The smart money

The ‘Smart buildings: Driving Value in the New Normal’ report by Siemens Financial Services estimates the potential cost of modernising buildings for 14 countries, including Poland. For real estate to meet the highest international standards (as set by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction 2020–2040), by 2040 Poland needs to invest around EUR 13.4 bln in building technology in both the public and private sector. Most of this expenditure will be needed to improve the energy efficiency of buildings as well as their health and safety aspects, but the changing face of office work will also require additional investment. The pandemic has set businesses new challenges, and so the commercial and industrial real estate markets will have to come up with the right response. Intelligent buildings could provide the solution that they are looking for.

Adam Targowski, Skanska’s sustainable development director for the CEE region, believes that the pandemic was not the trigger for this revolution, but has rather sped up changes that were already taking place. “For quite some time now we’ve been seeing a shift in companies’ attitudes towards using innovative green solutions. No longer are they just an addition to the way a company does business, they are also crucial for building up a competitive advantage,” he claims. “The pandemic is also going to influence how smart building technology develops over the next few years, as will the changes it has brought about in the way we work,” predicts Krzysztof Koziar, the head of construction advisory at CBRE in Poland. Buildings that are used by the public, including office buildings, will to a greater extent be adapted specifically for the number of people they accommodate. “This will be true both for 24-hour and longer periods,” he adds.

The systems that are likely to make more of an appearance in office buildings include the latest sensors, the Internet of Things and big data. These can be used to make the property contact-free, for instance, while light and temperature sensors together with intelligent heating and ventilation can automatically adjust the conditions in rooms for the needs of the people present. Cloud computing is also useful in this regard, since it allows many people to work from just one desk through a reservation system. Offices with such systems will have to take on board the hybrid model as people will be working from home more often (as is recommended in the present situation and which many employees and companies have now grown accustomed to). It will also be necessary to make certain facilities available, such as electric vehicle chargers in response to the growing popularity of the e-mobility sector. Investment in intelligent buildings will also be vital for the industrial sector, not only for enhanced energy efficiency, but it also to maintain and improve production levels.

But smart buildings will also be of benefit to owners and managers. The pandemic has led people to look for savings in the way buildings are used and particularly from their energy usage. According to Siemens, buildings that are not fitted out with modern technology will soon become regarded as obsolete and lose their value. “Over the last few years, the way buildings are used has changed dramatically in certain sectors. Property owners and managers need to start investing now for their buildings to be safe and meet the needs of their users,” insists Tomasz Kukulski, the president of the board of Siemens Financial Services in Poland. “It’s vital to consider how financing smart systems and using artificial intelligence could reduce operating costs of their assets over the long term,” he adds.

Worth the outlay

According to Siemens’ report, only about 17 pct of companies across the world are currently installing smart technology in their buildings. Around 22 pct of those surveyed declared that they intend to increase their budgets for property modernisations over the next three years. The same trend can be seen in the residential market, where estates are often developed over lengthy project cycles. Artur Łeszczyński, the business development manager for the residential branch of Skanska in Poland, believes that it’s hard to put your finger on which changes have been prompted by the pandemic and which are due to a shift in the attitudes of builders. “For sure, we are going to be seeing these changes introduced over the next few years,” he claims, adding that when working on new residential projects they are now focusing more on the latest systems for ensuring the comfort and safety of the residents. “What we are talking about are ventilation systems with air ozonation and sterilising UV lights that kill microorganisms – and also touchless systems so residents can open doors by using their smartphones, for example, or special magnetic cards. Of course, we are already very familiar with this kind of technology, but in the not too distant future it’s easy to imagine that we will be using and improving it not only to make life easier for residents but also and above all to improve their safety and security,” claims Artur Łeszczyński. Marek Trejda, the industry and energy coordinator at Siemens Financial Services, points out that smart buildings have been up until now seen as rather futuristic, but due to the pandemic they may now become more commonplace.

According to Marek Tobiacelli, the sales director of Siemens Smart Infrastructure, the renovation of public, commercial and industrial buildings will make a substantial contribution to a country’s energy transformation, but he also points to the fact that it forms an essential plank of the EU’s ‘Renovation Wave’ strategy. “Projects that can guarantee savings under an energy performance or energy saving contract will play a significant role in this. Financing for such projects has to be provided by an ESCo (Energy Savings Company), and this has to be paid back in instalments over many years out of the money saved due to the improved energy efficiency. The broad engagement of financial institutions with flexible modern financing models and an understanding of the exact nature of these businesses are going to be essential for the success of the Renovation Wave programme,” he explains.

Total management

Both Krzysztof Koziar of CBRE and Tomasz Kukulski of Siemens Financial Services see the increasing use of building management systems as an unstoppable trend. “With a BMS you can constantly monitor the room conditions, the security and the safety systems as well as the energy usage. The important thing is that the tenants should be able to link up their own systems to the BMS, such as their access control systems, their personnel counting systems, or their light management control systems. In such buildings, special attention needs to be paid to their energy efficiency. The right strategy should be drawn up, based on an assessment of the exact scale of the investment needed and how big the future savings will be as a result of the modernisation, for fitting out a building in this way funded with the use of smart financing, so that it meets the highest standards,” explains Tomasz Kukulski.

The experts all agree that such investment in intelligent buildings needs to be sooner rather than later, but this does not mean that owners are going to need a huge budget for this. Companies can undertake such projects and maintain their financial liquidity by, for example, applying for ESCo financing.