Insights
The latest in technology innovation and lessons learnt from extensive market research and project experience
Smart Campus Strategy
“The exciting part of a Smart Campus Strategy is in imagining the user experiences of the future and articulating the vision. But knowing the route to your destination requires knowing the starting point. Understanding the university’s current estate helps to ground the vision in reality.”
It has had many names and come in many forms. Intelligent Buildings. Digital Transformation. We use the term Smart Campus. Its benefits – considerable and tantalising – are also beginning to be understood by universities. It has tempted many within the marketplace to believe and promote the idea that making it a reality will be straightforward. It won’t be.
Many factors – myriad stakeholder interests, fragmentation of the smart marketplace, the prioritisation of ‘Smart PR’ over feasible solutions – contribute to this complexity. But they are surmountable.
PTS believes that by fully appreciating the nature of these challenges, and taking a measured, informed and independent approach, universities will be able to reap the benefits long-promised by the marketing.
This Smart Campus Strategy brochure aims to show Higher Education Institutions how to do this by following a clearly defined approach, in order to turn the ‘visionary’ into a reality. We guide you through the following questions:-
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What is a Smart Campus?
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How will it improve the campus experience?
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Where is your university on its journey?
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Who needs to be involved?
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Why should universities be interested?
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When do we need to act?
Download the e-brochure for free using the link above. If you would like to discuss your Smart Campus Strategy in further detail, arrange a free workshop with our team who will be happy to help.
Subterranean Services
Increasing demand for higher density above ground has led to city planners looking below the surface. Creating a two-layered district, with key services and logistics running underground, can negate a number of issues while allowing for increased density above ground. Creating a subterranean layer also allows for effective water recycling in public space.
Parking need not take up space above ground. Automated parking systems currently in operation show that the required footprint of high capacity parking can be minimal.
Local delivery and collection within a community frequently causes issues with traffic congestion, pollution and delivery failure. With deliveries and logistics centralised, utilising a subterranean network serviced by Autonomous Vehicles for the last mile, the heavy volume of traffic servicing businesses, homes and essential services such as waste collection can be taken away from the doorstep.
A subterranean network of service corridors can be created, enabling ease of access for maintenance and providing scalability without impacting the public realm space above. Meanwhile, buildings can be ‘plugged in’ to services below ground.
Commercial and residential deliveries can be automated and interactive... never miss a delivery again!
How to do it
• Analysis of required services including space requirements and site access points
• Layered approach to design, including a site logistics centre
• Vendor/Manufacturer engagement
• Coordination between services and monitoring tools.
• Single platform for all subterranean logistics (air traffic control)
The Evolution of Office Space
“To achieve corporate goals, company strategies have to drive the technology which should be designed and oriented to support how we work, how we connect with colleagues, and how to make routine and administrative actions simple, allowing greater productivity.”
Office space is now a service, made to fit business strategies where productivity is synonymous with technology enabled collaboration, and employees demand modern conveniences and seamless technology integration so they can focus on the tasks at hand. Driving this technology investment shift is the demand for a unified visual display and communication platform.
To collaborate, people need places to connect. However this is a fundamental need and employees are demanding more from their workplace; they expect high-speed Wi-Fi, wireless charging, personalisation, online room booking, environmental controls and so on, hence companies evolving to deliver these in order to attract and retain talent. As a result, 70% of companies plan to increase investment in real estate technology within the next three years, and 30% see smart building technology as a factor in choosing a building*.
Investment in Workplace Technology
Investment in workplace technology was growing steadily for several years until, unexpectedly, in 2018 we saw a doubling of spend in workplace technology. This can be attributed to a combination of increased adoption and implementation of workplace strategy, and environments being designed for collaboration.
Technology spend on office projects has increased 200% in the last 18 months. In market-leading technology projects, it is not usual for technology spend allocation to account for up to 40% of the total budget. It is important to note that although office space saw expected inflationary increase in cost between 2015 and 2017, the sharp rise in 2018 is due in large part to the notable increase in technology specification.
The technology to create a more efficient workplace is now in our hands, or more accurately, in our smartphones. To achieve corporate goals, company strategies have to drive the technology which should be designed and oriented to support how we work, how we connect with colleagues, and how to make routine and administrative actions simple, allowing greater productivity. The step-change of unified communication and display technology in commercial offices is just the beginning. The next step-change in technology investment spending could be just around the corner.
Smarter Workplaces
Technology enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices make it possible to collect data from all aspects of the corporate office, including BMS, security, lighting, meeting rooms and furniture to name a few. All are sources of data; however, it is not until information is analysed and used properly that it benefits people and the business. In smart offices, data can and is being collected to help create a more efficient workplaces and reduce carbon footprints.
