Could a smart office building transform your workplace?

Yes, smart buildings can cut your energy bills, but the practical impact they have on productivity, engagement and wellbeing can be much more valuable to business leaders.This article was originally written by Mark Wilding and published on Urban Land on June 18 2019.

On average, people spend 80% of their lives inside buildings – office buildings, schools, hospitals and homes. Buildings represent one of the largest capital expenses for businesses, second only to salaries paid to employees. It’s no surprise that property owners and managers are constantly seeking new ways to make buildings more efficient, sustainable, safer and more comfortable. The Internet of Things offers innovative smart building solutions to meet these goals while revolutionizing traditional building automation and management systems. 

Gemalto is at the forefront of the smart building transformation, providing the IoT technologies necessary to Connect, Secure and Monetize a new breed of efficient, sustainable smart building applications. As a member of the Smart Building Alliance (SBA), we work with a wide variety of ecosystem partners - from architects and facility managers to mobile network operators and governments - to accelerate the expansion of smart building technology. By leveraging the core competencies of its members, the SBA works to further develop the smart building ecosystem and integrate connected buildings into the fabric of smart cities to advance convenience, efficiency and sustainability.

Smart Buildings: Improving Efficiency and Sustainability

Smart buildings leverage IoT connectivity, sensors and the cloud to remotely monitor and control a range of building systems from heating and air conditioning, to lighting and security systems. Gemalto is at the forefront of the Smart Building industry, providing solutions and services that Connect, Secure and Monetize building management systems helping to improve efficiency, sustainability and comfort.

What is a Smart Building?

Smart buildings leverage pervasive wireless connectivity, sensors and IoT technologies to communicate and analyze data that is used to control and optimize building management systems. A combination of IoT solutions is used to automate access control, security systems, lighting, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems and more. They provide greater efficiency, safety and comfort, while delivering cost savings that are more closely aligned with the goals of property owners, managers and tenants.  

In smart office buildings, your mobile device is your key to access and convenience. For instance, a smart building app on your mobile device can direct you to open parking spots or EV charging docks in the garage. It can also provide walking directions to a conference room or colleague’s office. Forgot to turn off the office lights? No problem! You can adjust them remotely and turn down the heat with a simple touch of your smartphone screen. Smart buildings even allow you to pay for lunch or vending machines items with a wave of your phone near a contactless payment terminal.  

A Solid Foundation of IoT Connectivity

Gemalto IoT Modules, MIMs and a suite of IoT Module Services provide highly efficient, secure wireless connectivity that quickly connects building security systems, entry and access solutions and remote management and control applications. Offering a range of technologies from high bandwidth LTE solutionsfor building gateways, to efficient Low Power Wide Area solutions such as NB-IoT and LoRa. Gemalto solutions are reliable and built for longevity and easy evolution. These are crucial features in an industry where product lifespan can last 40, 50 or even 100 years. Gemalto’s On Demand Connectivity and Quality of Service solutions simplify the process of provisioning or turning on connectivity and managing it over time to keep buildings running smoothly.

The Key to Success is Trust    

Each connected smart building element - security cameras, access control systems, HVAC and fire protection systems - represents an independent system enabled by its own software and solutions. Interoperability with other smart building elements is essential. This can only happen within a secure ecosystem where applications and stakeholders can trust the integrity of other systems knowing that the data exchanged is protected and true. All solutions need to be protected against physical and digital attacks and they need to be updated over time as new threats emerge. Gemalto leverages best-in-class standardized security solutions and technologies to mitigate threats and strengthen cyber security while ensuring the interoperability of various assets. Gemalto offers a suite of security solutions, platforms and consulting services to keep smart buildings, devices, data and networks secure. Gemalto’s industry unique Trusted Key Manager platform solves the security challenge of authenticating disparate systems over virtually any wireless network, providing strong authentication and encryption technology with a secure digital handshake. Gemalto Virtual Key solutions transform smartphones and wearables into smart building entry keys that leverage agnostic communication protocols (Bluetooth, NFC). Keys are managed and protected by Gemalto’s Trusted Application Manager and secure download of the keys is guaranteed. 

Security must be planned from the onset of building design as well as integrated into legacy buildings that get a smart building upgrade. Lifecycle management and secure updating over the air are essential to the long-term success and security or your building.

Smart Buildings, a Smart Investment

In today’s connected world, data is the new oil and convenience is king! Smart buildings provide endless opportunities for improved convenience and capabilities and each of these provides exciting new avenues of revenue for developers and building managers alike. Flexible monetization schemes allow all ecosystem partners to extract value from IoT solutions while allowing customization to fit the needs and budget of any user or tenant. A suite of Gemalto IoT monetization solutions and Sentinel embedded solutions provide the tools needed to protect and remotely manage IoT software and solutions, allowing users to select and pay for only the features that will benefit their use case.