Autonomous ‘adapt, respond’ to human needs, behaviours Sustainable movement leaves ‘much lighter environmental footprint’

By Jennifer O’Brien

hink buildings are just static steel and the direction for an autonomous . It ? Think again. will enable the multiple building systems to operate and interact more effectively,” “ Buildings continue to evolve,” T Zamora says. according to Ecosystm principal analyst, Michael Zamora, who’s an expert in future of “It will also make it easier for the occupant - as work (FoW), proptech, smart cities, corporate it will become transparent to them - and will and commercial real estate. make it easier for the building operator to more effectively and efficiently run the “They’ve developed from static physical building and the portfolio,” he says, explaining spaces to smart, dynamic, complex, digital a ‘smart building,’ on the other hand, still structures,” Zamora explains. requires a building operator to monitor, assess Welcome to the transformative and and adjust accordingly. sustainable world of ‘autonomous buildings’ - Additionally, autonomous buildings deliver code-named Property 4.0 - a powerful advanced analytics and an AI engine that movement reshaping the property and augment the building’s mechanical and industries and disrupting every electrical systems to unlock hidden insights, aspect of the traditional property lifecycle. optimise performance, support predictive At Your Service maintenance and enable a future of autonomous adaptive control, according to a Fascinated by the topic, Zamora says newly published Lendlease/Podium buildings are becoming super smart and self- whitepaper, ‘A new category: Autonomous aware, developing into ‘dynamic ecosystems’ Buildings.’ that can begin to “anticipate the needs of the occupants,” and are adapting their behaviour In particular, the timely gathering, analysis and to the preferences and needs of the people interpretation of data will lead to increased and the environment - a thrilling scenario that efficiency, optimised decision-making, and offers many benefits. better customer experience in the property and construction industries, the report says. “They’re beginning to govern some of the systems themselves, based on artificial Digging deeper, Zamora says some of the intelligence (AI) and machine learning. This is transformative technology underpinning the push towards autonomous buildings includes and market conditions, pricing, and enable digital twins (a virtual model of a process, improved speed and quality of decision- product or service, and a key cornerstone of making processes,” the report says. the movement), IoT, advanced sensors, 4 Essential Phases machine learning, AI, and data analytics. So, can you now imagine this world of “Technology will continue to evolve and have autonomy? Not so fast – there’s four key new applications for people, buildings and phases – following the property lifecycle - space,” Zamora says, explaining this will that need to play out, according to Lendlease, provide “an incredible opportunity to shape which include: the work environment and the city, in order to provide a better quality of life to work, live, - autonomous design (automation of land learn and play.” identification, design and development processes); It's all about generating positive impacts for - autonomous assembly (automation of both the community and environment, he planning and risk assessments); explains. - automation operation (automation of “A building and its space can influence how a buildings operations that improve person works and how effective a company efficiencies, comfort and ); can be based upon the effectiveness of its and workers,” he says, explaining occupants are - automation experience (automation of more collaborative, productive and healthier processes and responses to human (see an improvement in mental and physical needs and behaviours). wellbeing and enhanced experience), and In fact, if -accomplished, these four enjoy healthier and sustainable work critical phases will bring a host of benefits environments. including: improved physical and mental well- Digital Revolution being; increased profits; reduced risk; increased speed to market; substantial cost So, what’s driving the ‘autonomous buildings’ savings; increased safety; improved customer movement? According to the Lendlease experience; and the achievement of report, “Property 4.0 is here,” and making environmental sustainability metrics and social ‘seismic waves’ in the property and outcomes, to name a few. construction industries – most notably for providing ‘unprecedented’ access to data Collaboration Calls insights and clarity, driving important Certainly, the successful transition to outcomes in experience, wellbeing and ‘autonomous buildings’ requires work on many sustainability. fronts – for starters, it needs collaboration and “With the next phase in the evolution of engagement with developers, builders, buildings underway, we can see it’s not owners, operators, tenants and the broader architectural nor material – it’s a digital community, Lendlease explains. revolution,” the whitepaper explains. Other necessary work involves: establishing “By combining digital technology, data and digital aspirations, objectives and goals early in expert domain knowledge, autonomous the asset lifecycle; ensuring systems and buildings will unlock the previously untapped processes are seamlessly integrated; and value of the built world.” ensuring an intuitive and easy-to-use interface for occupants and operators to access What’s more, autonomous buildings “adapt to changes in the supply chain, environmental experiences, services and information, Undoubtedly, “a new era is before us” as we Lendlease says. move from industrial, to smart – and now onto the promise of ‘autonomous buildings’ and At the same time, typical for new innovation highly connected and efficient environments, roll out, Ecosystm’s Zamora says there could Lendlease says. initially be a cost for the technology. “People want buildings that do no harm to the “That could be a hurdle for many environment, provide optimal comfort and developments. For developments which superior air quality and that enable them to be understand the user and operational benefits, the best version of themselves, to be and the possibility of higher user satisfaction effective, curious and creative, to collaborate, and rental rates - which equate into increased feel good, follow their purpose and have an building value - that could outweigh the cost,” impact.” Zamora says. For more in-depth details, analysis – and fun “In time, as is typical for technology, the cost facts - about the ‘creation of a better built will decrease and the new approach of world’ with ‘autonomous buildings,’ download Property 4.0 will become the new standard. the whitepaper, ‘A new category: It’s similar to how most new developments Autonomous Buildings,’ or visit have some type of green sustainable rating. It www.lendleasepodium.com for more real- has become the new standard.” world examples.

Article written by Jennifer O’Brien, founder of Stories Ink, a content creation and event hosting business that connects through the power of 'storytelling.' Analyst commentary by Ecosystm principal analyst, Michael Zamora.