Five Ways Smart Buildings Grow Profits
This emerging mega trend that will reshape how businesses make money.
Smart buildings use the Internet of Things (IoT) plus artificial intelligence (AI) to increase productivity. This emerging mega trend will reshape how businesses make money.
These technologies are an emerging focus for a majority of businesses. For example, a Vodafone survey found 63% of surveyed businesses planned to implement IoT technologies within the next year.
Building operations is where most businesses begin their focus on smart building technologies. Today next generation LED lighting systems are being installed that integrate AI and IoT to lower costs and reduce emissions while also enhancing the human experience.
These “autonomous” lighting systems do things like adjust, or even turn off, the lights by windows during daylight hours while maintaining light levels for locations further removed from windows.
But the real future for smart buildings is to disruptively move beyond building operations and into business transformation. Already retailer are experimenting with “spotlighting” where a customer is recognized by a smart building and then engaged through the customer’s wearables, smart phone or in-store visual displays.
Five Ways Smart Buildings Will Grow Profits
Here are five ways your business will profit from smart buildings:
1. Lower Costs.
The future of smart buildings is to price arbitrage between utility prices and alternative solutions.
For example, smart buildings will price arbitrage between the utility’s prices or the cost of self generating from onsite solar or cogeneration power systems. They will buy lower priced electricity, store it in onsite batteries and then use this electricity during high utility price periods.
Smart buildings will also use load management technologies like light dimming, thermostat adjustments or automated window screening to lower both costs and emissions. These cost savings will be harvested while still fulfilling comfort targets at the individual work associate level.
2. Sales.
This is the disruptive mega trend on the horizon.
Imagine driving up to a convenience store for gasoline and having the pump recognize you. It will automatically select the type of gasoline for the car you are driving. While you pump your gas the smart building will display on the pump or on your smart phone a promotional opportunity for products that you have purchased in the past.
It will probably ask, “Would you like to add a MegaMillions quick pick to your purchase?” Smart buildings will create new sales paths for retaining existing customers and winning new ones.
3. Productivity.
Imagine a building that knows your work associates and contractors.
These buildings will track and measure work associate behaviors to identify issues tied to safety and performance. They will recognize vendors and then process them to their assigned locations for meetings or delivery.
The smart building will be a seamless communication hub across digital devices to enable onsite engagement and productivity.
Next- Profit from smart buildings #4 -#5 and Smart building tech is a CEO issue