Modern Building Services

MODERN BUILDING SERVICES MAY 2021 23 FEATURE SMART BUILDINGS its continuing ‘smartification’ will be central, if not quite a necessary first step, to the realisation of the smart city vision. These are the places we live and work; even post-pandemic, when we will likely see more flexibility with respect to professional arrangements, buildings will remain at the heart of our lives. Just as the arrival of ‘disruptive’ companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Amazon set in motion an inexorable trend towards ever-greater convenience for the consumer, smart buildings, and the people working towards making buildings smarter, can drive the trend towards smart cities. Once people get used to having a seamless experience in buildings, the demand for a seamless experience in and around the city in which those buildings are located will grow rapidly. The change will be cultural and irreversible, and there will be a greater appetite, in the form of money and political will and uptake from citizens, to accelerate what is a necessary change. Voice and facial recognition And why is it necessary? For one thing, as the World Economic Forum has noted, buildings may be the key to creating a sustainable society post-pandemic. The built world is responsible for 40 percent of all global energy consumption and 33 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. For another, smart buildings improve the productivity of their occupants through better air quality, lighting, and transit through the building. And though we hope that COVID-19 does not continue to mutate and pose a problem far into the future, there will be much greater attention to hygiene in the post-pandemic era, which underscores the need for voice recognition and facial recognition technology, as well as other forms of hands-free tech. But as it is, we have a way to go before buildings become truly smart. In Europe, more than 220 million buildings - three quarters of all buildings - are energy- inefficient. And a broken yet dominant sector business model, geared towards extending the lifespan of equipment, rather than emphasising the role data and technology can play in enable predictive maintenance, as well as the real-time adjustment of temperature, humidity and more, is a barrier that must be overcome. We must also understand that the built world is a notoriously traditional space, and change can take time. This is one reason why disruptive companies pushing for transformation by taking a fundamentally different approach have such a big part to play in making buildings smart. Modern history The end of lockdown heralds a new era, one whose characteristics are yet to be defined. One school of thought believes that the next 10 years will be a new ‘roaring twenties’. Another thinks we have learned important lessons in the last 12months and will leave with these inmind. Whatever your view happens to be, we can agree first that we are at a hingemoment in modern history, presented with an opportunity tomake positive changes to our society, and secondly, that digital technology has been one of the heroes of the coronavirus saga, allowing us to connect with loved ones, keep working, and live with some kind of normality when things were anything but normal. Its value is undeniable. These two facts give us reason to be optimistic. Organisations like WeMaintain are determined to play the part of disruptor in this story and help to drive the trend towards smart buildings and, therefore, smart cities. But there are many companies trying to do things differently, overturn dysfunctional models, and usher in a more progressive, tech-enabled future of which the smart city is, without a doubt, a key part. More information can be at www.wemaintain.com