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Smarter Buildings Are Good for the "Triple Bottom Line": People, Planet and Profits
Green Technology Featured Articles
November 20, 2013

Smarter Buildings Are Good for the "Triple Bottom Line": People, Planet and Profits

By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor

In generations past, architects designed and builders built buildings largely for utilitarian reasons and, in some cases, for reasons of art and beauty (think the Empire State Building). Today, however, buildings need to be a lot smarter than they once were.


It’s not necessarily about being environmentally-minded. It’s also about managing costs, lowering the consumption of increasingly expensive energy sources, and meeting municipal, state and federal guidelines. Smart buildings are often measured today by how well they improve a company’s so-called “triple bottom line,” or people, planet and profits.

According to a recent report published by commercial real estate group Jones Lang LaSalle called, “The Changing Face of Smart Buildings: The Op-Ex Advantage,” smart building technology has the potential to reduce global energy use dramatically, and is already changing how we live and work.

While the U.S. may be experiencing a glut of natural gas – often achieved through the controversial practice of “fracking” – the prices of heating oil are sky-high, and energy prices haven’t dropped noticeably. In Europe, the rising cost of energy is alarming both consumers and business owners. Smart buildings mean using less energy, and this simply makes sense for the bottom line.

“The global adaptation of smart building technology marks a historic opportunity for a single technology class to significantly reduce the energy consumed by cities around the world,” said Dan Probst, chairman of energy and sustainability services at Jones Lang LaSalle. “Upon installation, automated building systems generate profound reductions in a building’s energy consumption because the carbon footprint of the building and its city literally shrinks with every equipment data sensor.”

Smart buildings aren’t simply designed to keep heat in and cold out (or the reverse in the summertime), they are designed to use sensors to know and understand when and where using energy makes the most sense. Non-vital building processes can be carried out during times when demand for electricity is lower, and therefore rates are lower. (Modifying demand can also help ensure that energy companies don’t need to bring older, dirtier generation plants and methods online in order to meet demand.)

While ultimately we may all live in smart homes, it’s important to start with the commercial building sector first: The U.S. commercial real estate sector alone consumes more than $179 billion in energy annually, 30 percent of which is wasted.

By some estimates, a $289 billion in building efficiency investments would produce savings in excess of $1 trillion in the U.S. alone, with every dollar invested in energy efficiency producing three dollars of operational savings. It seems clear, going forward, that the U.S. and many other nations simply can’t afford NOT to promote smart building technology. 




Edited by Blaise McNamee


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