Strategies to achieve business goals are being rewritten. The goals of productivity and profitability remain; however, the journey and the platform to achieve these are changing. Companies are asking:
• What does ‘smart’ building mean for me?
• What does ‘smart’ office mean for my business?
• What is our ‘smart’ vision and how does this support our corporate strategies?
Answering these questions and developing a technology brief that supports corporate strategies will provide the basis for developing ‘space as a service’ and the journey towards developing a suitable smart office.
Technology as a core requirement
The commercial office industry is recognising technology as a core requirement of an attractive, collaborative work environment. Due to the criticality of integrated technologies and smart workplaces, there’s an increasing demand for project management teams with the right technical skillset to get the brief, budget, design and implementation right.
This is important when a ‘result-oriented workforce’ demands a superior knowledge-based work environments that improve productivity and allow connection, collaboration and inspiration. These effects also reach landlords who want to have desirable assets. Demands have evolved from sustainable and green buildings to providing infrastructure to accommodate smart offices.
We are transitioning to a new office experience that demands an evolution of the standard commercial building and transformation of our physical space.
CBRE Fit-Out Guide 2019-2020
This article was written with CBRE and forms a part of CBRE’s EMEA Fit-Out Guide 2019-2020. The guide provides a comprehensive analysis of office fit-out pricing and trends across the region. You can read the full guide here.
Smart Waste Management
Enabling proactive waste management and monitoring using IoT can help achieve environmental goals and improve user experience and wellbeing.
Creating an underground waste system linked to a central collection point to support site-wide sustainability and encourage recycling without detracting from the streetscape. Software alerts to the refuse collection team ensure efficient collection planning, therefore reducing carbon footprint by taking away the stop-start collection of traditional bins.
Furthermore, creating a network of environmental monitoring sensors generating environmental data, this can be linked with other systems to understand trends regarding pollution, weather, transport usage and site-wide wellbeing.
How to do it
• Review of existing communities to assess current demands and needs
• Engagement with key stakeholders reviewing current issues, projections and vision
• Identify Environmental goals and cost points
• Technology strategy to support environmental goals and reduce operational costs
• Implementation of integrated systems to provide a site-wide implementation plan.
• Step-goal approach to environmental improvement
AV over IP
“The market is saturated, and after witnessing some of this firsthand, the primary differences came down to cost and support, not technical capabilities”
— Randall Boenig
ISE is the world’s biggest AV event showcasing the lasted developments in the AV and systems integrations industry. The exhibition covers 15 halls in Amsterdam and features over 1,300 exhibitors. This series of insights follow our AV expert’s views on the latest technology and its impact on the industry.
AVoiP
Randall Boenig, AV Consultant, investigates the switch over from HDBasedT to AVoIP. With PTS clients looking to make the same transition, Randall was keen to explore the most cost-efficient yet robust solution. “For some time now, companies have been developing AV Network distribution systems; Creston, AMX, DVI, Gear, Wyrestorm, RGB Spectrum, Aten, Lightware… The list goes on,” Randall explains.
The event highlighted that the trend for more robust and forgiving networks is still on the rise. PTS’ AV specification currently contains lighting and acoustic benchmark expectations, but is it time we included a network expectation too?
“AVoIP, Dante, IP control, and VC/UC are putting more and more demands on Client IT teams and Infrastructure, but if these systems fall over, additional experience, support, and guidance become crucial for companies who are pushing the boundaries with the latest in technology innovation.
Smart Roads
Roads can be seen as more than a surface for transport. The opportunity to turn roads and pathways into energy-generating assets and increase driver and pedestrian safety. The modular basis of photovoltaic and kinetic tile surfaces allows quick replacement of damaged units, meaning that repairs can be undertaken swiftly and with minimal disruption to traffic.
Whilst driverless cars are by no means ubiquitous, most research indicates that it will not be long before their use becomes widespread. With some predicting over 30 million Autonomous Vehicles globally by 2030, it would be prudent to consider the road and supporting infrastructure and how we can possibly prepare for the near to mid future.
Driverless cars and flexible streets enable intelligent prioritisation to emergency vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians depending on requirements. Transport infrastructure is part of a journey, not just for the user, but for cities and large-scale developments.
How to do it
• Current and planned transport system analysis
• Site-wide infrastructure feasibility for Roads, Parking, Pathways, Lighting, Public Transport & Wider Local Transport
• Holistic Operational Cost/Benefit Review
• Site standardisation and city integration.
The PTS Smart Scale
“In order to gain perspective and to help both parties to understand these Smart Building tangible benefits and opportunities of a Smart Building, we have developed the PTS Smart Scale.”
