In this day and age, the term ‘smart’ has widely been used to coin systems that combine innovative technology — i.e. hardware such as Internet of Things (IoT) and softwares, aimed at making everyday life easier. With technology and construction materials getting smarter, it comes as no surprise that buildings are getting smarter too.
What is a Smart Building?
Smart buildings, also known as Intelligent buildings, are nonresidential buildings (i.e. shopping malls, offices, airports, hospitals, schools, etc.) that leverage intelligent automated systems to create a safer, more comfortable and productive environment.
With the ability of IoT devices, individual technical components and systems that once functioned independently within a building, are now integrated via a network. Data of each system and devices can be shared across multiple domains and real-time operations of a building may be easily controlled from a single software.
Challenge of adopting Smart Building solutions
While there has been a rise in smart building technology creation and adoption, 56% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore still face some barrier with digital transformation due to the perceived high implementation cost. Is the cost associated with adopting a new tech solution worth the return on investment (ROI)? Well, understanding its fundamental benefits will be the key to breaking that barrier and unlocking new growth for your business.
Here are the 5 reasons why you investing in Smart Building is the key to growth:
1. Reduce operational cost
Operational overheads are a significant cost for any building owner/user. While these are necessary expenses, the level of spend is often uneconomical because it’s not intelligently applied. Smart technologies provide greater visibility into operations and equipment and may identify inefficient pieces of equipment or wasteful usage patterns. This presents opportunities for deliberate improvements in your processes—and costs—overall.
2. Increase efficiency and productivity
Smart buildings conserve resources by using them more efficiently. Systems and solutions are implemented to increase efficiency, largely by removing repetitive and time-consuming tasks — this in return, reduces manpower costs associated with those tasks.
In addition, smart task management systems can increase productivity and efficiency by up to 90%, through eliminating inefficiencies in communication and by ensuring tasks are sent to the right person at the right time.
3. Improve accountability and transparency
Automated task updates will allow staff to better focus on their work on hand and have greater accountability. Managers can gain real-time updates on the environment of the location and status of staff and tasks all on one dashboard for easy overview.
4. Optimise performance management
With granular data monitoring and advanced analytics, the IoT will collect and present data about any aspect of your building or facility’s operation. For example, with feedback systems and IoT sensors, you will be able to gather data about utility usage, work status, inspection scores and more. Advanced analytics generated by machine learning technology will then drill into the details of tasks performance and automatically deliver real-time performance against preset benchmarks.
All the deep data at your disposal enables you to easily review and optimise performance on a regular basis.
5. Enhance user experience
User experience is always a key performance metric. As smart buildings deliver greater comfort for users, it adds attractive value to your facility and boosts the well being of users.
Needless to say, smart building technologies pave the way for smarter business and operational decisions, and drive long term payoffs.
SIMPPLE works with hundreds of businesses to discover and implement smart solutions catered to their growing business needs. Speak with us to learn more about how you can improve your building’s performance.