The Internet of things (IoT) has arrived. Its potential excites multiple industries. Read on if you want to compete in the coming real-time service economy.
The questions are all too common. How do I get virtual access to physical things? My building is full of assets and other things that I can't see, can't interact with, can't manage. Help is here.
Modern building operations are adopting IoT to produce energy savings, gain operational flexibility, and ease in every day maintenance activities. IoT will impact your ultimate bottom line - the value of your building. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that the total potential economic impact of IoT will be in the range of $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion per year in 2025.
Buildings have always desired smarter solutions for automation and increasing tenant satisfaction. The trend hasn't changed. The only thing that has? Open access to inexpensive solutions. IoT offers low cost sensors and anytime, anywhere access to real-time data via cloud computing. IoT unlocks the upgrade path currently held captive by a legacy Building Automation System (BAS). You are now free to choose.
According to a study by Deloitte, adoption of IoT by buildings is going to be nearly $1.3 Billion by 2020.
IoT solutions are unlimited. If you dream it, you can get it. Low-hanging fruit such as utility metering, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) monitoring, and HVAC asset monitoring is already in play. A single technology package can get you all of those upgrades together. Even if technically possible, a BAS upgrade will keep you waiting . . . and paying.
IoT-based solutions deliver your results through mediums you have come to expect. Your phone is your livelihood, and IoT can ride on it. If you don't know what's happening in your building when you're not in it, then you're living in the past. IoT's cloud-computing platform enables every end user to operate like a facility manager. Even tenants can view various aspects of a building's operation through tenant-specific real-time dashboards.
There are several reasons why most buildings are adopting IoT solutions. These example are just scratching the surface.
Most BAS products are designed to control your building, period. They are not designed to support trending and advanced analytics for optimal use of sensor data. IoT's native cloud-computing architecture provides a layer of intelligence on top of your legacy BAS. The BAS is only one part of your sensor infrastructure; it is a sub-system of the IoT advanced services framework.
IoT's integrated system can retrieve data from a legacy BAS, gather data from various IoT sensors and unconnected devices and equipment in a building, and unify them in the cloud. This will enable a comprehensive view into the operation of your building. Guess what? You're now in control, not your legacy BAS or the stream of BAS service technicians roaming your hallways. Real-time dashboards provide high level views, alerts and notifications, and will give you access to granular data that can help with automated actions and strategic decisions.
IoT is also ready today for seamless integration into enterprise resource planning (ERP), asset management, and predictive analytical systems. It can also enable sustainability efforts and enhance the tenant experience.
IoT has been implemented at a large-scale. Large volumes of data from connected products are being generated, and used to automate decision-making and resulting actions in real time. For example, IoT enables the facility manager to inspect real-time energy usage and compare results from the building’s historical data. Wireless sensors can be placed anywhere in a building as a retrofit without disrupting tenant operations. A building operation center can then be established to prevent past failures from re-occurring using continuous monitoring and early failure detection mechanisms.
In one smart building example, the HVAC and lighting can be adjusted according to user preferences based on the comfort conditions as well as occupants’ locations. Energy consumption of buildings due to the behavior of their occupants is enabled via IoT. The BAS would be subservient to the IoT intelligence layer. Comfort preferences of occupants can override standard BAS programming. Wouldn't it be better for the BAS to serve the tenants rather than the other way around? Tenant satisfaction will have a large impact on building valuation.
Consider the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) revolution. A recent study by Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment found that cognitive functions improved with better indoor environmental quality and ventilation. It included a 50 percent increase in focus, doubling in crisis response, and a tripling in information usage and strategic thinking scores. A follow-up study found positive impacts on sleep and wellness as well. Do you think your tenants care about IAQ?
IoT usage in buildings provides a competitive advantage and will drive increased rental and property value, renewed leases and recommendation by occupants and tenants.
Buildings face the challenge of ensuring that their critical systems like HVAC, lighting and other equipment operate at maximum efficiency and uptime. They also need to ensure attentive handling of all customer service requests. Even the slightest disruption can lead to penalties or customer churn. IoT provides needed insight into the performance of the various systems in a building.
According to C3IoT, the advantages of IoT include “Improving prognostic lead time and flexibility in scheduling of maintenance tasks; increasing temporal accuracy and localization of asset failure predictions; reducing or avoiding unplanned, emergency maintenance tasks; and maximizing energy production reliability and dispatch commitments.” What's not to like?
IoT has the capability of providing a single view of the sensor data from heterogeneous sources. This helps monitor an entire group of facilities from a single location.
Reactive maintenance is expensive. Get ahead of the problems. Get insight before you are alerted by your tenant. Shouldn't your building operation be focused on preventing emergencies rather than paying for them? Real-time tools enabled by IoT becomes the advisor you envision.
IoT products expedite the time to resolution of maintenance issues. Remote monitoring also improves the customer service experience since customers are sent automated notifications about service issues. Better communication equals a better relationship.
IoT is impacting building operations now. IoT helps build advanced services in this fast moving digital world. Your building deserves it, and your tenants will thank you.
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