The outbreak of the COVID-19
coronavirus in central China and then in the rest of the world has been the
most significant headline in 2020. Coronavirus disease (COVID19) is an
infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. On the economic side,
the impact of the coronavirus has already been extensive worldwide. Many
countries have been put under strict lockdown to contain the spread of the
virus, leading to a total halt to major industrial production chains, travel
bans, and supply-chain disruption, along with deteriorating financial
conditions and falling commodity prices. While some countries in Asia and
Europe have been gradually lifting their lockdown restrictions and restarting
their economy, experts predict a global recession that should be deeper than
that of 2008–09. World real GDP is predicted to decline by 3% in 2020, compared
with a 1.7% contraction in 2009.
The COVID-19 pandemic has
infected many vulnerable emerging markets with reduced revenue and increased
uncertainty. As recession looms, crucial investment channels are drying up,
seemingly creating a divide between those projects that are already underway
and those that now face an uphill battle to secure the funding they require to
get off the ground. This appears to be the case in the smart cities market,
where major projects are being canceled while others find a new sense of
purpose in a post-COVID world.
In India, work has come to a
standstill on almost all of Prime Minister Modi’s 100 Smart Cities projects, as
lockdowns crippled supply chains in the already highly-criticized initiative.
As public attention switches to health, more scrutiny is being aimed at the
government’s strategy for neglecting this vital element from the outset. Urban
renewal and retrofitting program Smart City Mission, reveals that only 69 of
5,861 projects selected since 2015 have focused on health infrastructure and
capacity building, that’s a little over 1% of total projects.
As the world returns to some
kind of normality, cities will soon realize that all the important long-term
reasons that we needed smart cities before (urban overpopulation) are still
there and we may have a few more. The science suggests that COVID-19 may not
just represent a challenging point in human history but actually become a new
part of the landscape, one that forces us the change the way we live,
especially in densely populated urban areas. There are no assurances that a
vaccine will be successful or offer defense from new strains as the virus
mutates, which could make mitigation methods a vital part of the future urban
landscape.
“With the COVID-19 outbreak, technologies such as drones, real-time dashboards, new types of surveillance, etc. have emerged. These are being used by cities in Europe as the world moves towards a digital-only lifestyle,” reads a review of 4 European cities by Silicon Canals. “Besides this, there’s an increase in the adoption of e-health and e-government services and trends such as online education and remote work. This has, in turn, resulted in a huge drop in traffic and pollution. Further, COVID-19 has left remarkable changes in manufacturing as it accelerates digital transformation strategies.”
While very young smart city
projects, or those with pre-existing issues, will be more vulnerable to delay
and cancelation during the turbulent months and years ahead, most smart city
projects will survive and many more will be born out of this crisis. Whether
COVID becomes a new part of human life or a very strong warning sign, our smart
technology will be fundamental to the future of health and urban life.
Focus on Technology that Helps
Optimize Air Flow
We need technology that helps
manage and optimize air flow, ventilation rates, and flushing more outdoor air
into buildings. Beyond optimization the import of outdoor air in buildings, Consultants
are constantly looking at models to ensure that air pressurization is optimized
in confined areas such as bathrooms and also open areas such as open floor plan
areas to ensure that air is flushed out of buildings. All this analysis means more work around the
HVAC systems in our buildings.
For the long term, he
predicted increasing importance in being able to monitor the performance of
buildings, air flow and otherwise and also, more focus on resiliency, being
able to shut down and restart buildings, and a focus on existing, older
buildings and the indoor air quality in those older buildings. Also there is
good opportunity in advances in cleaning and maintaining buildings.
Focus on Efforts to Create
Social Distancing, Versus Facilitating “Social Collisions”
We need technology to help
people optimize “social collision” in the work place with the goal of fostering
greater communication and collaboration. Now, there is demand for leveraging
technology to help people understand how socially distanced people are likely
to be as they re-enter space.
Longer term, need to focus on
the changing levels of connectivity in the workplace and how that may change
the layouts and functions of workspaces. Places like meeting rooms, classrooms,
airport terminals, museums, theaters and other buildings will receive new
scrutiny, as we think about the future we want to create. Dedicated outdoor air
systems are also areas where he sees opportunities, not only to opportunities
to create higher quality environments, but also more energy efficient
environments. Increased scope for
digital occupancy management systems the empower building users by giving them
more control over their environments.
Focus on Some of the
Non-Traditional Ways Construction Companies Are Providing Service to Customers
Longer term, there is demand
for Well Building Technology and also a significant expansion of low voltage
related work in everything from video conferencing, wifi networks, space
monitoring, security, air quality, log in kiosks, auto operators on doors,
hands free functions on kitchen appliances and restroom fixtures, and more. There
is an increase in ability to access and even maintain building maintenance
equipment, remotely.
The key functions of smart
building technologies post-lockdown in the office and retail sectors
Offices
During the lockdown, most offices have temporarily shut and employees have been encouraged to work from home. Omdia expects that an important share of this workforce will want to work from home at least weekly when the lockdown is lifted and the pandemic over, primarily for safety reasons. In addition, businesses and employees have recognised that working from home was a viable option as they were not less productive in this environment.
