Tick-tech, tick-tech…

The transformation work model requires a new approach from companies as well as investment in new technology. This helps not only to attract employees but also to optimise their work. Meanwhile, rising energy costs and climate change are having a greater impact on investors and property managers. As a result, new buildings are increasingly being equipped with systems for reducing costs and optimising operations. This also helps in the independent management of the building, by controlling, for example, the lighting and the heating. It also makes checking the availability of rooms and individual zones in the offices possible as well as geo-locating employees within the building. Which systems will turn out to be the best for the owners of office buildings in the future and which ones for the tenants? Which will dominate the market? We put these questions to the owners and developers of office buildings and to the suppliers of such systems. Their answers all point to the idea that accessing the latest technology and using it to generate real benefits is the key to success. Setting up all the available systems at the same time, however, doesn’t make much sense. New systems should, therefore, be introduced judiciously, according to the needs of that particular organisation.

Łukasz Stypułkowski

partner, head of partnerships, Zonifero

The commercial real estate sector has seen a huge movement towards embracing new technology. We have now entered the latest wave of technological advance, known as PropTech 4.0. This involves a significant paradigm shift by focusing our attention onto people as the main beneficiary of intelligent buildings. The latest generation of systems have been designed to make the employee feel more comfortable and thus enhance the quality of their work and their job satisfaction. The use of mobile systems for this purpose increases the engagement
of the building’s users and allows them to feel that they have control over the management system. Obvious benefits from ​​such systems as cost savings in the operation of real estate still remain, but the building’s user is the main focus.

Barbara Michalska

Microsoft 365 BG Lead

The latest technology is already changing the office world. Until recently, your job used to be associated with a kind of ‘attachment’ to a place, building or desk. But now, in the digital age, in almost every area of our ​​lives our tasks can be carried out wherever we are – all that’s needed is internet access and the right software. Microsoft’s own response to the needs of organisations aiming to adopt the ‘modern workplace’ concept has been to set up Microsoft Teams – a platform that integrates all the different aspects of business communication. This includes mailbox, text chat, video chat as well as cloud-based virtual disks, so that you can edit shared documents and files in real time with your colleagues. Many companies across the world are already embracing the ‘modern workplace’ vision. We expect group work tools to become much more popular in the near future. Interestingly, in a study conducted by Microsoft in cooperation with Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, more than half of those surveyed believe that through integrated platforms, algorithms and machine learning, many activities, especially the more monotonous ones, will become automated. We can therefore expect an increase in the use of advanced technology across the entire economy, with the office sector certainly being no exception.

Mikołaj Jędryczka

Blue Bolt

I can see three main areas of technological progress in office buildings. One is the tenant experience and employee well-being. Employers are paying increasing attention to the satisfaction levels of their personnel, especially the most qualified ones. Employers are aware that in addition to having a positive impact on productivity, this can also help them to retain talent and reduce the rate of employee absenteeism. Data-driven design is another area that is worth paying attention to. Such terms as the Internet of Things and Big Data may now seem somewhat hackneyed, but the fact is that a thorough analysis of the building’s data allows you to achieve savings in such areas as the electricity costs. Modern office buildings are already equipped with a plethora of sensors and IoT devices. However, the key to success is to translate this mass of data into real benefits.

Paweł Jaguś

CEO, Maat4

The paradox at the heart of technological development, and not just of the systems used in office buildings, is that ideas arising in other fields of the economy are often introduced. One example is the 5G network. In ​​large cities, where a significant percentage of the world’s population is concentrated, this system gives almost everyone the opportunity to use applications that require the user’s location. The other area of development is the cloud. For example, moving servers to the cloud involves access to office resources, the opportunity for remote working and the greater optimisation of the leased space. We have now reached the point where the traditional reception is no longer needed because with automatic booking QR codes can be used to give us access to specific offices and rooms. Wifi and RFID systems also give us greater possibilities in office buildings. The combination of mobile devices with office systems will eliminate traditional access cards and also allow us to monitor the number of people in the building in case it needs to be evacuated, or if we need to assess whether the comfort systems are adequate for the number of the building’s users.

Mikołaj Laskowski

director of the office leasing department, BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland

Technology in the office has moved on in recent years and has been given added significance. Today it can be divided into three main sectors. One of the most important is BMS – the building management systems used by property owners. These systems were often fairly basic in the past, but today they are much more powerful. Intelligent building management systems use sensors, including infrared sensors as well as temperature and light intensity sensors. As a result, artificial intelligence and BMS systems can independently manage the entire building by controlling the lighting, heating and fresh air in the office. This also improves the energy efficiency of the building and its microclimate. This is all part of the current trend to optimise electricity costs. Thus there is an increasing emphasis on ensuring that the operation of buildings is not too expensive for the tenants. Renewable energy systems will, therefore, be used more and more often in buildings. The future also belongs to technology related to the working environment and remote working, and that is designed to increase the productivity of employees and their access to information. Systems for booking rooms, accessing the vacant space in the office and that are quick to log in to are such examples of this. Advanced analytical systems that accelerate and encourage decision making and security systems are also becoming more significant. When introducing new systems, you first of all have to carry out an audit and decide what your priorities are. For some it will be greater employee productivity while for others it will be the automation of analytical processes. Introducing many systems at once makes no sense. New tools should only be introduced after some consideration of the pre-established rules and needs of the organisation.

