Why your smart building project needs an overarching IoT strategy

Your IoT strategy is the DNA of your smart building. It’s what brings your vision to life. Implementing a smart building strategy from the beginning is crucial for the development and smooth operation of all your systems. This enhances tenant satisfaction, attracts high-quality tenants, and increases your returns. In this article, we explore why your smart building project needs an overarching IoT strategy and how partnering with an IT provider like ITVET is the best way forward.

What is an Internet of Things strategy (IoT) for smart buildings?

An Internet of Things strategy (IoT) is a comprehensive plan outlining how your smart building can maximise value from IoT technology to meet specific business goals. This might be to enhance operational efficiencies, improve tenant retention, increase the value of your property or attract high-value tenants.

It involves evaluating different technical options, selecting appropriate technology, integrating systems, managing data, ensuring security and stability, enabling scalability, and establishing an implementation roadmap.

Why do you need an IoT strategy?

Smart building technology is a game-changer for the property management industry. Successful smart building projects have an overarching IoT strategy to ensure seamless integration of software controls, security, and mechanical and electrical systems.

When planning a smart building strategy, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Every smart building has different infrastructure and architectural objectives. Our smart building consultancy team closely examine your property to create a tailor-made strategy specific to your requirements.

Many construction companies excel at building structures but may lack the technical expertise to integrate disparate systems with complex controls. This can cause chaos and a scattered approach. The goal of a smart building’s IoT strategy is to integrate all systems, so they work harmoniously on a secure and reliable network.

Executing your smart building strategy

Executing a smart building strategy requires exceptional coordination skills and technical expertise. Relying on individual subcontractors can add complexity and create chaos. Subcontractors have deep expertise in their own systems but may not understand how their systems integrate with other devices on the network and the importance of cyber security. To work properly and avoid conflicts, all operational technologies must work together flawlessly.

Successful implementation of your IoT strategy requires specialist skills best provided by smart building specialists like ITVET. We understand the various layers of an IT network and how all technologies converge to work as a harmonious system. We speak the same language as your individual technology providers, enabling us to translate both software and hardware technical requirements into workable solutions. As smart building project managers, we can advocate for you, problem-solve, and deliver an IoT strategy that works reliably the first time.

Benefits of an overarching IoT strategy

Ensuring your priorities are upheld

Whether your goal is to enhance energy efficiency, create a unique tenant experience, or make your property stand out in a crowded market, an IoT strategy ensures you meet all your objectives.

At ITVET, we work closely with you to create a tailored smart building IoT strategy that fulfils your functional, design, and operational requirements. Our smart building strategies are scalable, customer-focused, and custom-made for each asset. We can also deliver your technical strategy, ensuring your objectives are upheld in the design, construction, and maintenance phases of your smart building project.

Identifying and solving problems

Smart building features are logically interconnected within the fabric of your building and woven into your network. Achieving integration and interoperability of sophisticated smart technologies can be challenging.

Overcoming these challenges requires a strategic approach. Our expert team works closely with you to create an overarching IoT strategy to remove any limitations from your project. We identify potential issues and advise on the best technical solutions for you and your tenants.

Future-proofing your smart building

Smart buildings are ever evolving, keeping pace with technological advancements, and constantly pushing the boundaries. As part of your smart building IoT strategy, you must consider the long term.

Our smart building consultants ensure the delivery of a resilient and future-proofed development from the start. At the heart of your smart building is your network. We’ll design a future-proofed converged network, ensuring you have the right infrastructure in place for migrating new systems in the future.

Consequences of not having an IoT strategy

Subcontractors working in silos

Your smart building project is likely to involve multiple subcontractors. It’s likely they’ll work in silos and not collaborate or communicate with each other. They’re all highly skilled in their areas but lack an understanding of the other parts of the project and their individual requirements. This approach creates a slow and disjointed building process fraught with risk. An overarching IoT strategy ensures everyone aligns in maintaining your priorities and objectives at every stage of development.

Poor performance

A smart building becomes truly intelligent when all components link to one network, enabling each system to work together and exchange information. This integration is fundamental and requires an overarching IoT strategy to ensure a frictionless tenant experience.

When you hire multiple subcontractors to implement your systems, they might only work on the physical layer of your network. They may not understand the multiple layers of your network and how everything interconnects with other mechanical and electrical solutions. Additionally, they may not grasp what you need from your data and where it needs to go to optimise system performance. This can cause problems for your smart building. A clear IoT strategy ensures all your systems seamlessly integrate with your network, ensuring faultless performance.

Lack of stability

Smart building performance relies on many sensors and interconnected IoT devices, each sending individual data streams across your network. But what if your network goes down? If key functions such as air conditioning, lighting, or even toilet flushing rely on your network connection, it can negatively impact the tenant experience and in some cases bring your whole building to a standstill. At ITVET, we design and build resilient and secure smart building network infrastructure that minimises downtime and maximises productivity.

