Smart buildings must begin with smart planning and designers must
play their part by considering connectivity at the beginning of the design
process.
That was the foundation of a talk on ‘Building Better Buildings
Through Connectivity’ given by Spencer Allen, GEZE UK’s National Sales Manager
for Window Technology, which took place at the Smart Building Show, London.
Placing people at the heart of design, construction, operations
and development decisions, will in turn create “added value” by boosting
productivity and generating cost-savings in human resources and building
management, he outlined.
Controlling a building’s systems – its heating, lighting,
ventilation, air conditioning or other application, will offer improved
efficiency, reduction in energy consumption and an extended life cycle of
products used throughout the building.
But the greatest return on investment could be seen by providing
better workplaces for its occupiers, he stated.
A staggering 90 per cent of an organisation’s expenditure is spent
on its people – by way of salaries, ‘on-costs’ and benefits according to Knoll
Workplace Research. This compares with only 10 per cent spent on operations and
energy consumption.
“The need to look after our people is evident,” he said.
“Maintaining the health and satisfaction of employees will result in a greater
return on a significant investment in any organisation’s running costs.”
It is estimated that we spend as much as 90 per cent of our time
indoors (source: WELL Building Inst PLC 2015) so indoor space is crucial to our
well-being.
“Since its launch in 2014, the WELL Building Standard has been
integral in highlighting a growing aspiration across the built environment to
develop spaces that uphold the well-being of the people using them day-to-day.
A WELL Certified project has the potential to add measurable value to
the health, well-being and happiness of building occupants. It can also
generate increased savings and productivity to the building owner or manager,”
said Spencer.
Much of this can be achieved through better ventilation, he suggested. “Natural ventilation will save a property between 10 and 30 per
cent in energy consumption, help remove air pollutants by as much as a third to
allow for better breathing environments, provide low maintenance and
easy-to-access operation of windows, helping staff feel “in control”, and more
satisfied in their working environments.”
He highlighted how technological advances had brought about
greater opportunities for connectivity and how intelligent hubs like the GEZE
Cockpit could integrate natural ventilation with the management of automatic
doors, smoke and heat extraction, escape and rescue route management and access
control.
“But this requires a vision,” he insisted. “The forethought of
designers in considering the end game, the proposed use of the building and the
desire to create a workplace that puts people at the heart of how it should
operate.”
