Datasets and the city
03 / 12 / 24 - 6 minute read
It’s a familiar tale. A young adult leaves the small town or village they grew up in to move to the big city, lured by the prospect of better job opportunities, diversity of experience and nightlife.
This urban attraction shows no signs of slowing down. In 2018, 55% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. By 2050, more than two in three people (68%) are forecast to live in urban areas. By 2100, the figure is forecast to be 85%, translating into 9 billion people living in urban areas – a ninefold increase from the urban population in 1950.
With such growth comes many challenges, not least in how to accommodate such numbers. Equally, adapting cities to be sustainable environments which can incorporate the latest technological advancements and become ‘smart’ and therefore desirable will benefit a majority of the world’s population.
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Cities of the future
One way in which some governments and entrepreneurs are approaching the provision of accommodation is through the creation of new cities. Egypt has announced the creation of 91 new cities over the past decade, the centrepiece of which is its ‘New Administrative Capital’, which expects to home 6.5 million people in future and already hosts the Iconic Tower – Africa’s tallest building.
In the US, investors are planning new cities on empty land to alleviate housing pressures. These cities are being drawn up with the aim of improving urban living, incorporating the ’15-minute city’ concept whereby residents can reach all necessary amenities within a 15-minute radius which removes the need for a car to get around.
Due to the vast amounts of capital required to build the infrastructure for a new city, these new metropolises are aiming for functional as a first step, as opposed to targeting the high-tech characteristics of a smart city.
Smart buildings to optimise our cities
While this city creation will help address the accommodation of a growing urban population, more housing and amenities in existing cities will need to be created too. And the blueprint for the cities of the future will include highly sustainable buildings with technology helping to optimise their performance. Smart cities is one part of the story; smart buildings the other.
From an infrastructure perspective, scalability can be achieved through a shared vision between a handful of stakeholders. When it comes to buildings and amplifying data collection to be shared in a city to make it truly smart, however, this requires landlords, investors, developers, tenants and investment managers, like PATRIZIA, all being on board.
The relationship between smart cities and smart buildings is mutually beneficial, as Shreya Sheth – PATRIZIA Associate Director - Building Technology & Sustainability – attests. “Buildings are the blocks of a smart – or smarter - city,” she says. “On average, people spend 90% of their time in buildings. Insights into the buildings you operate play a role in the smart buildings/cities ecosystem. The smarter a building is, the more accurate data points there are which can help optimise buildings and cities at a larger scale.
“Occupiers are rightfully demanding more which is raising the bar for developers and asset managers to provide best-in-class buildings. As a landlord and investment manager, smart buildings are a key enabler for real assets to be fit for the future and better cater for those flocking to cities as part of the urbanisation megatrend.”
Shreya Sheth – PATRIZIA Associate Director - Building Technology & Sustainability
PATRIZIA’s building technology decarbonisation drive
PATRIZIA, on behalf of its investors, is enabling smart cities and Shreya, as the lead in the company’s building technology team, is advancing efforts to optimise its building stock through the implementation of smart technology.
This optimisation focus not only results in better-performing buildings, but also helps decarbonise them too. It’s through the frame of decarbonisation – and supporting PATRIZIA’s net zero carbon strategy – that Shreya and her team appraise the success of their work.
“Things like smart workplace access, better air quality management and an enhanced workplace experience through connectivity measures play a huge role in attracting workers to leave the comfort of their home and collaborate with their colleagues in offices.”
Shreya Sheth – PATRIZIA Associate Director - Building Technology & Sustainability
The team works off the principle, in line with the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) classification, that the first 26% of decarbonisation savings can be made through optimisation alone which can be implemented without disrupting the building’s occupiers. Light retrofit measures can reduce carbon emissions by 37% along with optimisation, and a 60-65% decarbonisation saving can be made through a deep retrofit and optimisation.
This first 26% can be achieved by Shreya’s team alone, whereas light retrofits are worked on by PATRIZIA’s Asset Management team in tandem with Shreya and her team and deep retrofits see PATRIZIA’s Real Estate Development team in the lead, with technical expertise provided by the building technology team.
The more sustainable a building in PATRIZIA’s portfolio is, the less need there is to seek enhancements beyond the solutions the building technology team can provide.
Encouraging office rollout data
A year ago, Shreya and her team started measuring the carbon reduction and ROI on four offices in PATRIZIA’s portfolio located in Berlin, Essen and London. They forecasted conservative energy savings of between 12 and 15% at the four offices and ROI in one year. ROI was achieved in under a year at all four offices and energy savings were exceeded well beyond the forecast at between 22 and 36%. Carbon savings have been significant too – at 29% in one location – and hundreds of thousands of euros’ utilities savings have been achieved.
In tandem, lift maintenance programmes across 19 office locations were also measured and a flat 15% of cost savings have been made per lift maintenance contract.
“We are seeing results which give us confidence,” Shreya observes. “We are currently exploring 30 assets. They are chosen by priority in terms of which is most in need of building optimisation.”
Cost, energy and carbon savings validate the building technology expertise at PATRIZIA, but Shreya sees her work as more significant than this.
“People want better buildings,” she says. “From an office perspective, people don’t need to come to the office today. They should want to come to the office. Things like smart workplace access, better air quality management and an enhanced workplace experience through connectivity measures play a huge role in attracting workers to leave the comfort of their home and collaborate with their colleagues in offices.”
Complementing deep retrofits
App-controlled smart lockers, mobile access controls, meeting rooms and desk booking, an independent data layer to control heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and light solutions with sensor data from air quality monitors and occupancy tracking – these are just some of the measures the building technology team offer to support the deep retrofit work of PATRIZIA’s Real Estate Development team. All of these measures have been integrated into the company’s new international hub in London.
Energy efficiencies have been achieved through the use of smart building technology at The Louise in Brussels – PATRIZIA’s flagship office asset which has transformed a 1960s tower into a desirable place of work, attracting tenants such as internationally renowned law firm, Clifford Chance. Here, a landlord app and detailed smart building technology has been implemented too.
At a base level, building technology implementation can ward against an asset becoming stranded by virtue of not meeting looming legislation requirements but, more than that, solutions bring greater efficiencies, a more sustainable longevity and better places to live, work and socialise in.
And by tapping into data points abundant in a smart city, technology-enhanced buildings can slot into a wider ecosystem which can deliver many advantages.
“Smart city and building technology can combine to follow the user journey from their home to their workplace,” Shreya states. “Smart city data can optimise buildings and vice-versa.”
Cities are often hubs of innovation and, in joining the dots of digitisation, greater numbers of city-dwellers can enjoy all the long-term benefits of going smart.
The Louise, Brussels
This article is extra content created for the digital version of our thought leadership magazine, estatements. Take a look at the magazine here: Welcome - estatements magazine Edition 2, 2024
