For the past 10 years, I’ve been trying to calculate the same thing that my very first smart building client challenged me on… “yeah, that’s all great. But what’s the return on investment if I spend this much?”. And well, that’s a difficult question to answer. It’s taken me years and lots of trial and error to get to a place where I can get something that’s close enough.
Firstly, the difficulty comes from the fact that a smart building is created from a whole recipe of different technologies. It could be air conditioning, fancy lifts, fresh air sensors, rooms that unlock with your signature move - the list goes on. How they are installed and glued together changes the very nature of what’s possible. Being able to control the costs as part of the hardware installation with your contractor is only the beginning. Maybe using a master systems integrator (MSI) to create some kind of unified data layer is a good start for getting a handle on the data costs. Working with an organisation’s IT department on the software or mobile applications that are put into the hands of a user often complicates the issue further. As they say, there are many ways to skin a cat… and lots of ways to work out the cost and benefit of doing so. It’s 6 of one and half a dozen of another.
Time is a good companion in trialling these sorts of things out. Hindsight has allowed me the opportunity to develop some rules of thumb as to how much you expect to pay for each technology down to a per square foot basis. When it comes to the benefits, I’ve learnt that every organisation is different, and the way you can apportion benefits varies wildly by context; almost all companies care about their carbon footprint and the cost resulting from energy consumption. A good start for a smart building is tackling that. The next most valuable thing that most companies care about is how much they spend renting or constructing their space. After that, what’s important to the building’s users starts to diverge. In a hospital, it could be getting patients out of bed faster; in an office, it could be reducing productivity leakage; in a university, it could be the number of first-class degrees awarded. Knowing the primary value lever your client is targeting offers insight into which technologies offer the best investment and, therefore, the recipe of technology worth investing in.
Having a way to track all this and have something that’s easily navigable was starting to become a challenge. So, I wrote a book on it. The Smart Building Advantage: Unlocking the Value of Smart Building Technologies comes out on the 9th September. It’s the culmination of my industry tried-and-tested research. It covers everything from a framework for how to think about the value that a smart building can bring to a business, how the definition of smart buildings has naturally evolved over the years and the rules of thumb needed to create a compelling business case. It’s been academically reviewed and challenged by some industry giants.
One of my main reasons for writing this was that I was getting fed up of listening to the same conversations on loop. The cynicism that has grown in the industry has been born out of the fact that those who have achieved commercial success with smart building technologies have kept their methods close to their chests as they are guarding what is perceived as a commercial advantage. Given the collective feedback from this very column about the importance of sharing lessons learnt for industry advancement, it made sense to write something that helped us all take a collective step forward. By having a method that we can all hang our hats on, I hope we start to actually create spaces where technology makes a step change in performance and beyond. By solving what is often the biggest hurdle, I hope we can begin to experiment once more with innovation in the built environment.
I would love to know what you think…
You can get your copy of The Smart Building Advantage from all good bookshops or online at Amazon.
UK 🇬🇧: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pr...
USA 🇺🇸: https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...
EU 🇪🇺: https://www.amazon.fr/gp/produ...
In Dr Marson’s monthly column, he’ll be chronicling his thoughts and opinions on the latest developments, trends, and challenges in the Smart Buildings industry and the wider world of construction. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, you're sure to find something of interest here.
Something to share? Contact the author: column@matthewmarson.com
About the author:
Matthew Marson is an experienced leader, working at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and the built environment. He was recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as Young Engineer of the Year for his contributions to the global Smart Buildings industry. Having worked on some of the world’s leading smart buildings and cities projects, Matthew is a keynote speaker at international industry events related to emerging technology, net zero design and lessons from projects. He was an author in the Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Technologies and a published writer in a variety of journals, earning a doctorate in Smart Buildings.