Last year, we redefined Smart Buildings with our people-centric, “Design Thinking” approach, which challenges 5 ‘Smart Building Myths’ and establishes the true nature of building intelligence. Read our perspective here
For PTS, a smart building is much more than the traditional definition suggests. We understand the whole challenge and redefine Smart Buildings as "optimised environments that improve the daily experience of staff while providing tangible benefits to the business.”
The PTS Smart Scale
Developers and tenants are under increasing pressure to deliver Smart Buildings; Developers to provide improved infrastructure to attract the right type of tenant, and the tenant to provide its end users with the highest quality experience while delivering tangible benefits to the business. In order to gain perspective and to help both parties to understand these Smart Building benefits and opportunities, we have developed the PTS Smart Scale.
The PTS Smart Scale is a tool that we use with our clients to give an immediate indication of the ‘level’ of smart that a tenant or developer must aspire to, based on easily digestible information and scenarios. This way, we keep the process relevant to our clients; they identify their end goals and desired user experiences, and advise them throughout every stage of the process to ensure that they achieve it!
Here is a glance over the ‘levels’ of our scale.
1. Business as usual
• BMS with basic controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.
• Basic networking equipment with limited functionality enabled
• Basic network cabling. Focused on landlord mostly back of house areas with limited capacity to expand
2. Differentiator
• BMS with advanced SMART controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.
• Scalability and resilient and with greater functionality enabled
• Grid cabling solution with scalability
3. Challenger
• An enabling software application that facilitates a Smart Building
• BMS with advanced Smart controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.
• Scalability and resilient and with greater campus-wide functionality enabled
• Grid cabling solution with campus connectivity
4. Future
• An enabling software application that facilitates Smart ready for metropolitan area
• BMS with advanced Smart controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.
• Scalability and resilient and with high functionality enabled over metropolitan area
• Grid cabling solutions with campus connectivity
Identifying Your Smart Aspirations
By illustrating to our clients the level of Smart required to support their desired user scenarios and by completing a full audit of their existing landscape, we are able to quickly identify where they currently sit on the scale and where their Smart aspirations lie. From this information we are able to provide our clients with immediate indicative Cap Ex, Op Ex and RIO relevant to their unique requirements.
Live. Work. Play
The purpose of a Smart Buildings is to enable a frictionless experience that improves the lives of its users. This means fewer and more meaningful interruptions, user-friendly interfaces (voice, wearable) and the invisible and pervasive background technology dramatically increases user satisfaction without them knowing.
In order to achieve the highest quality experiences (on whichever level of the scale your aspirations lie), we must consider the entire user journey and the technology landscape combined. To do this, we typically guide our clients through three main scenario sets, ‘Live’, ‘Work’ and ‘Play’.
Live: Where the technology respects and values your time.
Work: Data-enabled tech for a more productive and empowered workspace.
Play: Supporting and enabling better and richer experiences.
Over the coming weeks, PTS will be showing just how far the ‘Smart’ experience can go with some stunning use case examples, all mapped against our PTS Smart Scale.
Community User Interface
For residents, students, workers, visitors and businesses, today’s cities and developments must be built in the physical and digital world.
For residents, fingertip access to local amenities and swift integration in to the locale is expected to be seamless and intuitive.
Giving residents access to knowledge of their community’s social activities, safety and environmental performance can help build a welcoming and engaging environment.
Digital convenience is no longer a luxury, but a requirement, and the demand for a digital layer augmenting a community must be considered within every city.
With live and up-to-date information regarding public transport, parking, availability of communal space and key local events, workers, residents and visitor alike will regard developments as more than physical locations, but interactive hubs within cities.
Local business will benefit from digital placemaking, allowing their customers to connect freely, while managing demand and delivery with minimal interruption.
Developments have the opportunity to become extremely efficient ecosystems, where tourists and visitors feel connected and protected, while workers coming to the region are provided with the information and flexibility to accommodate their needs.
Cities will benefit from the digital community as real-time data generates accurate social, environmental, operational and security information that can be used to reduce operational costs and provide tangible evidence to increase location the desirability of the site.
How to do it
• Engagement with City Council, Local Stakeholders and bordering developments
• Local and regional outcome definition
• Development of Technology Strategy in alignment with Stakeholder strategies
• Sensor/Data Source mapping, ‘platforming’ and integration
• Develop site-wide, enterprise-grade communications infrastructure technology solution, including Resilient fibre network, Pervasive Wi-Fi, 4G/5G coverage & Resilient power infrastructure
• Continuous development and alignment of locations/neighbourhoods throughout the project lifecycle
• Final development of a unified community platform