Smart buildings beyond HVAC, access control and lighting
New applications and the introduction of new technology in smart buildings is expected to grow at 32% per annum to create more than $2 billion in revenue by 2026.
This is the estimate by global research company ABI Research in a report released earlier this year.
“There is growing interest from building managers, property developers and occupants of buildings to drive efficiencies and deliver a new kind of work environment. IOT technology is ideally suited to provide that,” says Terje Moen, Co-Founder and Business Development: Operations at IoT.nxt.
Moen notes the scope beyond management of HVAC, access control and lighting is big. Building owners and managers can now improve the operation of a building by introducing:
- Workspace analytics and optimisation;
- Meeting rooms and hot desk utilisation and optimisation;
- Environmental monitoring;
- Energy management;
- Asset management; and
- Building management.
In South Africa, IoT.nxt developed a smart building solution for Vodacom at its campus in Midrand and completed a large-scale smart building for Vodafone in Paddington, London, last month.
IoT.nxt will host a Webinar about its solutions for smart buildings this week, which will include a demonstration about the Paddington project. The Webinar will provide details about new ways technology can be implemented in smart buildings and elaborate on what elements of building management it can transform. The Webinar will be presented by Zahir Mamoojee, Vertical Head of Smart Buildings and Energy Management; and Riaz Kharodia, Technical Sales Specialist and Solution Architect at IoT.nxt.
“We will present two sessions, to accommodate people based in different parts of the world in different time zones. As many countries are in partial or total lockdown to manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we cannot present our information at the kind of large trade events where we typically exhibit. However, executives are thinking about projects for the longer term, once economic activity picks up again. We are presenting this event to provide insight that could inform their planning process,” Moen says.
According to ABI’s report, the smart building ecosystem is no longer limited to the traditional building management systems (BMS) vendors. It now includes the manufacturers of consumables and construction materials, adding complementary IOT solutions.
“IOT supports BMS and all other systems in buildings by giving that single pane of glass so needed for so long by building managers globally,” Moen says.
