Smart buildings: Transforming spaces for safety and efficiency with cellular IoT

The rise of smart buildings is reshaping how we interact with our work environments. As global office occupancy rates increase, building managers face the dual challenge of ensuring tenant safety, increasing operational efficiency, and meeting sustainability goals. Smart buildings, powered by advanced technologies like Cellular IoT, are providing solutions to these pressing issues. By 2033, the smart building market is expected to see substantial growth as more organizations adopt IoT-enabled systems to enhance energy efficiency, security, and tenant comfort.

Delivering data for improved building services

The benefits from cellular IoT cross all aspects of smart building management, offering solutions to key challenges faced by property managers and tenants alike.

Energy optimization

In the United States alone, buildings contribute to over one-third of total greenhouse gas emissions. As the sector strives for net-zero targets, cellular IoT-enabled sensors play a crucial role in monitoring and adjusting energy consumption. For energy optimization, Cellular IoT-powered sensors and devices can automatically control lighting, heating, and cooling systems based on occupancy and environmental conditions, significantly reducing unnecessary energy use.

Health and safety

In terms of employee health and safety, smart buildings equipped with Cellular IoT sensors and devices can utilize advanced sensor technology to monitor air quality, flow, and humidity levels. These systems help limit the spread of airborne diseases by ensuring proper ventilation and maintaining optimal indoor environmental conditions. The ability to track these metrics in real-time allows building managers to respond swiftly to any deviations from safe parameters

In Europe, smart buildings are at the forefront of implementing advanced health monitoring systems to comply with stringent workplace safety regulations. Many European countries have introduced legislation requiring employers to maintain optimal indoor air quality, driving the adoption of smart building technologies to meet these standards. The reliability of cellular connectivity ensures these critical monitoring systems remain operational at all times.

Building security

Access control systems are a staple of building security, but smart buildings take this concept further. Modern IoT sensors can be integrated into employee badges or wearable devices, providing seamless and secure access while generating valuable data on space utilization.

This data can be used to optimize room layouts, prevent overcrowding, and improve overall building operations. When combined with video analytics powered by artificial intelligence, these systems offer unprecedented insights into building usage patterns and potential security risks.

Cellular IoT delivers reliable, always-on connectivity that is not dependent on local Wi-Fi networks. This ensures that access control systems remain operational even if the building's primary network experiences issues.

Asset tracking

Cellular IoT makes asset tracking within smart buildings becomes more efficient. From tablets to maintenance equipment, IoT-enabled devices allow building managers to monitor the location and status of assets in real-time. As equipment and devices move throughout the facility, building managers maintain continuous visibility of their location and status. This real-time tracking enables asset managers to quickly locate and service equipment, minimizing disruptions to operations. Additionally, the ability to monitor asset utilization patterns across different areas of the building helps optimize space usage and workflow processes.

Improving daily life for management and tenants

For building managers, smart buildings offer numerous benefits. They enable more efficient resource allocation, reduced operational costs, and improved tenant satisfaction. Real-time data allows for predictive maintenance, minimizing disruptions and extending the lifespan of building systems. The ability to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability can also enhance the property's value and appeal to environmentally conscious tenants.

For tenants, smart buildings can significantly improve the entire work experience. No more freezing at your desk. Personalized climate control allows individuals to adjust temperature and lighting in their workspace via smartphone apps. Smart elevators predict and optimize traffic flow, reducing wait times. Intelligent parking systems guide drivers to available spots, saving time and frustration. Voice-activated meeting room booking and equipment control streamline office tasks. Wellness-focused amenities like air quality displays, noise level monitoring, and circadian lighting systems promote healthier work environments. Interactive wayfinding kiosks help navigate large buildings effortlessly.

Cellular IoT as the connectivity backbone

All of these services and benefits rely on one thing, connectivity. However, connectivity challenges plague traditional building management systems. Relying on Wi-Fi networks for critical functions like air quality monitoring, access control, and energy management increases the network congestion. Wi-Fi dead zones pose significant hurdles.

Cellular IoT addresses these challenges by providing reliable, secure connectivity that doesn't depend on local Wi-Fi infrastructure. Its ability to function independently of existing networks makes it ideal for smart buildings, especially in areas with poor Wi-Fi coverage. Cellular IoT offers consistent performance across large spaces, ensuring that even remote corners of a building remain connected.

Hologram delivers the reliability for Verkada's growth

Verkada, a leading physical security company, has leveraged cellular IoT to expand its services into challenging environments. By integrating Hologram's connectivity solutions, Verkada can now deploy its security cameras and sensors in areas lacking traditional internet infrastructure, such as parking lots, loading docks, and remote locations to expand the reach of every smart building.

With thousands of devices in the field securing mission-critical locations, Verkada needed the reliability and coverage provided by Hologram’s Outage Protection SIMs. These SIMs feature multiple carrier profiles to help ensure uninterrupted connectivity which is vital to Verkada’s services. As Max Shen, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Verkada noted, “We have had several carrier outages recently, from AT&T to Verizon. But because we had multiple profiles in all of our SIMs, it simply fell back to a different carrier when one was down. Across our fleet, we didn't see any downtime. We were able to avoid customer escalations and provided the uninterrupted connectivity that our customers expect from us for their mission critical security deployments.

Hologram's Cellular IoT solutions address many of the connectivity challenges faced by smart building managers. As Max noted, our Outage Protection SIMs feature two fully independent mobile cores, ensuring seamless connectivity even if one network experiences issues. This redundancy is crucial for maintaining the constant operation of critical building systems.

Plus, the Hologram Dashboard provides a centralized platform for managing all connected devices across a building or multiple properties. This simplifies device activation, lifecycle management, and data analysis, allowing building managers to focus on optimizing operations rather than troubleshooting connectivity issues.

The future is smarter

We’re only starting to see the benefits of smart buildings for building owners, managers, and their tenants. In the next five years, smart buildings will likely see widespread adoption of AI-powered predictive maintenance systems, dramatically reducing unexpected equipment failures and operational costs. We can also expect the acceleration of integration of advanced biometric access control measures, enhancing security while providing a seamless entry experience for tenants and visitors. Additionally, smart buildings will increasingly incorporate adaptive lighting and climate control systems that respond in real-time to occupancy patterns and individual preferences.

As smart buildings continue to evolve, the integration of cellular IoT technology will play an increasingly vital role in ensuring seamless connectivity, robust security, and efficient operations. By embracing these advancements, building managers can create safer, more sustainable environments that adapt to the changing needs of occupants and organizations alike.