In a world where the commercial real estate sector faces unprecedented challenges, the movement toward smarter buildings is gaining momentum. This trend is particularly evident against the backdrop of New York Climate Week 2024, the largest annual climate event of its kind.
A recent spotlight report, “Cracking The Smart Buildings Code: A Spotlight On Retail And Commercial Real Estate,” commissioned by Johnson Controls and conducted by Forrester Consulting, reveals that investments in smart buildings are essential for leaders seeking to enhance sustainability, security, and cost savings.
“Smart buildings are not just a trend; there is growing recognition they are a necessity for modern commercial real estate,” stated Vijay Sankaran, vice president and chief technology officer, Johnson Controls. “This report highlights the urgent need for integrated systems and expert partners to navigate the complexities of today’s commercial real estate market to achieve long-term success.”
The digitalization of buildings offers a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of facility operations, leading to the creation of sustainable, healthy, and safe environments. This is a crucial differentiator for both commercial real estate tenants and buyers. Notably, 75% of commercial real estate and retail leaders recognize the importance of smart buildings in accelerating their digital transformation efforts. Nearly two-thirds of these leaders acknowledge the significance of smart buildings for reducing costs, advancing sustainability initiatives, and propelling business growth. These findings clearly indicate that retail and commercial real estate leaders are seeking outcomes that positively impact building owners, occupants, and the bottom line.
Here are some key findings from the report:
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Competitive Differentiator:
Investing in smart buildings provides a competitive advantage. Not only do smart buildings help commercial real estate and retail leaders achieve sustainable, secure, and efficient outcomes, but they also enhance the competitiveness of their facilities in the market.*
Integration Gaps:
Only 13% of commercial real estate and retail leaders report having fully integrated building systems, leading to inefficiencies and increased risks. This lack of integrated data and insights is contributing to reduced operating efficiencies (62%), decreased customer loyalty (59%), and increased regulatory penalties (57%).*
Vital Insights:
Building data is crucial for decision-making across various departments, including security, sustainability, and facilities management. Many leaders recognize the current risks associated with limited data access.*
Partner Expertise:
Leaders are actively seeking partners with advanced technology, integration capabilities, and industry experience to drive smart building initiatives. Johnson Controls is positioned as a leading comprehensive solutions provider for commercial buildings, offering a one-stop-shop for leaders seeking a partner with the technology and industry experience to deliver meaningful outcomes. The company provides a diverse portfolio of solutions for a variety of industries, from schools to office buildings, arenas to hospitals.“As a leader in the smart buildings industry, we have a comprehensive understanding of how connected, data-driven solutions provide deeper insights into a building’s performance and how we can optimize equipment performance and enable proactive services,” explained Julie Brandt, president of Building Solutions North America at Johnson Controls. “This report confirms what we’re already hearing from our customers, that smart buildings are foundational to the design, operation, and maintenance of indoor environments, ultimately driving value.”
At the heart of Johnson Controls’ smart building strategy is OpenBlue, an industry-leading ecosystem of connected technologies, expertise, and services. By combining data from across a building’s systems and leveraging advanced digital experiences augmented with AI, OpenBlue provides actionable insights and controls that lead to significant energy savings and emissions reductions compared to isolated systems. It also assists customers in simplifying carbon disclosure reporting and ensuring compliance with building performance standards. With deployments across the globe spanning commercial office spaces, healthcare, education, campuses, and more, OpenBlue enables real-time data visibility across assets, people, and processes, empowering customers to manage intelligent and proactive operations from a single platform.
To learn more about how Johnson Controls OpenBlue is transforming smart buildings, please visit: http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/OpenBlue. For more insights, download the full report, “Cracking The Smart Buildings Code: A Spotlight On Retail And Commercial Real Estate,” available now here: https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/insights/2024/white-paper/cracking-the-code-cre.
Methodology
In August 2023, Johnson Controls engaged Forrester Consulting to evaluate the current state of smart buildings. Forrester conducted an online survey of 3,445 respondents responsible for smart building strategy to explore this topic. All respondents were asked high-level smart building strategy questions, followed by more specific questions based on their level of responsibility for sustainability, security, and/or building environmental systems. Participants represented organizations across 18 industries and 25 countries. The study was conducted using a double-blind methodology. This spotlight report focuses on a subset of 299 smart buildings decision-makers within the retail and commercial real estate sectors.
About Johnson Controls:
Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) transforms the environments where people live, work, learn, and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places, and the planet. Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing, and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering. Today, with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world’s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry. Visit www.johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @JohnsonControls on social platforms.
