, there is a lot of data accrued—and more importantly, analyzed—that would otherwise go to waste. That building data can be used to spot inefficiencies, pinpoint the high-performing buildings that can be emulated, and standardize the building portfolio. The ability to identify one building that consistently uses more energy via the HVAC system can be invaluable in strengthening the bottom line, especially when facilities may be operating with a skeleton crew during periods of low occupancy.

Multi-property management

It is important to not only understand a building’s day-to-day status, but also have a baseline for their operational norm. Without digitally connected buildings, it is difficult to identify the baseline, and various assumptions are made. Especially when bringing new buildings into the portfolio, owners might take data from one optimized building and assume it is the same across all other facilities in their portfolio—when in reality, they are not nearly as efficient. Connecting all the points in a building, and between structures, enables better utilization, efficiency, and cost-savings. It can also help to expose mistakes made, like optimizing comfort of one individual that fights with overall operations benchmarks, making cost and energy consumption ultimately higher.

Occupant comfort and building health intelligence

It is important to maintain a healthy building environment for staff and tenants, particularly in times like these, when the stakes are significantly higher. Certain IoT-based digital services—integrated with the building BMS—built to monitor workplace occupancy and comfort, allow building managers and occupants alike to understand all the factors at play in the pursuit of health. How many other individuals are occupying the space, how long ago a conference room was cleaned, how many people have sat at a desk before you. These tools also make a space more attractive to prospective tenants, bringing in more revenue in a time when it is sorely needed.

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Facilities team health and safety

A digital building is also able to properly maintain the frequency of air volume transfer, and gauge when a space needs cleaning by maintenance staff—possibly eliminating further human contact if in fact the room or floor has not even been occupied. The IoT and remote monitoring capabilities may even allow facilities management and maintenance teams to stay in the safety of their own home for the majority of their workday, minimizing potential contact and spread of germs, and saving the building owner money.

The bottom line

Ultimately, it does come down to cost. Can an IoT-based system save an owner money? Can the installation be done efficiently and effectively? Can the investment in a digital building actually help a sale make more money? The answer to all of these questions is yes. As long as an analytics platform is built into the property ecosystem, and all work is done using an IP infrastructure, they will be set up for success. That success will not just be seen five years down the line when the building is finally recommissioned. A digitally connected building, using digital twins, fault detection, and analytics will be able to monitor buildings from day one all the way through day 1001. No building operates the same every single day (and nor do its occupants); using these tools will help building owners identify issues instantaneously—or even before they happen—saving time and money.

Take, for example, the utility of the IoT in a hospital the author’s company recently worked with. During the design process, the specifying team tested all technologies that were to be used in the hospital, prior to installation. During this testing process, it was discovered the chosen real-time location system (RTLS) was running on a very similar frequency as the chosen lighting control system, causing both systems to go haywire. Since both of those systems were digitally enabled, the team was able to identify the problem immediately. The chosen lighting system was switched out in the small number of test cases, so incompatible technologies were not ultimately rolled out to 504 hospital rooms—and 504 sets of incompatible technologies were not purchased in the first place. Now, that is the power of a construction design professional in today’s digital buildings.

[6]Jeremy McCullough, LEED GA, is EcoStruxure Business Development Manager for Schneider Electric. With over 16 years of experience in building and energy management, he is responsible for managing the company’s relationships with consulting engineers with the goal of helping them design intelligent, integrated buildings using Schneider Electric’s latest building management system (BMS) platform, EcoStruxure. McCullough holds a BS in Business Computer Information Systems from the University of North Texas.

Source URL: https://www.constructionspecifier.com/helping-buildings-weather-the-economic-storm/

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