The buzzword “Disruptive Technologies” was coinedby Clayton M.Christensen in 1995 (although he later he changed it to“Disruptive Innovation” because he argued that few technologies aredisruptive, rather it's the business model that the technologyenables that creates the disruptive impact.) In our world ofcommercial real estate, technology is having a profoundimpact. Market forces are increasingly forcing investments intechnology: tenants and investors are demanding upgrades inIT, MEP and energy efficiency and as a result, greener and smarterbuildings yield better tenant attraction/retention, lower operatingcosts and higher rental rates.

Smarter Buildings

Technology is making our buildings smarter. The Internet ofThings (IoT) makes it possible to collect huge amounts of data,which can be used to expedite or even automate managementdecisions; resulting in improved efficiencies and reduced downtime. Heating and ventilation systems, lighting, distributed power,security, elevators systems, CCTV, communications, parking, utilitygrid meters, vending machines, water management,landscaping/irrigation, digital signage and voice communicationscan all be operated and optimized through centralized managementsystems. This interoperability of building systems leads tobetter managed, more efficient assets. Tenants expect smarterbuildings – particularly in the space of energy optimization anddata/wifi connectivity- and investing in such technologies presentsa great opportunity to optimize ROI by lowering operating costs,improving marketability and value.

Smart Cities

On a city-wide scale too, networked physical systems will playan important role by enabling the real-time collection of datarelated to health, pollution, energy usage, traffic, water usage,and waste disposal. The city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands iswidely considered to be a smart city, with a wide array ofinterconnected systems, products and initiatives, many of which aregovernment-sponsored. Among these is Mobypark, an app whichallows owners of parking spaces to rent them out to people for afee (kind of like AirBnB for parking). The city then uses thedata generated from this app to determine parking demand andtraffic flows. Other city-run initiatives include flexiblestreet lighting which allows municipalities to control thebrightness of street lights and pedestrian traffic, and smarttraffic management systems, which monitor and broadcasttraffic in real time to advise motorists on the fastest routes totake.