Before getting started with smart building technology, you should know how does it work. It is necessary to analyze all the aspects to turn your findings into suggestions for improving results.

We have put out some questions that are needed to be considered or asked before you get your hands on smart building technology, check them out:

Do You Integrate Environmental Sensors? Why and When?

Leak detection, temperature, and indoor air quality sensors are all useful additions to any smart building system. These, on the other hand, are most powerful when administered to particular potential issues. Spray-and-pray methods usually result in unnecessary costs and long installation times. That’s why they are necessary to be a part of it and this question must be asked.

Do You Utilize Non-Sensor Information? How?

Non-sensor data includes operational and maintenance manuals, maintenance requirements and reports, spec sheets, riser diagrams, and other paperwork that is typically stored as paper documents. Information about appliances, such as their age and location inside a house, is also included. And before getting started with it you should have that information.

What Are the Non-Energy Benefits?

Energy must be a component of the overall cost structure of smart building technology because it is one of the main capital expenditures in the profit and loss account and an increasing source of concern for shareholders. However, among the most daunting aspects for landlords when considering solutions is the overabundance of focus placed on energy efficiency and service cost reductions by many technological firms.

Owners should not assume that electricity consumption is the only advantage that IoT-based data analytics can provide; maintenance and repairs account for just as much of the Operational expenditure budget as energy.

The cumulative benefit of minimizing maintenance operations, detecting equipment faults in actual environments, and deferring capital expenses for repairs will save almost as much money, not to mention have a much bigger effect on what landowners care the most about – the tenant experience.

Is There a Way to Regulate the Platform?

This is a difficult question. At first glance, it would appear that a smart building would use data to monitor equipment remotely in order to optimize productivity and tenant comfort. Integrating controls to cloud-based applications, unfortunately, poses a serious cybersecurity risk.

The reality is that after gaining control of a company’s automation device, hackers have already demanded a ransom. It is naive to believe that anything like this would never apply to your structures. Maintaining cloud-based applications on a separate network is a much safer choice.

How do you get authentic and equipment-level performance information without spending a lot of money?

With off-the-shelf hardware from legacy device manufacturers, everyone can obtain equipment-level data. The issue is that to maximize profits, manufacturers add margin to the prices of their equipment. The distinction amounts to an 80% markup, implying either huge costs or scope reductions.

Furthermore, several of these “smart meter” devices can only collect data every 15 minutes. While it may be adequate for high power monitoring, it is inadequate for specialized fault detection like short cycling.

If the service company cannot explain how they would capture large quantities of authentic, equipment-level data cost-effectively, this should be a red flag.

What Does It Cost?

Smart building network monetization strategies can be as diverse as the innovations themselves. The most popular model is a one-time installation fee followed by a monthly subscription fee. In these situations, you can expect to pay about 10 cents per square foot for installation and no more than two to five cents per square foot for installation.