Iwona Luniewska-Plona

office and industry business development manager, Signify

The emergence of the Internet of Things, network connections and apps has been revolutionising the office market. Constant innovation has been having a significant impact on developers and tenants by posing them fresh challenges while giving them real opportunities for growth. Office buildings and the office space itself will be among the main beneficiaries of intelligent systems – and it will be the integration of these that will be the basis for the further expansion of building technology. By consolidating all the various systems significant savings can be made while the comfort of use is vastly improved. Today’s intelligent buildings are a boon for administrators, providing them with vast amounts of information on how a given office should be used, while allowing employees to personalise their workplace. Our Interact Office system has been developed in response to this. It uses the building’s lighting infrastructure to analyse the space occupancy. This is done through special sensors built into the light fittings that communicate with each other that generate data on the use of the space by employees. This pioneering system has been developed through combining three systems: LED, cloud computing and the Internet of Things. LED guarantees that the lighting is of a high quality and that electricity costs are reduced; the cloud provides free remote access to the system from anywhere in the world; while The Internet of Things allows you to collate data that can then be used to optimise the usage of the space.

Anna Suchodolska co-CEO and CFO, White Stone Development

The development of effective and intelligent proptech systems designed to fulfil people’s evolving needs and to minimise the impact on the environment will continue at a rapid pace into the near future. This is not just about having the latest gadgets, but adopting a comprehensive approach to the challenges faced by cities and communities. Office buildings not only have to provide the best possible conditions for working in, i.e. through the improved management of lighting, ventilation and logistics systems. ‘Smart buildings’ should also be designed for integration with urban infrastructure, so that our cities themselves have the chance to become ‘smart’ and adapt to the changing world and its challenges
– whether these are climate-related,
cultural and societal. I also see the opportunity for the fuller and wider exploitation of the potential of BIM systems. BIM is no longer just a tool for design or coordination between different sectors, but is also the starting point for automating the construction process, and thus for accelerating and reducing related costs. On the subject of the BIM system, it’s worth emphasising the fact that projects introduced through the use of this technology are an excellent instrument for the building management later on during its operation. Using proptech, which is also understood as the continuing digitisation of the office real estate sector, attempts are already being made to integrate smart building systems with BIM – and these attempts will certainly be made on a larger scale. We feel that today we shouldn’t waste time theorising and speculating about the future, but instead we should take decisive action. Hence our decision to bring tech firm MAAT4 into the White Stone group.

Jarosław Zagórski

commercial and development director, Ghelamco

The biggest challenge for office developers
is the integration of systems within one building. We have already been seeing progress in this field with the advent of the Internet of Things, big data and mobile systems. It’s important to bear in mind that they are all intended to serve their users and help them perform their daily duties. Our goal is to constantly improve the work comfort in our buildings, which is why, for example, the Warsaw Unit is the first high-rise office tower in Poland to apply for the latest v2 Core certificate. Energy efficiency is another important aspect. Each of us are well aware that modern office
buildings are packed with electronics. And this is where the challenge arises: many of the systems used in buildings are developed by various companies that are often in competition with each other. Furthermore, systems used by the tenants themselves are generally independent of the buildings. That’s why at Ghelamco we are working on a system that will fully integrate all the various systems that have been independent of each other until now. For this project we are employing data science and artificial intelligence. When we finally introduce it, the term ‘intelligent building’ will take on a whole new dimension.

Jakub Zagórski

digital business strategy director, Skanska’s commercial development business in the CEE region

New technology has been having an impact on the entire life-cycle of projects – from the design and construction stage to the building management. Among all the various trends, four seem set to dominate. One important trend is the use of drones to help supervise construction sites. This can be used to increase safety, reduce costs and improve the efficiency of inspection processes. Then there is the Internet of Things – interconnected devices generating data that can be used on a huge scale. All new buildings will be equipped with sensors for performance monitoring and preventive maintenance. The improved use of data from heterogeneous systems will provide us with access to more meaningful information. Another major trend shaping the office sector is that of cloud data storage platforms and infrastructure of immense scalability and computing power. There will also be more focus on the quality and structuring of the data, as well as aligning all the different data sources within a shared data environment. At the same time, more emphasis will be put on cyber-security. And finally, co-creation and collaboration will intensify with our clients, which will also shape the demand for smart and hi-tech solutions. Such collaboration will be better, faster and in real time, thus encouraging our clients to take part in the co-creation of enhanced products and services.