A new survey reveals that while many U.S. businesses are embracing smart building technology to increase energy efficiency and lower costs, they may fall short of their goals due to an inability to master the data.
Toggled, a building management solutions company and wholly owned subsidiary of Altair, recently surveyed more than 500 U.S. facility decision-makers throughout several industries to gauge smart building technology adoption, its business benefits, and its impact on sustainability initiatives. The independent survey found “significant headroom” remains for data analytics in facilities management.
“It’s clear from our survey the battle for smart building adoption has been won. But we can’t stop there. By helping facilities establish a complete tech-to-intelligence loop, they can fully optimize energy and cost efficiencies,” said Daniel Hollenkamp Jr., chief operating officer of Toggled.
“Most businesses are only scratching the surface of what the technology can do. Once facility managers start to capitalize on what their performance data is telling them and where to adjust, the true business value of a scalable and flexible IoT-enabled smart building network comes to life.”
Adoption Is High, and Strides Are Being Made
According to the survey, as many as 78% of respondents have deployed smart building features, and the same percentage of this group (78%) has seen an increase in energy efficiency and cost reduction as a result of using the technology.
While the results demonstrate businesses are making great progress in lowering energy use and costs, nearly two-thirds of facility decision-makers (64%) say they are still looking for ways to monitor and analyze their carbon footprint or greenhouse gas emissions in their facilities. Only 36% have seen measurable results in decarbonization.
Verification and Analysis Are Low, Inhibiting Further Progress
Most respondents (94%) who have implemented smart building technology say their organization has invested in data analytics. However, as many as 34% say they lack the talent and skills to integrate data science into their smart building platforms. This underscores the importance of businesses choosing a system capable of customizing analytics to the facility and providing simple actionable information in a timely manner. These features enable users to monitor building performance based on real-time data insights, directly from web-based devices without extensive coding or data science knowledge. By doing so, organizations can gain awareness into how these systems are optimizing performance while also lowering their carbon footprint.
More Key Findings from the Survey
- Smart building tech is smart, but is it simple? While many decision-makers surveyed expressed some degree of knowledge when it comes to smart building technology, as many as 88% have the desire to learn more.
- Many face several challenges when it comes to upgrading their lighting and HVAC systems with advanced smart technology.
- Over half (55%) of respondents named complexities around integrating smart technologies with their current infrastructure as one of their significant challenges.
- 38% lack a dedicated, knowledgeable staff to keep smart building tech running smoothly.
- Many face several challenges when it comes to upgrading their lighting and HVAC systems with advanced smart technology.
- Getting smarter to support new return-to-work models: Although most organizations have turned to smart technology to monitor energy consumption and bring down costs of operations, climate control—including temperature (65%) and humidity (45%)—scored high among respondents along with occupancy and space utilization (52%), which can be attributed to a renewed focus on the evolving workplace post-pandemic.
- Commercial real estate (CRE) owners better get smart fast: While the survey confirmed smart building adoption is more prevalent among decision-makers at organizations that own their facilities, it revealed 41% of organizations that lease their space are looking to relocate to commercial space that’s more “green,” with 51% seeking facilities with more smart building technology.
- Over half (58%) of this group are looking to secure a new lease within 11 months or sooner.
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