IoT – A New Source of Competitive Advantage in Commercial Real Estate

Whatever business you are operating inside a commercial building, if you aren’t collecting, storing, using, and learning from data, then you are not doing your job. That is the sentiment in today’s intelligent buildings market. Commercial real estate faces this reality as the effective use of data, analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT) becomes a competitive advantage. The use of all these tools can maximize occupancy, amplify tenant satisfaction, and even attract and retain employees.

Intelligent building solutions entered the market as tools to improve specific facility systems—HVAC, lighting, and physical security—and it started with connecting devices. Once the devices were connected, the next step was collecting data and analyzing it to be communicated visually. These intelligent building technologies improved the operations of equipment and demonstrated value through the lens of energy efficiency. What makes IoT unique is the ability to unify and process data at the enterprise level, which has been the vision of the intelligent buildings market. IoT enables more cost-effective data acquisition, aggregation, communication, analysis, and ultimately, performance improvement.

Capitalizing on IoT for Fully Occupied, High Value Commercial Real Estate

Journalist Oliver Burkeman wrote in 2009, “Without most of us quite noticing when it happened, the web went from being a strange new curiosity to a background condition of everyday life.” Today, we are entering the next era in which uninterrupted access to data from our mobile phones and wearables to legacy building systems can create a seamless data profile of an enterprise portfolio of facilities to redefine the occupant’s experience, create new productivity for operations and service providers, and create more value for building owners. A holistic, data-driven approach to real estate management is critical as we look into the future of workspaces.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that today’s students will have 8-10 jobs by the time they are 38. Furthermore, the agency estimates that by 2020, 50% of the workforce in the United States will consist of freelancers. What this means is that the demand and use of commercial office space will look completely different than it does today. Technology and an IoT approach to facility optimization can help real estate owners differentiate their buildings to win the competition for tenants and even employees.

What is the process to move the real estate industry toward the digital office of the future? How can IoT deliver cost savings, sustainability, and customer satisfaction? Join us on September 12 at 2 p.m. EDT for an Intel-sponsored Guidehouse Insights webinar. We'll explore how Rudin Management is working with Intel and Prescriptive Data to demonstrate how IoT can optimize the occupant experience in the commercial office.