The Future of Work
The last few years have radically redefined the concept of the workplace. After the boom in teleworking, many physical offices remain underutilised – average attendance is around 30% below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, only 5.5 per cent of Europeans usually worked from home, a percentage that jumped to 12.3 per cent in 2020. With fewer people present, how can office spaces be justified and optimised? The answer lies in smart, connected buildings capable of self-adjusting to the new dynamics of hybrid working. If once ‘walls had ears’, now they have sensors, actuators and algorithms – ready to turn brick and mortar into technological allies.
Human-Technical Convergence in the Smart Office
Connected buildings reconcile the human dimension with the technical. On the one hand, they respond to the needs and well-being of the occupants; on the other, they maximise efficiency through advanced automation. The technological heart is the BMS (Building Management System), integrated with IoT (Internet of Things) and distributed sensors. This central brain controls climate control, lighting, access and more, communicating via open protocols (such as BACnet) that guarantee interoperability between devices from different manufacturers. The sector is clearly moving in this direction – more and more devices are connected to IP networks and support open standard protocols. This allows previously isolated systems to ‘talk’ to each other, exchanging data on occupancy, temperature or air quality in real time.
Of course, all this intelligence only makes sense if it serves people. ‘A building only becomes truly intelligent when it interacts with its occupants,’ observed David Weaver, director of Siemens. Users rarely share engineers’ enthusiasm for building gadgets: what they want is comfort and productivity, without the building being “disgusting”. If the technology is intrusive or confusing, it tends to be ignored, switched off or even sabotaged by the users themselves. In plain English: there’s little point in a state-of-the-art sensor if it ends up taped over by an employee fed up with polarising air conditioning. That’s why modern automation focuses on frictionless, almost invisible experiences: the building discreetly adjusts to the occupants, not the other way round.
Intelligent Occupancy Management and Dynamic Spaces
With the massive take-up of hybrid working, occupancy management has become one of the critical – and least explored – angles of connected buildings. In many companies, only a fraction of desks are occupied at any given time. In fact, the average occupancy in global cities fluctuates close to 60%, leading companies to rethink layouts and even reduce square metres. A McKinsey projection suggests a 10-20% drop in office demand in several metropolises by 2030. Faced with this scenario, occupancy analytics comes into play: networks of sensors count people, monitor usage patterns and feed algorithms that optimise spaces in real time.
Imagine automatically booking a meeting room as soon as you enter the building, because the system knows – anonymously – how many people are in each space. Today it’s already possible to check on your smartphone which rooms or workstations are free, thanks to real-time occupancy data. This same historical data helps managers resize spaces: how many conference rooms do we really need? Which area is chronically underutilised on Fridays? Some buildings already adjust zones on the fly: if half the team is teleworking on Wednesdays, certain floors can be put into standby mode (reduced lighting, minimal air conditioning), concentrating people in other areas. This type of agile building reduces costs and energy without sacrificing comfort. In fact, presence sensors applied to lighting have already shown savings of 15-30% on energy costs in offices – lights that switch themselves off when no one is there aren’t lazy, they’re efficient.
As well as saving money, the interoperability of systems allows for creativity in space management. For example, by integrating motion sensors, people counters and Outlook calendars, a smart office can automatically direct occupants to available hot desks, or send alerts if an area is abnormally full (useful for complying with security protocols or just avoiding the crush in the pantry). All this while respecting privacy – data is processed in aggregate and anonymised form, focusing on patterns rather than monitoring individuals. After all, the goal is a self-optimising office, not a corporate Big Brother.
Environmental Control and Personalised Comfort
Who hasn’t participated in the legendary thermostat wars in an office? Fortunately, in smart buildings that conflict is on its way out. Intelligent HVAC systems no longer just switch on and off by the clock; they adjust temperature, ventilation and humidity based on multiple inputs: number of people present, activity, outside temperature and even personal preferences. Edge computing plays a decisive role here: instead of sending all the data to the cloud, small local controllers process information in the moment, where it is generated. This reduces latency – decisions are almost instantaneous – and keeps the building operational even if the internet fails (no one wants a ‘dumb’ building just because the connection is down!).
There are already offices capable of recognising patterns: let’s imagine that as you enter the building, the lights in your area gradually switch on, the climate control adjusts to the 22°C you like and even the coffee machine prepares a double espresso at 9.05am. It sounds like fiction, but that’s the level of personalisation that technology is bringing. It’s environmental automation taken to concierge level: tailor-made comfort, without having to turn a single knob.
This personalisation is based on a myriad of interconnected sensors. State-of-the-art multifunction sensors simultaneously monitor temperature, air quality, luminosity and occupancy in a given space. The combined data makes it possible, for example, to automatically increase the fresh air in a crowded meeting room, preventing that post-lunch drowsiness caused by high CO₂. Instead of operating with static preset values, ventilation adapts dynamically: one study showed buildings injecting fresh air directly proportional to the number of people present, dramatically improving ventilation efficiency. The result? More airy rooms and more awake employees – without anyone having to open windows or adjust anything manually.
Importantly, open and standardised protocols ensure that all these devices ‘speak the same language’. BACnet, for example, allows manufacturer X’s occupancy sensor to communicate with manufacturer Y’s HVAC controller without compatibility problems. This openness encourages an ecosystem where new solutions (a smart air purifier, for example) can be added to the building without being held hostage by a single supplier. It’s the opposite of the closed proprietary systems of the past – today’s connected buildings are all about interoperability. And don’t forget cybersecurity: with so much IoT ‘gizmos’ connected to the network, manufacturers are integrating security from design to implementation, ensuring that the smart building doesn’t become the next victim of hackers.
Well-being, Productivity and Comfort Indicators
In addition to operational efficiency, connected buildings bring a shift in focus: from the wall to the human. Indicators of occupant well-being have become key metrics of success. Thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics, light levels – all of this is now measured and optimised on an ongoing basis. And there are good reasons for this: Harvard researchers found cognitive improvements of 61 per cent in ‘green’ office environments with better ventilation, compared to traditional buildings. In other words, an employee in a healthy environment thinks better and faster – literally. Even minor effects, when multiplied by the wage bill, have a huge impact: around 90% of a company’s costs are people (salaries and the like), so improving cognitive performance by 1% or reducing sick days can translate into substantial gains. No wonder Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and comfort are at the top of the post-pandemic agenda. Organisations such as ASHRAE have revisited ventilation and air filtration standards, and smart buildings incorporate CO₂, particle and VOC counters, keeping these parameters within optimal levels automatically.
Connected buildings also make it possible to monitor wellbeing KPIs almost in real time: from the noise level in an open-space to the light dazzle index by the windows. With integrated dashboards, facility managers can see, for example, that Room A had CO₂ levels above the ideal during 2 hours of a meeting – indicating a need to recalibrate the HVAC or schedule more breaks. Similarly, occupants can receive feedback, providing transparency and increasing the confidence of those who have returned to the meeting. All of this contributes to a greater goal: offices that not only house work, but actively improve the work experience. After all, a comfortable and healthy employee is, on average, happier and 12 per cent more productive, according to various studies (just ask any HR manager!).
A glimpse into the near future
Focusing on the present, we already see buildings functioning almost like giant computers, full of sensors and coordinated actuators. But what about the future? Here’s a brief projection: artificial intelligence promises to take building automation to the next level. Applications of AI and machine learning are emerging in predictive maintenance and advanced occupancy analysis. Soon, the building itself will be able to learn patterns – anticipating which rooms will need extra heating on a cold Monday morning, or which days a cleaning boost is needed based on footfall. Digital twins are also gaining ground: virtual versions of the building that simulate usage scenarios, helping to optimise everything from people flow to emergency exits, even before walls are built.
Personalisation should also evolve: perhaps through wearables or profiles in the cloud, each person will have a comfort fingerprint applied to any space they use. And with the convergence of technologies, we could see buildings that interact with smart cities – imagine the office telling your autonomous car to pick you up five minutes before you finish the last meeting, because it has noticed that it has started to rain and the meeting is ending early. Sound futuristic? Yes, but a few years ago it also sounded futuristic to be able to adjust the office lighting from your mobile phone or have sensors guide automated cleaning according to actual occupancy.
Today, it has become clear that connected buildings are not a futuristic luxury, but a pragmatic response to the challenges of modern work. They redefine office spaces to be more flexible, sustainable and people-centred, fusing the best of technology with human needs. The question that remains is a provocative one: are we ready for our offices to think for us – and are we making the most of this intelligence in our workplaces?
WiseBuilding® is technically qualified to implement any project that brings employees back home (in this case back office!). Contact us.
WISEFRAMEWORK is a BACnet B-AWS certified software solution for state-of-the-art integration, control, management and visualisation in building automation systems. Designed to redefine the way buildings are operated through an open platform and seamless harmonisation between building-generated data by supporting multiple protocols including BACnet, Modbus, KNX, OPC-UA and MQTT. Through the use of Haystack technology, the software also empowers the building for the future at the forefront in the integration of the various technical systems.