Smart building cyber security not a priority

The tech world is increasingly aware that connecting physical devices and making them report back their data creates security vulnerabilities. Having a clear IoT strategy helps strengthen your smart building cyber security, protecting your infrastructure, operations, and tenants. At ITVET, we build your entire network architecture with layers of embedded security to mitigate data loss or attack. This includes network segmentation, zero trust, encryption, and much more.

ITVET’s smart building expertise

Smart building consultancy

A successful smart building IoT strategy requires technical expertise and a deep understanding of smart building features. This is where ITVET’s smart building consulting services come in.

Our specialist team of smart building consultants works closely with your software and systems developers, contractors, and site managers to develop a winning smart building strategy. We’re here for you at every stage of your smart building’s lifecycle, including consultancy, design, delivery, and support.

Our team includes WiredScore Accredited Professionals and SmartScore Accredited Professionals (AP). We can guide you through the certification process and ensure your IoT strategy meets the criteria for the highest rating possible.

Do you want your smart building to become the next showstopper? We work with the biggest names in the property industry delivering award-winning smart buildings. As a trusted tech partner, we’ve worked on prestigious smart building projects, including London’s City Hall.

Smart building analytics software

As part of our smart building consulting services, we provide a customised analytics solution tailored to your specific requirements.

Our smart building analytics software aggregates all your data streams into one, easy- to-use management console. This provides invaluable insights, enabling you to make faster decisions that meet the needs of your tenants.

You can see how your tenants use your building and how you can optimise it. This includes occupancy hotspots in your smart building, what equipment they touch, the routes people take, and much more. This real-time behavioural and performance data enables you to make decisions that drive performance and maximise the value of your smart building.

Network security

We often find during smart building projects that little consideration is given towards network security. Security is a vital component of the creation and maintenance of a smart building, so it must be given high priority within your IoT strategy.

Here’s how ITVET keeps your network safe:

• Consultation and design – Our dedicated network specialists work with you to design a network that forms a structured backbone for all smart building functions and systems.
• Network installation – Our deployment engineers have years of smart building experience, installing state-of-the-art data networks in flagship smart building projects across the UK. They manage the network installation process from end to end, including physical cabling, data cabinets, and switches.
• Infrastructure audit – We audit and monitor the integrity of your cabling switch infrastructure. 
• Penetration testing – We take network security seriously. This is why we perform regular penetration testing both externally and internally to ensure the security of your network.
• Network monitoring – Our advanced systems monitor your network 24/7, allowing us to diagnose and resolve issues before your tenants experience any disruption.
• 24/7 Network support – Our team of qualified IT engineers support your network around the clock to keep your smart building operating smoothly and efficiently.

Smart building examples

ITVET has worked with hundreds of clients to create overarching IoT strategies for some of the most exciting smart building projects across the UK. We carefully listen to our clients to ensure we create smart building strategies that successfully meet their needs and requirements.

One Heddon Street

The slogan of One Heddon Street is ‘Work. Space. Redefined’. One Heddon Street ensures workers have the perfect environment for productivity. They offer flexible memberships for tenants to use their space, and it’s the smart building features that attract them. The focus of the IoT strategy was tenant comfort.

Here’s what we provided through the IoT strategy:

• Superfast internet: 1GB of resilient WiFi backbone.
• Thermal comfort: Tenants can easily adjust the temperature to suit them, wherever they are sitting.
• Biodiversity: A living wall, an indoor garden, and trees planted on each floor create a relaxed ambiance.
• Indoor air quality: The fresh air supply to the offices is 50% above the minimum recommended level.

City Hall

City Hall (previously known as The Crystal) is accredited as one of the world’s greenest buildings. Located in the Royal Docks, this award-winning smart building is home to the Mayor of London, the London Assembly, and the Greater London Authority. Reducing operating costs and driving eco-friendly performance was fundamental to the smart building strategy.

Here’s what we implemented in the overarching IoT strategy:

• Solar energy and heat pumps: 80% of its hot water is heated by solar energy and ground source heat pumps.
• Reduced CO2 emissions: 70% less CO2 emissions compared to other offices in the UK.
• Tenant control: Tenants can easily control lighting, temperature, and microphone volume from a tablet or smartphone.

Final thoughts

Smart buildings require intelligent thinking behind them. This is why you should work with a technology company like ITVET that specialises in smart building IoT strategy. With our experience and technical expertise, we can help you create an award-winning smart building. Our accredited smart building consultants will work with your subcontractors to ensure the smooth development of your smart building. Request a free consultation with one of our specialists today.