It’s Election Day, y’all. I hope everyone’s hanging in as we await the results soon to come.
In the meantime, let’s huddle up and talk about a topic we’ve covered here before — namely, smart buildings and how our planet can benefit from retrofitting.
Hear me out:
It’s no secret that our planet needs help. Though we can’t completely undo what’s led us to this boiling point, there’s still much we can do.
The myriad benefits of smart building-oriented installations are important. Smart buildings are better for the environment because they promote energy efficiency, resource management, and renewable energy integration. (Not to mention cutting down on carbon emissions and undue waste.)
Additionally, smart buildings that are initially built to be efficient, in these respects, can also feature everything from installations of specialized water systems to monitor usage, advanced power strips to reduce plug loads, appliances that can be programmed to power down when not in use, proactive maintenance and malfunction detection via smart sensors, and a ton more.
But what of existing buildings that haven’t been optimized to be “smarter” due to any number of reasons? (e.g. budget constraints, construction dilemmas, or simply lack of interest by those in charge to make things smarter and greener)
Last year, Schneider Electric (for example) commissioned a study on retrofitting-focused operations and how that creates a pathway to a.) economic gains, and b.) successful decarbonization.
According to Schneider Electric (and global design firm WSP, who helped carry out the research), buildings represent an estimated 37% of global carbon emissions. And by recognizing that approximately half of today’s buildings are still likely to be in use by 2050 (albeit a plethora of “ghost buildings” that aren’t repurposed or brought down will still likely be a huge issue), sectors committed to decarbonization through smart building projects must urgently reduce operational carbon emissions over the coming decades.
The findings from Schneider and WSP show that deploying digital building and smart power management solutions in existing buildings (like old offices or unused medical facilities) could reduce their carbon emissions by up to 42% (with a payback period of less than three years, the research notes). Moreover, if heating technologies currently powered by fossil fuels are replaced with electric-powered alternatives, all-electric, all-digital buildings will reportedly see an additional 28% reduction in operational carbon emissions. This results in a total reduction of up to 70%.
The long-story-short of this, readers?
While it’s a nice (and well-advised) idea to start smart buildings fresh, retrofitting aging buildings that are sorely in need of modernized monitoring systems is no less critical.
And in that vein, we highly encourage folks to learn more about this topic at our upcoming Smart City Event that’s taking place from February 11-13, 2025, at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This event, part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW experience, also features access to educational conference programming, robust exhibit hall, and other activitiesSpecifically, one session will be titled “Smart Buildings: Retrofitting to Avoid Disasters While Improving Services.”
Learn more about #TECHSUPERSHOW Smart City Event by clicking here, as well.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
