CAFM & IT
Sustainable systems Our buildings account for a staggering 40% of the UK’s overall carbon footprint – rising to 78% in cities such as London. So, environmental improvements in our offices cannot come too soon. Positively, FMs can adapt successfully by equipping their offerings with Internet of Things (IoT) technology.
So how can IoT solutions help? Firstly, motion sensors can track room occupancy in real time, while smart facilities management platforms can convert occupancy data into actionable insights for tenants. Alternatively, AI-driven systems can learn occupancy patterns to adjust environmental factors themselves. With central heating alone responsible for 10% of the UK’s entire carbon footprint, these innovations can radically improve offices’ sustainability credentials, making them more attractive to prospective tenants.
Furthermore, intelligent controls can cut the environmental cost of lighting. Automated dimming, daylight harvesting, and ‘task tuning’, where light output is regulated as per user preference, can all be harnessed to minimise wastage.
Workers’ wellbeing After months of enforced lockdowns, home-schooling and separation from friends and family, it’s hardly surprising that workers are also increasingly conscious of the need to look after their wellbeing. Here too, smart facilities management systems can enhance the appeal of offerings. As well as saving energy, lighting controls can ensure that tenants have an optimal environment in which to work, reducing the risk of eyestrain caused by squinting at poorly lit screens. Moreover, air quality controls have a lifespan far beyond the pandemic, useful as they are for maintaining a healthy supply of oxygen in the office.
“Our buildings account for a
staggering 40% of the UK’s overall carbon footprint – rising to 78% in cities such as London.”
Working without office amenities has had a disastrous impact on workers’ wellbeing as well as productivity, with 29% of home workers suffering from a lack of adequate equipment at home, and only 23% receiving financial support from their employer to address this deficiency. Facilities managers should therefore invest in tech to obviate these difficulties by facilitating a return to the office.
Workers want to return to the office because they value the sense of community which comes from working alongside colleagues. So, facilities managers should put systems in place to help workers cope with the prospect of remote working in future. Something as simple as
www.tomorrowsfm.com
an up-to-date videoconferencing platform can benefit workers hugely, giving them a direct line to what they miss most about the offices of old.
SME standard Flexible workspace will be a key growth area in the commercial property sector in 2021, so the preferences of their client-base will matter enormously. With the pandemic prompting a wave of entrepreneurship, a new generation of successful startups will find their home in fixed-cost flexible workspace, bringing all their technological sensibilities with them.
“With the pandemic prompting a wave of entrepreneurship, a new generation of successful startups will find their home in fixed-cost flexible workspace.”
These growth businesses will not settle for anything less than first-class connectivity, with superfast broadband now an essential rather than just a ‘nice-to-have’. Many of the businesses to bounce back most successfully from the pandemic have been those which operate almost exclusively online, so internet connection is not just another asset in these companies’ arsenals – it is the very core of their business.
The importance of rapid, reliable connectivity to their operations is reflected in the premium which businesses place on well-connected spaces. Offices awarded a high connectivity rating by WiredScore, for example, can charge a 5% premium on rental space in London. But facilities managers unwilling to equip their spaces to similarly high standards should be warned that, while tenants will pay for the pleasure of fast connectivity, they will vote with their feet if they feel short-changed.
Trust in tech The workplace to which we return post-pandemic will look considerably different to the one we left in March 2020 – and this is a positive change. Tech-equipped spaces will facilitate a faster, smoother return to the office in the wake of COVID-19, while their sustainability credentials will help tackle the other major crisis on the horizon.
Moreover, with attitudes towards both technology and wellbeing changing at pace through the pandemic, facilities managers will see substantial returns on their investment in cutting-edge conferencing and connectivity solutions. Modern, millennial tenants place their trust in tech, and they will place their trust in offerings which clearly demonstrate a shared understanding of tech’s importance.
www.technologywithin.com/ TOMORROW’S FM | 31
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