The impact that we are having on the planet has risen up the agenda in the last few years, and wherever we look there are often dramatic examples of this impact. For all the efforts to prevent this, it is unlikely that we will make much progress without the built environment playing a major part. After all, according to the UNEP SBCI, the built environment consumes up to 40% of the world’s energy and emits up to 30% of global greenhouse emissions.
Alongside this global impact, we are also becoming more aware of the influence that the local environment has on us as individuals, whether at home or at work.
In the words of Alex Edds, director of innovation at JLL: “Over the past six months there has been an acceleration of interest and focus on sustainability from developers, landlords and occupiers. And many are now seeking technological solutions to support these goals, which are no longer just aspirational and unmeasured, but are quantified and accountable. It is a step change for sure.”
This is a significant challenge for us all to embrace, and while technology may not have all the answers, it can help us on this journey towards a better and more sustainable environment. Here we look at five different innovations that might help.
1Tracking performance
According to Lord Kelvin, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it”. And so to really make a change, we need to be able to measure the impact that buildings are having, how they compare with others, and the change over time. There are several examples where technology can help with this, such as the increased use of sensors within buildings that collect data to measure how it is performing.
We are also seeing growth in available data sets that can be used to estimate and understand both individual buildings and wider market trends. A good example of this is the free EC3 tool (Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator), which allows benchmarking, assessment and reductions in embodied carbon in the construction of buildings. This is a vital issue to address, with some estimates suggesting that the number of buildings in the world will double by the year 2060.
2Energy use in buildings
We are starting to see technology that can help our buildings to collect energy. There are some obvious examples of this, such as solar panels on roofs. But there are a number of newer, more integrated technologies that will allow us to do this more effectively through the building itself.
An example of innovation in this area is Physee, based in the Netherlands, which produces glass windows and facades that collect energy. In a world where glass buildings are increasingly common, this allows energy to be collected by the walls of the entire building, rather than just through a few panels on the roof.
And who could have missed the recent images of Boris Johnson leaping up and down to generate energy through PAVEGEN, a system which converts footfall in a building or space into energy?
It isn’t just the ability to collect more energy. We are also seeing a wide range of innovations that allow us to store and use it better.
In office buildings, this ranges from the use of LED lights to software that increases efficiency, especially with the increased use of sensors. Lights turning themselves off when not needed and better control of the temperature all have significant impact on energy performance.
At home, we have seen the Google Nest suite of products, which allow much more efficient control of a home’s systems. Tesla is well known for the electric cars it produces, but this is a company that is more broadly focused on moving the world towards sustainable energy, and this includes buildings. One of their focus areas for innovating is helping homes better use energy with products such as the ‘Powerwall’.
3Better use of materials
There is a new breed of innovative materials that can help us to build a more sustainable world. In recent years for example, we have seen an increased use in timber frames in buildings, or the creation of a form of cement that draws pollutants out of the air.
Longer term, there has been huge investment in the material graphene, which was only really discovered last decade (it was first isolated in 2004, although it had been theoretically known about for many years). A two-dimensional form of carbon, graphene has shown incredible properties; it is over 200 times stronger than steel, and electric conductivity is 13 times better than that of copper.
We are seeing an increased amount of investment in this space as well. Zach Aarons, co-founder and partner at Metaprop, one of the worlds leading proptech venture capital firms, stated: “Part of our mission is to make the built environment more sustainable and resilient. There are many different ways technology can underpin this mission.
“For example, we are looking to invest in new building materials that can be manufactured more inexpensively and sustainably than traditional building materials but do not compromise on strength, safety, and resiliency. Expect to see many more venture funds looking at material sciences in this new decade. Inventions like steel and reinforced concrete transformed our industry decades and centuries ago. We are looking for the next wave of similar innovations.”
4Improve the air we breathe
As we become more conscious about the environment that we live and work in, pollution and the air we breathe is becoming more important. In recent years, we have seen an increase in the use of sensors and technology to allow us to measure this internal and external air quality. In turn this allows us to manage it better, and we have seen a range of initiatives from around the world to improve the air quality in a city or country.
We are also seeing innovation to improve the air quality of the air we breathe inside the building. A range of new technology companies, such as Ravti based in the US, have appeared and are focused on improving the use and effectiveness of HVAC systems that largely control the air in commercial buildings.
Not only are we improving the traditional ways of controlling air quality, but we are also seeing innovative new ways of doing so. Airlite, based in Milan, is a company that produces paint which reduces pollutants such as NOx, SOx, NH3 and CO. According to their website, all their paint used so far is equivalent to the impact of more than 68,000 trees.
5Better use of buildings
Last, but certainly not least, is that there have been several technological innovations that are letting us as occupiers use the building better.
We now have sensors that let us know where free desks are, pre-order a coffee before we arrive, or locate a colleague in a building. We have seen an explosion in recent years of mobile apps which help to connect and enhance the experience of the user, and which helps them to efficiently use the building and the surrounding area. Many are available with different features and functionality depending on your need.
These all lead to a better and more efficient experience in a building, which ultimately means it is more sustainable in every sense of the word.
The role of real estate in building a sustainable future is critical, and while technology cannot single-handedly solve all of the challenges we face, it can help every step of the way. Not only is this important for the sake of the planet, but it is becoming increasingly demanded by occupiers, and it will impact long-term capital values.
