Redirecting energy spend to building efficiency has allowed some corporate decision-makers to gain the reputational advantages of doing the right thing by the environment while also gaining significant performance and productivity improvements. Another benefit is a smart building system's ability to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions. Some owners feed building emissions data to multiple benchmarking organizations, including Greenprint and GRESB or Ceres and other third-party reporting organizations, and smart systems can roll up the information from across a portfolio.

Many studies and surveys have demonstrated that tenants increasingly expect smart building features, including zoned HVAC, sophisticated equipment maintenance alert systems, advanced security systems and green buildings. An improvement in sustainability makes an office building more desirable to tenants and can in turn justify collecting higher rent, as well as increase a building’s competitive advantage and occupancy rates. And when the building is sold, sustainable investments can be recouped in an increased sales price. In fact, a 2011 study by Eichholtz, Kok and Quigley indicated the premium for LEED-certified or Energy Star-labeled buildings is approximately 13 percent.

Smart building technology can generate energy savings of 8 percent to 15 percent annually almost immediately after deployment, with the potential for incremental improvements over time. A 2012 report by the Rockefeller Foundation and Deutsche Bank Group’s DB Climate Change estimates that $289 billion in building efficiency investment would produce savings in excess of $1 trillion in the United States alone, with every dollar invested in energy efficiency producing three dollars of operational savings.

Redirecting energy spend to building efficiency has allowed some corporate decision-makers to gain the reputational advantages of doing the right thing by the environment while also gaining significant performance and productivity improvements. Another benefit is a smart building system's ability to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions. Some owners feed building emissions data to multiple benchmarking organizations, including Greenprint and GRESB or Ceres and other third-party reporting organizations, and smart systems can roll up the information from across a portfolio.

1. A smart building anywhere in the world is monitored from a central location where all of its data is gathered regarding energy consumption, sustainability, security and fire, life and safety issues.
2. When an anomaly is detected, the data is analyzed by a subject matter expert.
3. The appropriate course of action is taken to fix the problem--which is often remedied remotely.