This trend will push these companies to reconsider their strategies in terms of workplaces and space. As social distancing and working remotely might become the norms, workplaces will have to be reshaped, using technologies that enable effective space optimization for instance. Offices and financial institutions already represent the largest end-user industry for BMS platforms (around 35% of total revenue worldwide), which is 2.5 times larger than any other vertical. A growing number of enterprise-level buildings will connect data from their BMS platforms to space utilisation and optimisation software or invest in standalone solutions that can help monitor how every square foot of space is being used - with the future objective to consolidate part of the space to reduce costs across an entire portfolio of buildings. This software primarily uses occupancy sensors to track occupied/unoccupied areas in an office building, and further data is collected related to the numbers of employees present, employees’ habits during working hours, and the times of days these rooms are available. Collecting and analysing data from multiple sensors and sources within a building to deliver actionable insights enable businesses to better use, optimize, and prioritize building spaces while ensuring high levels of comfort for employees in the building. Finally, some businesses might want to move away from hot-desking applications and flexible offices as employees might request personal desks and equipment. This will put a strain on flexible working spaces such as WeWork, which could continue to suffer in the short term after lockdown restrictions are lifted.
While employers, owners and
facility managers have already been gradually implementing solutions improving
employees’ health and wellbeing in their buildings, the focus post-lockdown
will be to create workplaces that are safe for employees and visitors. Smart
buildings are already capable of integrating technologies that can provide this
level of protection, therefore, Facility managers and building owners to invest
further in these solutions, with revenues for connected equipment almost
doubling by 2024 in this vertical. A key example of this could be smart
technologies that can detect fevers or other key symptoms, and help offices
create different working ‘zones’ in case of contamination. Equipment such as
thermal cameras to identify people with fever and frictionless security could
see a boost in sales in the coming months. Investments in IoT devices and
platforms could also see an increase as owners and facility managers will need
access to real-time data regarding their buildings, while employees and
visitors will also want to have access to this information through mobile apps
or public-facing dashboards (clean zones vs contaminated zones and air quality
in the building). Finally, workplace hygiene will become crucial once lockdown
restrictions are eased. Investment in smart restroom systems such as door
contact sensors and fill level sensors on soap dispensers and hand sanitisers
that can send alerts to maintenance staff will inevitably increase.
Retail
As many countries around the world have been under strict lockdown to limit human contacts and the spread of the virus, this is having a significant impact on businesses in the retail sector. In countries under lockdown, virtually every retail outlet has locked their doors to consumers except grocery and pharmacy stores. Even in markets where lockdowns are not in place, physical footfall in retail stores and shopping centres has dramatically declined.
As a result of the outbreak, non-food retailers have seen a strong decline in demand and customers shifting channels to online shopping instead. Some of these retailers have already been struggling for some time before the pandemic, especially in Europe and North America, and this extraordinary situation has been putting greater pressure on the industry. Store closures will likely increase for retailers already on the brink of going out of business. On the other hand, food retailers, warehouses and online delivery services have reported a huge growth in demand as customers have stockpiled goods and ordered more online. Food retailers have been facing record spikes in demand and must currently deal with significant out-of-stock situations on many key products. The ability to predict and manage demand has never been more important for these actors.
Retailers should continue to implement smart retail technologies, domain integrations and analytics to reduce costs through energy efficiency and to retain customers. Although many retailers, especially small and medium-sized business, lack the commercial resources to finance more advanced BMS platforms or comprehensive integration, there is a growing consensus in the industry that stores must begin or continue to digitise with IoT-enabled devices and focus on offering customers superior shopping experiences to remain competitive and attract customers back in stores.
Enhancing customer experience has always been a key point of differentiation for bricks-and-mortar retailers from their physical and online competitors, and also helps drive greater consumer spending. In future, safety and reassurance are likely to become new and important aspects of customers experience following the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, expectation among consumers will grow for a safe, enjoyable and hassle-free in store experience that replicates some of the experience of purchasing online. Store mapping and smart shelves are examples of use cases in retail that can enhance customers shopping experience. Through store mapping, either occupancy sensors in luminaires or Bluetooth beacons can track customers through a store. Customers can then potentially access this data through applications on their mobile phones. The application can display a map that enables indoor navigation and can guide them to the locations of items they wish to purchase. Smart shelves can directly interact with apps on a customer's smartphone and if the consumer has used the store's app to create a shopping list, the smart shelves can interact with the list and show you where to find the products you want. These solutions should help clients to feel more comfortable inside stores while limiting their shopping time.
The overall picture – cause for optimism?
Clearly the comprehensive impact of the outbreak on the smart buildings market for 2020 and beyond is still evolving. Nevertheless, there is strong potential for the Covid-19 pandemic to accelerate the uptake of connected equipment and IOT platforms across many sectors including the retail and office sectors.
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Very informative .Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure.
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