Every year, the industry sees a deluge of predictions for the coming twelve months. Rather than addi
ng to this ubiquitous noise, I conceived a different approach: to bring together practitioners directly involved in design and deployment, seeking genuine consensus on what truly matters in digital buildings. This “hunch” proved fruitful, delivering pragmatic insights from the “coal face.

This workshop, held in early 2024 and covered by Smart Buildings Magazine, served as a critical foundation for understanding the evolving landscape. My focus as a market engagement specialist is always on fostering collaborative dialogue to yield tangible understanding.

I co-facilitated this insightful session with Aleksandra Dasala, the former head of SmartScore Research at WiredScore. Our insights were compiled into a summary report published in Smart Buildings Magazine last week, which you can read here.

Key Themes from Practitioner Consensus:

Our discussion, involving a diverse group of participants including owners and operators, yielded consensus on several critical challenges and upcoming trends:

• Definitions & Standards: A lack of consistent definitions for “smart buildings” hinders collaboration. There’s a pressing need for industry-wide technical standards and standardised data ontologies.
• Landlord-Tenant Dichotomy: Misaligned incentives often lead to disconnects, impacting data sharing and technology adoption. Dissolving this dichotomy requires establishing a common language and aligning on clear business outcomes.
• Smart Enablement Process & Best Practice: Early stakeholder engagement is vital for successful deployment. The need for clear definitions (e.g., “smart ready”) was highlighted to prevent ambiguity.
• Technology Direction & Future Proofing: The increasing intelligence of edge devices necessitates robust cybersecurity. Infrastructure needs to be flexible to adapt to evolving user needs and technologies.
• Business Case, ROI, & Risk: ROI calculations often overlook “softer” benefits like occupant productivity. Holistic ROI models are needed, and Quantity Surveyors (QSs) were highlighted as a potential “block” here, struggling to quantify intangible value.
• Net Zero & Sustainability: These remain strong drivers for change, offering clear ROI potential through energy optimisation and data-driven decision-making.

This workshop’s success affirmed the power of bringing together those at the sharp end to identify challenges and explore solutions collaboratively. The obvious next step would be to address these critical issues, ideally through further collaborative initiatives, transforming shared insights into actionable progress for the industry.