Without question, technology has infiltrated practically every aspect of our lives. Machine learning, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and the “Internet of Things” (IoT) have been incorporated into everything from healthcare to finance, manufacturing to marketing. It’s being used to enhance user experience, make processes more efficient, and deliver tailored solutions — all of which can help companies attain their own sustainability objectives.
The commercial real estate (CRE) industry faces significant challenges in achieving sustainability goals. High energy consumption, the need for proactive building maintenance, and the importance of designing new eco-friendly buildings make effective tech solutions appealing to the industry.
Renovating older buildings in the name of sustainability, however, does command significant capital cost and deters many landlords from making such an investment.
Enhancing energy efficiency in smart buildings
Technology has the ability to improve building operations and maintenance by increasing energy efficiency, enabling predictive maintenance, and automating energy-consuming systems. Property managers can use tech-provided insights to help reduce energy expenses, achieve sustainability goals, and enhance their properties’ environmental performance.
Smart buildings — which employ intelligent systems to collect actionable data from user devices, sensors, systems, and services — are able to analyze large amounts of data and optimize energy usage, saving costs and reducing environmental impact. Predictive analytics helps prevent energy waste, lower usage, and automate building systems for efficiency.
Predictive maintenance helps property managers to proactively manage equipment by analyzing data from IoT sensors and historical maintenance records. This approach minimizes downtime, reduces costs, and extends the lifespan of critical assets, ultimately enhancing the property’s overall operational efficiency.
Additionally, automated lighting control, HVAC systems, and other energy-consuming processes in buildings can optimize energy usage and keep occupants comfortable. These systems can also adapt to changing conditions like weather forecasts and occupancy patterns. Continuously optimizing these systems may lead to a reduction in environmental impact and lower energy expenses.
Supporting building operations and maintenance
Improvements in building technology help increase efficiency and sustainability through real-time monitoring, resource optimization, and materials management. It can save property management teams time and costs and, by helping flag building issues sooner, reduce downtime, leading to increased building lifespan and lower long-term operational costs.
Technology can monitor building conditions in real-time and flag any unusual issues for property management teams so they can improve maintenance. Machine learning can gather and analyze data from sensors and equipment to identify maintenance needs early, reducing the risk of expensive repairs. Using historical and real-time data, property management teams can forecast maintenance, ensuring smooth operation of commercial properties.
Tech can help optimize maintenance resource allocation by analyzing staffing levels, inventory management, and desk traffic patterns to schedule maintenance activities during periods of low occupancy, minimizing disruption to building operations. It also helps with inventory management by forecasting consumption rates and automating replenishment. These systems can help prioritize urgent tasks and enhance communication between facility management teams and vendors.
New advancements in waste management can automatically categorize waste and identify recyclable materials, boosting recycling rates, conserve resources, and transform waste into valuable new resources that can benefit society and the planet.
Powering sustainable urban development
By harnessing tech, city planners are able to optimize design, monitor environmental impact, and engage with the community more efficiently and effectively. Sustainable design can be enhanced by automating processes and helping to make eco-friendly buildings more efficient, reducing energy consumption, and maximizing water efficiency. Using advanced simulations, building managers can predict natural light interaction to optimize architectural designs, reducing reliance on artificial lighting. This may help buildings meet sustainability goals and improve occupants’ well-being while reducing carbon footprints.
By monitoring the environment and promoting conservation efforts, tech also has the potential to aid in sustainable urban development. It can help tackle issues like urban “heat island” effect, pollution, and diminishing green spaces. Sensors can monitor real-time air and water quality, while municipalities can pinpoint areas within city blocks that need immediate attention. Additionally, city planners can leverage tech to create green spaces that offer maximum ecological benefits — as well as help develop sustainable urban projects that better meet community expectations.
Technology in CRE at work
Qualifying office buildings throughout the KBS portfolio are showcasing how intelligent tech can advance sustainability. For instance, KBS has implemented a number of measures to help ensure cleaner air with the help of smart technologies.
For one, it’s upgraded air filters to MERV 13 (minimum efficiency reporting value) rating, which blocks 98% of pollutants and captures viruses, bacteria, pollen, fine dust and more. And, Ultraviolet Devices, Inc. (UVDI)-recommended filtration for HVAC service is being used in many office amenity spaces, such as lobbies, fitness and conference centers and coffee bars. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) has also been employed to minimize the spread of harmful airborne microorganisms.
In addition, the installation of sensors has helped HVAC systems maintain KBS’ buildings at an indoor humidity level between 30 and 70% — an optimal range according to guidelines established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
Detecting water leaks is another way KBS is putting smart sensors to the test. A sensor placed in areas housing various building systems can send text alerts to building engineers and security personnel in the event of a leak — and even shut off water when a leak is detected.
Challenges to leveraging technology to drive sustainability
While some tech has already demonstrated its potential to drive sustainability in CRE, certain branches of tech, specifically AI, still poses its challenges.
For instance, there’s resistance in the architectural community. Some architects are skeptical of AI’s ability to be pertinent to their work, believing that AI cannot replace — nor should be considered a replacement —for the creative process. Despite AI’s rapid advancement in recent months, a new study suggests that describing a product as using AI lowers a customer’s intention to buy it. The study highlights consumers’ hesitance to incorporate AI into their daily lives — a marked divergence from the enthusiasm driving innovations in big tech.
What’s more, AI is still prohibitively costly — from both a monetary and environmental standpoint. The irony is not lost on developers and owners that hope AI is the answer to more sustainable CRE.
The computing power to fuel AI consumes substantial energy and produces electronic waste. Moreover, the training of AI models alone demands significant computational power — power that must be cooled by copious volumes of water. Solving these issues has been just one of the reasons why many businesses have been slow to adopt AI.
Conclusion
Technology is already playing a crucial role in advancing sustainability in CRE, enhancing energy efficiency in smart buildings, producing innovative green building design, and enabling sustainable urban development. It’s driving transformative changes in the CRE industry with an eye toward combining both natural and man-made environments to ensure efficiency and environmental harmony. This is especially important as the world deals with resource depletion and global warming. As a result, achieving the goal of sustainable CRE is closer than ever before.
Learn more by visiting KBS.com/Insights.
