The “What’s Smarter Now?” podcast series concludes its initial run in mid-May 2024 with a highly insightful fifth episode, “Building Smart, Efficient & Healthy Workplaces for People.” This discussion features two pivotal figures in workplace experience and wellbeing: Sandra Gritti, Director Leesman Futures at Leesman (now with Aéto Strategy), and Giovanna Jagger, Senior Director Global Market Development EMEA at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). As Chair of the Digital Buildings Council, I engage with these critical themes, which are central to fostering truly effective built environments.
The episode delves into the evolving landscape of workplaces, focusing on the dynamic interplay between technology, occupant well-being, and data-driven decision-making to achieve a positive return on investment. Our guests highlight the increasingly vital need for collaboration and data integration across all stakeholders to genuinely improve workplace experience and meet ambitious sustainability goals.
Key themes and insights from our conversation include:
- Collaboration Between Landlords and Tenants: The discussion underscores the accelerating shift towards deeper collaboration in real estate, moving beyond traditional adversarial relationships. This is driven by emerging ESG frameworks, demands for data transparency, and an intensified focus on the occupant experience.
- Effective vs. Efficient Buildings: A crucial distinction is made between purely efficient buildings (optimised for metrics like energy consumption) and truly effective buildings that prioritise occupant health, wellbeing, and overall experience. As Giovanna Jagger powerfully stated, “An empty building is as costly as a building that needs to be built from scratch.” This highlights that an unoccupied, efficient building is ultimately neither sustainable nor profitable.
- The Minimum Viable Office: Sandra Gritti introduced this concept, emphasising the necessity for office spaces to have a clear, compelling purpose in the post-pandemic era. The office must offer a distinct value proposition that clearly surpasses the home office experience, with this purpose then directly informing its design, functionality, and technology integration.
- Evolving Roles and Data Literacy: The lines between traditional real estate roles are increasingly blurring as occupant experience, technology, and sustainability become deeply intertwined. This necessitates a broader understanding of data and its applications across a diverse range of stakeholders. Sandra Gritti asserted, “We need to start measuring what’s happening during the operation.”
- ROI Beyond Traditional Metrics: The conversation expanded the definition of ROI beyond mere financial metrics to include the broader impact of occupant experience, workplace effectiveness, and the holistic value proposition that truly effective buildings provide.
- Data-Driven Iteration and Blurring Silos: Both the WELL Building Standard and the Leesman Index frameworks are discussed for their complementary roles and their emphasis on continuous measurement and improvement. Data from technologies like occupancy sensors, for instance, offers value to both landlords (for energy efficiency) and tenants (for space utilisation), underscoring the need for integrated data strategies to break down traditional silos. As Sandra Gritti articulated, “The future is less about worrying about data ownership but more about activating that data to create first case studies, insights that we can build upon to then get more people on board.”
Giovanna Jagger encapsulates a core truth for the industry, stating, “All roads lead to collaboration if you want to succeed at this game.” This episode truly reinforces the importance of a data-driven, collaborative, and human-centric approach to shaping the future of the built environment.
You can listen to the full episode here:
