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Digital Transformation potential in Smart Buildings

Businesses spanning across multiple industries are using digital solutions within building systems to reduce operational costs and enhance occupant experience. Emphasis is put on intelligently designed building spaces for efficient utilisation of limited space to accommodate the maximum number of people. The emergence of net-zero targets has resulted in building owners and operators adopting digital solutions to not only reduce carbon footprint but also to provide an enriched occupant experience. Since buildings account for 30% of global final energy consumption, it becomes paramount for building operators to expedite their efforts to achieve sustainability goals and operational benefits.

Nine key domains of change in Smart Buildings

Overall, we have identified nine key domains of change in the Smart Buildings sector that are enabled by digital transformation, as illustrated below.

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These domains of change are discussed in more detail in our Digital Transformation in the Smart Buildings Sector Report:

The domains of change discussed in the report include:

  • Smart Services, includes the servicing of restrooms, cleaning, and pest management solutions by building facility teams for cleaning and maintenance purposes.
  • Smart Safety & Security includes the use of CCTV and smoke detectors to help security teams with intrusion detection and better manage hazardous situations caused by fire incidents in buildings.
  • Connected HVAC includes the use of connected heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment in commercial buildings. These systems generally comprise controllers and smart peripheral devices.
  • Smart Lighting includes the monitoring and control of lighting units like lightbulbs, light fittings, and associated control panels in buildings.
  • Air Quality Monitoring includes devices that are used to measure indoor air quality. Generally, these devices monitor PM1, PM2.5, PM10, CO2, CO, and NO2 levels in buildings.
  • User Experience includes the use of smart workspaces and room reservation systems to streamline the room booking process. This solution area also includes the use of autonomous robots for table and room delivery, and digital signage systems.
  • Building Automation & Control Systems including user interfaces to adjust the control settings, view system status, and detect any potential issues related to a building’s system performance. It also includes the use of smart windows to help building operators manage the flow of heat and lighting via dynamic tinting of windows based on multiple data points.
  • Smart In-Building Transportation includes the use of transportation systems in commercial buildings such as smart elevators, escalators, and travelators. Smart elevators and escalators that are equipped with advanced technologies to ensure better energy efficiency and effective crowd management.
  • Water Monitoring includes the use of water leak detectors and water flow monitoring devices to allow operators of buildings gain visibility and mitigate water spillage issues and to ensure healthy supplies.

Collectively, the activities listed above will bring significant changes to the Smart Buildings sector.

IoT and Smart Buildings

IoT is one of the key technology groups impacting the Smart Buildings sector and further detail and analysis of key IoT applications for the Smart Buildings sector can be found in Transforma Insight’s Forecast Insight Reports. Some of these applications are directly relevant to the sector, whilst others are only indirectly related.

Directly related IoT applications and Forecast Insight Reports include:

  • Access Control & Intercoms – Access control and intercoms in a smart building context (both consumer and enterprise cross-vertical), and also access control, venue monitoring and control in the context of amusement parks and sports venues. Additionally this Application Group includes a range of security solutions found in prisons (for example CCTV, door sensors, access control, and other security equipment).Also includes personal devices for border control guards, and devices specifically associated with border control points.
  • Waste Management – Connected refuse bins (such as those provided by Big Belly Solar), aftermarket monitoring devices for wheelie bins, and other refuse collection systems.
  • HVAC – The HVAC Use Case includes smart and connected Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning equipment, as might be deployed in consumer or cross-vertical contexts. Systems are generally comprised of controllers and potentially smart peripheral devices. Devices such as thermostats and air conditioning units are not included in the forecasts unless these devices are themselves smart and connected: ‘dumb’ peripheral equipment and sensors are not included in the forecasts.
  • Building Lighting – Monitoring and control of interior and exterior building lighting. Includes lightbulbs, light fittings and controls.
  • Building Automation – Including controllers and peripheral devices (monitoring devices, controlled devices, or actuators) to support smart building functionality in either a consumer or enterprise (cross vertical) context. This Application Group does not include security alarms, fire control systems, or lighting systems.
  • CCTV – Connected video cameras used by governments for monitoring of streets and public places.
  • Building Safety & Security – Building Safety & Security includes sensors, management devices and peripheral devices used for safety and security on commercial premises and private homes. Private Security Cameras used in residential and commercial buildings, are also included in this application group.
  • Generation – Remote monitoring and actuation of machinery within a power plant. Covers the operation of thermal power plants in addition to alternative sources, such as solar arrays, wind turbines, barrages, and hydro-electric dams.This Application Group also includes micro-generation power sources, such as might be installed in domestic or campus-industrial contexts. Specific applications include smart and connected solar, wind, ground source, and cogeneration installations.

Indirectly related IoT applications and Forecast Insight Reports include:

  • Personal Assistance Robots – This Application Group covers fully autonomous machines which undertake a diverse set of use cases including security monitoring, maintenance, human interaction, companionship and the performance of other tasks. This includes robotic pets, cleaning robots (e.g. Roomba), lawn mowers, exoskeletons, cooking robots, room and table delivery, and concierge services.
  • Smart Home – Consumer webcams, household VoIP phones, baby alarms, home weather stations, home fitness equipment, connected photo frames, and distributed screens (including various devices that can potentially incorporate screens to relay information, including mirrors, and clocks). Also includes other consumer devices such as lost item finders, connected heaters, connected cat-flaps, and so on.
  • Trigger Devices – Devices that exist to be triggered to indicate an action needs to be taken, typically something has been filled and needs to be emptied, or something is empty and needs be filled. Examples include buttons for room service, table service, the replenishment of communal supplies, mail delivery and collection boxes, and customer voting buttons.
  • Asset Monitoring – This application group encompasses a variety of assets that are suitable for remote monitoring. This includes the monitoring of livestock and associated applications such as automated feeders. It also covers the monitoring of fitness equipment located in gyms and other shared contexts. Tracking and monitoring of equipment in ambulances is also incorporated as part of the healthcare vertical. Furthermore, this Application Group includes connected video gaming machines, gambling machines and other devices such as pachinko machines. Monitoring the condition, availability, and use of assets important to public health such as life rings and defibrillators is also present in this application group, including access to potentially dangerous infrastructure such as substations.
  • Assisted Living – Assisted Living solutions include people tracking devices for the elderly and infirm, and comprehensive, connected medicine dispensers, assisted living solutions for patients that need significant day-to-day support or monitoring. Within the niche of assisted living, connected medicine dispensers play a crucial role and are used to promote patient adherence to prescriptions.
  • Public Information & Advertising Screens – Remotely updated billboards and (often interactive) customer and public information screens, including public transport. Includes customer information screens, static advertising (digital signage for the purposes of display of advertising in fixed locations from Times Square to a local bar), public transport advertising (digital signage for the purposes of display of advertising in a form of public transport, specifically buses and train carriages), culture and tourism (including diverse information screens and similar for the purpose of conveying information to tourists or delivering multimedia content), and transport information screens (departure and arrival boards at railway stations, bus stations and airports).
  • Electric Vehicle Charging – Public electric vehicle charging points with a connection to monitor availability, usage, maintenance requirements, and facilitate payment. Does not include vehicle chargers installed on private property.
  • Water Smart Meters – Device that records the consumption of water at a location and transmits this usage data to providers. In some instances these devices will transmit usage data to users in order to encourage more water efficient behaviour. This application includes smart meters in both residential and commercial settings.
  • Gas Smart Meters – Device that records the consumption of natural gas at a location and transmits this usage data to providers. In some instances these devices will transmit usage data to users in order to encourage more energy efficient behaviour. This application includes smart meters in both residential and commercial settings.
  • Electricity Smart Meters – Device that records the consumption and, where relevant, generation of electricity at a location and transmits this usage data to providers. In some instances these devices will transmit usage data to users in order to encourage more energy efficient behaviour. This application includes smart meters in both residential and commercial settings.

Other content and related analysis

Besides the detailed sector-focussed content described above, Transforma Insights offers an extensive range of thematic- and vendor-focussed research that will prove invaluable to any end-user seeking to leverage new and emerging digitally transformative technologies.

Of particular note are our Vendor Insight and CSP Peer Benchmarking reports, which provide detailed profiles of leading vendors who might be able to support a range of end-user digital transformation projects.

Our Key Topic Insight reports focus on the qualitative aspects of Digital Transformation, including investigation of interesting or noteworthy topics.

Detailed analysis of regulations that might apply to digitally transformative projects around the world can be found in our Regulatory Database. Meanwhile, our Case Study Database contains more than 1,000 case studies of technology implementations. Each case study contains detailed information on the specifics of the deployment. Used in aggregate it can provide unrivalled guidance on project prioritisation, best practice and vendor selection.

Sector Focus

Sector Report

Digital Transformation in Smart Buildings

REPORT | MAY 02, 2024 | Paras Sharma
This report focusses on digital transformation in smart buildings as enabled by the key technology groups that are the focus of Transforma Insights’ research. These technology groups include IoT, Hyperconnectivity, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Sharing. Accordingly, the aim of this document is not to chart the future direction of smart buildings, but to highlight the key areas of change, enabled by new and emerging technologies.

Related Reports

All Reports

Video analytics as a substitute for IoT devices

REPORT | FEB 20, 2024 | Paras Sharma
The use of video monitoring solutions has unlocked significant improvements, from round-the-clock surveillance for security purposes to object detection, gesture detection, facial recognition, and motion tracking across industries to gain real-time business insights and prescriptive analysis. Using video analytics, businesses can unlock greater value by analysing spatial and temporal information, provide instant alerts in the event of anomaly detection, and take actions when rules are flouted. Business opportunities, deployment challenges, and stakeholder complexities vary across each application. The demand for video analysis is primarily driven by the benefits that it can bring like better operational efficiency, enhanced public safety, and decreased manual work. There is a wide range of applications that can make use of some or all of these business benefits to gain a competitive advantage and provide a quality service or product to the end-user. There are 23 applications, around 7% of the total applications found in our IoT forecast database, for which video analysis can potentially substitute for IoT devices. Livestock Monitoring, Traffic Monitoring, Parking Space Monitoring, Fire and Security Alarms, Patient Tracking, and Trigger devices are some of the key IoT applications which can be substituted with video analysis. As per our analysis, Security Alarms, Stock Level Monitoring, In-Vehicle Road Pricing Devices, and Fire Alarms are the top applications in terms of connected devices that can potentially be replaced by video analysis. The number of IoT devices for the above-mentioned applications is expected to grow from around 0.9 billion in 2022 to around 2.4 billion by 2032. Even though the share of IoT devices that can be replaced by video analytics is expected to be less than 10% during the forecast period, we cannot neglect the potential of video analysis due to its business benefits and varied use cases across applications. Additionally, in cases where video analytics can substitute for LPWA connections, this substitution may represent an upsell opportunity for mobile network operators and an opportunity to deploy a higher bandwidth connection.

Ambient IoT: An emerging technology and an alternative to RFID with potential to enable tens of billions of connections

REPORT | FEB 19, 2024 | Nikita Singh ; Jim Morrish
Over the last 5 years, several communications standards bodies, starting with 3GPP and extending to IEEE and the Bluetooth SIG, have started to develop standards for ‘Ambient IoT’. The aim of the technology is to create ultra-low power, and in many cases battery-free, devices, using energy harvesting and forms of communication that piggyback on other RF sources through a technique known as backscattering. Backscattering is a communication technology that reflects ambient radiowaves to communicate with a receiver, thereby reducing the power required to communicate. Using this technology, Ambient IoT is likely to serve as an alternative for RFID and is significantly useful across multiple industry verticals such as agriculture, consumer, manufacturing, retail, utilities, transportation, and others. The resulting IoT devices are free from the monetary burden of batteries and also aid in environmental sustainability with reduce requirements for battery disposal. Ambient IoT technologies is still in a nascent stage. In this report we provide an overview of the concept, the enabling technologies, the standardisation activities that are currently under way and some of the key use cases where it will likely be useful. It also reviews some existing deployments and trials from Wiliot, HaiLa and Huawei.

Video analysis has significant potential with business benefits spanning across multiple industries

REPORT | FEB 19, 2024 | Paras Sharma
Video surveillance solutions have been in the market for a while, although they have been primarily used for safety and security. However, advances in digital technology, coupled with the rise of AI and edge analytics are expanding the application of video-based solutions across various industries, contexts and use cases. This evolution positions video analysis as a transformative technology in many scenarios. The demand for video analysis is growing as it proves beneficial in remote maintenance, operational optimisation, and improving public safety surveillance. The integration of AI-equipped cameras for object detection and behaviour analysis extends their utility across multiple industries. In this Key Topic Insight report, we explore why video analysis is needed and demonstrates how edge AI can benefit businesses by overcoming some of the challenges associated with cloud-based video analysis. The report also lists a range of use cases for video analysis across various industries, talks about some relevant case studies where video analysis has been deployed, and lists some of the major vendors and their roles in the ecosystem.

Access Control & Intercoms: 563 million connected devices by 2033, generating USD2.6 billion in revenue

REPORT | JAN 25, 2024 | Suruchi Dhingra ; Matt Arnott
This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the Access Control & Intercoms market. This segment comprises Intercoms & Doorbells, Building Access Control, Border Monitoring & Control, Sports Venues, Public Transport Access Gates, Prisons and Amusement Parks. Increasing focus on security and the prevention of crime in commercial and residential sectors is a major factor driving the adoption of wireless intercoms and access control systems. These systems offer security from unauthorised access to restricted places and are used at hotels, airports, residential premises, corporate offices, banks, hospitals, public transport stations and all types of other facilities. Apart from being an essential part of security, they also improve operational efficiency, reduce the need to hire security personnel (thus reducing staffing costs), whilst also improving employee productivity and the visitor management process. Integrating access control systems with HVAC and Lighting can also save energy costs as one can program lights to remain on or off based on the frequency of access to specific areas. The use of these systems is no longer limited to high-security areas, and they are also being used in fitness centres, sports venues, ski resorts, and amusement parks, where convenience and efficiently authorising access for customers are driving factors for adoption. The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used (including splits by 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, LPWA, short range, satellite and others), as well as the revenue split between module, value-added connectivity and services. A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector break-downs and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.

Waste Management: 2.9 million devices by 2032 to manage waste effectively and sustainably

REPORT | OCT 20, 2023 | Rohan Bansal ; Matt Arnott
This report summarises the status and forecasts from the Waste Management Application Group found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT forecast. The report provides a description of what is covered in the Application Group, as well as top-level figures from the forecast that provide detail on how many connected devices will be installed, the types of communication technology used and the total revenue opportunity. Full details are accessible through the TAM Forecast tool.

HVAC: 575 million connected devices by 2032, generating USD29 billion in revenue

REPORT | JAN 07, 2023 | Suruchi Dhingra ; Matt Arnott
This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the connected HVAC market. This includes smart and connected heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, in consumer as well as enterprise contexts. The smart HVAC market is expected to show strong growth over the coming years, majorly due to an increased focus on sustainability, and upcoming regulations focused on increasing energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions caused by buildings.

Building Lighting: 2.1 billion devices in 2032 supporting sustainable energy

REPORT | JAN 05, 2023 | Suruchi Dhingra ; Matt Arnott
The connected lighting market is expected to continue to grow rapidly due to the changing needs of customers, demand for greater comfort and convenience, and most importantly, due to increased awareness around sustainability and energy savings opportunities. This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on Building Lighting Application market found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT forecast.

Webinar: Will Digital Transformation save the planet? Using disruptive tech to achieve sustainability goals

REPORT | NOV 17, 2022 | Jim Morrish ; Suruchi Dhingra
Sustainability and Digital Transformation (DX) will be two of the defining themes of the 2020s. In this webinar we will explore the relationship between the two.

Will Matter (and Thread) help vendors finally crack the smart home market?

REPORT | JUL 14, 2022 | Matt Hatton
The smart home market has been perpetually on the cusp of explosion for the last decade or two. This report looks at the Matter standard, and its partner technology Thread, to understand its capabilities and likely success.

Building Automation: Key to creating a sustainable future

REPORT | MAY 27, 2022 | Suruchi Dhingra ; Matt Arnott
This report summarises the status and forecasts from the Building Automation Application Group found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT forecast. The report provides a description of what is covered in the Application Group, as well as top-level figures from the forecast that provide detail on how many connected devices will be installed, the types of communication technology used and the total revenue opportunity.

CCTV: Smart technologies opening doors for more than just surveillance

REPORT | APR 07, 2022 | Suruchi Dhingra
This report summarises the status and forecasts from the CCTV Application Group found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT forecast. The report provides a description of what is covered in the Application Group, as well as top-level figures from the forecast that provide detail on how many connected devices will be installed, the types of communication technology used and the total revenue opportunity. Full details are accessible through the TAM Forecast tool.

Metaverse: What does it mean for enterprise?

REPORT | APR 07, 2022 | Nikita Singh ; Matt Hatton ; Jim Morrish ; Matt Arnott
The last two years have seen significant activities in the virtual space known as the ‘metaverse’. In this report we examine the development stages of the metaverse as an element of Web 3.0 and increasing investments in the space. The report defines enterprise use-cases for metaverse and its corresponding benefits across multiple dimensions (internal vs external, people vs process, multiple interactions, real-time vs hypothetical vs historic process). It further explores in detail examples on how metaverse might be applied across various industry verticals and recommends ways in which enterprises can benefit from the emerging concept.

Building Safety & Security: A growing opportunity for LPWA providers

REPORT | FEB 17, 2022 | Suruchi Dhingra ; Matt Arnott
The Building Safety & Security market is an expanding global opportunity underpinned by increasing adoption in newly constructed buildings and increasing number of retrofit devices being installed in existing buildings. This report summarises the status and forecasts from the Building Safety & Security Application Group found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT forecast.

Generation: Mature Power Generation contrasts with high growth micro-generation opportunities

REPORT | AUG 12, 2021 | Matt Arnott
This report summarises the status and forecasts from the Generation Application Group found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT forecast. The report provides a description of what is covered in the Application Group, as well as top-level figures from the forecast that provide detail on how many connected devices will be installed, the types of communication technology used and the total revenue opportunity. Full details are accessible through the TAM Forecast tool.

Digital Transformation Implementation Best Practice Report

REPORT | APR 15, 2020 | Jim Morrish ; Matt Hatton
This report is based on analysis by Transforma Insights of hundreds of Digital Transformation implementations around the world. Our team of expert analysts assessed each implementation and calibrated it against our 216 solution characteristics. The aim is to better understand the prevailing trends in technology deployment and to extrapolate best practice.
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