Smart new Workplace
Smart technologies are an important part of the digital transformation, also in the real estate sector. Art-Invest Real Estate has therefore launched the AIRE SmartLab to transform innovative technologies into concrete office solutions.
Das AIRE SmartLab möchte möglichst viele Gebäude smart machen. In der Neubauplanung für das Projekt YRDS werden entsprechende Konzepte bereits umgesetzt.
Smart technology stands for many forward-looking innovations that are primarily used to simplify processes. The realisation of smart solutions requires the intelligent networking of various objects with each other and with the internet. The real estate industry is also increasingly discovering the use of smart technologies in smart homes or buildings. The real estate developer Art-Invest Real Estate, with locations in Cologne and Düsseldorf, among others, not only wants to offer innovative technologies for the working world of tomorrow in its properties and projects, but also to help shape them. This involves user experience, networking, automation, AI, cyber security and energy efficiency in office buildings.
The whole thing sounds a bit like science fiction; in order to actually be able to put all this into practice, the company has set up its SmartLab. “Here, solutions for healthy, intelligent and sustainable real estate are tested, networked, tried out and evaluated,” explains Johannes Nußbaum, Head of Innovation at Art-Invest Real Estate. In doing so, he is doing something like pioneering work. Although there are already numerous individual solutions on the market, there are still no complete, networked solutions. “This makes it difficult for developers, existing portfolio holders, planners and architects to bring existing technologies in line to forge a complete unit and create a truly intelligent building out of it,” says Nußbaum. And this is exactly where the AIRE SmartLab comes in. “We use our know-how and our market position to create a functioning, compatible system of solutions. This 'smart building' product is then easier to implement for planners and architects because requirements and interfaces are clearly defined.”
The realisation of smart office spaces not only optimises work processes for their users, but is definitely also a stepping stone in the fight against climate change. According to the German Association of Energy Market Service Providers, more than 40 percent of the total energy demand is consumed in buildings. Through increased networking and digitalisation of building technology, high energy savings can be realised, which not only protects the environment, but also reduces costs. In addition, commercial and industrial customers in particular appreciate cyber security, i.e. comprehensive security, which has a much higher priority in a smart building.
Art-Invest Real Estate is currently digitally upgrading existing buildings in particular. However, the commissioning of a functional smart building is first preceded by a number of test series. “We install various hardware solutions such as sensors and networked building components in our SmartLab, test them under real conditions in a real working environment and measure the resulting added values.”
“We are convinced that smart buildings are the future.”
The demand for smart and thus more environmentally friendly office space is increasing. “We are convinced that smart buildings are the future because they have a lower carbon footprint in operation and create a completely new user experience,” says Nußbaum. Through intelligent control and energy-efficient technologies, it is possible to reduce energy consumption in such a building by more than 30 percent. This is why Johannes Nußbaum and his company are pursuing a smart building strategy. “We strive to make as many buildings as possible in our portfolio smart in some way,” he explains. An existing building in Düsseldorf has also already been equipped with smart building components. “In the new building plan for the YRDS project and in the Alte Kämmerei, our smart building concept is also being implemented.”
Im SmartLab werden verschiedene Hardwarelösungen wie z. B. Sensoren und vernetzte Gebäudekomponenten eingebaut und unter echten Bedingungen auf ihren Mehrwert getestet.
Mit dieser App lassen sich Türen öffnen, freie Räume oder Arbeitsplätze anzeigen oder Gebäudefunktionen wie Licht, Temperatur oder Aufzüge steuern.
However, a sustainable building has another component for Art-Invest Real Estate: One wants to create office buildings in which people enjoy spending time and can thus work productively. This is achieved, among other things, through an app that opens doors, displays free rooms or workstations, or can control building functions such as lighting, temperature or lifts. In addition, there is building automation whose function and efficiency is evaluated in real time by intelligent algorithms and combined and adjusted with other data such as occupancy or, for example, weather data. “This happens automatically in the background and ensures maximum energy efficiency with the best comfort. Since Covid, tenants are more interested than ever in the question of how high the risk of contagion is and how changing work behaviour and home offices affect the size and type of office space. The answers to this question are provided by sensors that measure air quality and anonymised occupancy in real time. The data can then be used to determine, for example, how healthy the office is and whether more meeting and project rooms will be needed in the future. A smart building thus provides tangible data for decisions that used to be made according to gut feeling or on the basis of random samples,” says Johannes Nußbaum.
This function also makes sense for coworking providers, whose core business is not only the organisation of workplaces, but above all the promotion of networking among those present. The building concepts developed in the AIRE SmartLab can also do this. “People always come first for us. At the beginning of the development of our smart building strategy, there were numerous customer journeys and persona workshops, which we conducted internally and supplemented with over 100 interviews on the street. The wishes and expectations of different stakeholders were also taken into account - from the caretaker to the corporate real estate manager. A smart building protects the environment through less energy consumption and, thanks to technological support, makes a place particularly attractive and thus brings people together,” he is certain. •
www.aire-mag.com
Words Katja Vaders
Pictures PR, Art-Invest Real Estate Management GmbH & Co. KG, Stefan Schilling, SmartLab AIRE