Buildings of the futureHow will the future of digital impact the way we design and construct buildings?

Blockchain's impact on buildings

Leapfrog technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies are destined to radically change how buildings are designed, constructed and managed. This will have a major impact not only on building operations, but also business performance.

What is blockchain?

A blockchain is a decentralised database that chronologically and securely records transactions.

Given its data is resistant to modification, blockchains in business are being explored in a variety of industries due to their high security performance.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency where encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

Bitcoin is one example of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency short-circuits the need for time-consuming administration logs of maintenance contracts and tasks.

How will these impact buildings of the future?

Blockchain has the ability to create value in the built environment through smart self-executing contracts between owners and operators, system components, system integrators, and construction management, including material tracking and payment.

Cryptocurrencies provide a secure and trackable way to trade across borders, industries and suppliers in the supply chain.

Design

In the future, machines in buildings will be designed and integrated into the building rather than built and attached as an afterthought. This could involve items such as transportation or energy utility infrastructure – for example, creating a sustainable micro-grid on a campus that allows renewable energy to be generated, optimised, transferred and stored.

Blockchain could be utilised for commercial arrangements between all partners in a building, helping to evenly and automatically distribute payment for different channel usage. These networks will change our design considerations and selections as we create buildings of the future.

There is a growing trend for homes and offices to be printed from scratch in warehouses, with parts clipped together like LEGO, similar to car factories and IKEA warehouses. This will require an increase in the accuracy and robustness of the design data documentation. This enables blockchain to then connect the supply chain – from planning processes, construction contracts, landlords – through to high quality design documentation.

Building owners can also use the design documentation to inform decisions such as planning energy and water infrastructure required for the estate, which has the potential to decrease both capital costs and ongoing operational expenditure, substantially impacting overall business performance.

Figure 1. Machines could be integrated into buildings that are clipped together and streamlined by blockchain

Construct

When there are disputes in the construction industry, common areas for disagreements include differences of opinion over plans and specifications/scope of work, contractors interpreting planning documents differently, project access and construction defects. Blockchain technology could provide a trustworthy contract administrator by introducing an error-free process to build and monitor contracts, in the following ways:

Administering smart contracts

Also known as self-executing contracts, these are universal agreements that authorise and can help protect legal or financial transactions. Smart contracts are converted to computer code, then stored and replicated on the blockchain database. Smart contracts define the rules and penalties around an agreement in the same way that a traditional contract does.

The benefits they could realise for the construction industry are enormous. For example, smart contracts work on the if/then principle for administering and paying suppliers. If the plumber repairs the pipes, then he requests inspection. If the person responsible for inspecting the work agrees it’s acceptable quality, then the plumber gets paid. Smart contracts are used for each of these if/then scenarios and are securely recorded on the blockchain. Smart contracts also provide more trust in the transaction of complex plant equipment.

For example, for a mechanical plant: A client could purchase direct from the supplier, pay a portion of the cost when it’s verified the plant has left port in the origin country, transfer liability to the shipping company, and release further payment when the plant arrives on site, again transferring liability, this time to the contractor responsible for installation. Then final payment can be issued once the plant has been installed and commissioned.

Recording value exchange

Blockchains securely record transactions ranging from cryptocurrency like bitcoin to the transfer of other values such as a service, product or an approval in the form of a smart contract. Blockchain records are linked using cryptography, which prevents third parties from reading private messages.

Operate and maintain

Combining smart contracts to form a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO)

A DAO is an organisation run through rules encoded as computer programmes, using smart contracts. Imagine one day if a building – through the IoT and metering and monitors – is setup as a DAO at the beginning of a project, through to construction and beyond to the in-use phase.

For example, blockchain and a building maintenance system could lead to a building’s DAO ordering a new light fitting, accepting delivery, requesting a supplier for installation, followed by payment.

Payment could come from the DAO’s bank account connected to tenants of the building. The DAO bank account could autonomously manage rent payments, body corporate fees, insurance payments and maintenance requests.

Certifying proof of existence for data

Blockchains are able to provide a securely backed-up digital identification, allowing people to share relevant information that is validated by the authorising body. Identities of people and/or vendors could be securely recorded in the blockchain, additionally used to build reputation for work.

This ID allows for contractors and businesses who don’t know or trust each other to do business.

Questions we should we be asking?

• Do our design data sets require more accuracy to enable financial models?
• If the relevance of design data increases, how will the industry enable and react to this?
• How will our designs utilise machine learning and blockchain to create value to users and owners?
• How will 5G and 6G influence the connectivity of the machines and the design of the building nervous system?

Managing land records

Andhra Pradesh has partnered with Indian blockchain start-up Zebi Data to secure and record more than 100,000 land records, and is working with Swedish blockchain start-up ChromaWay to agree land registry solutions.

Andhra Pradesh has also partnered with Covalent Fund to create an India-focused blockchain stack named Velugu Core, that makes government data (including land records) freely and digitally available, which developers can use to build apps. Individuals or companies wishing to buy a particular property can access this data through an app built using the blockchain stack to access public information on the property’s previous ownership and transaction details, thereby reducing disputes of ownership.

Building a City

Similarly, blockchain is being used to build Andhra Pradesh’s capital city Amaravati. More than 24,000 farmers from 22 villages are selling their land to the government to create the city, and the entire documentation process for the massive sales exercise is based on blockchain.

The decentralised distributed ledger system is creating foolproof digitised land registries of the residential and commercial plots allotted to farmers. Records are generated and sent automatically to the registration office, captured in a multitude of local languages, ensuring full security without any duplicate registrations. Data is logged with the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) and can be traced back at any given point of time so security of title is always maintained.

CRDA sent officials to villages to educate sceptical farmers about the system, who have been pleasantly surprised to learn firsthand how simple and straightforward the fully automated process is, ranging from allocating plots to registration and storing the data.

While these projects are still in their infancy, the possibilities and benefits they are anticipated to bring to Andhra Pradesh’s economy are endless – and just the beginning. In the future, linking blockchain in a building’s design, operation and IoT will truly unlock the value of what Andhra Pradesh has started.

Andhra Pradesh’s commitment to blockchain is part of the country’s national push to lead in tech transformation and blockchain adoption. Unlike other countries, in India, governments are promoting innovation rather than the private sector, incentivising startups to collaborate directly with government and leverage public resources.

Other states are following Andhra Pradesh’s lead with four more states recently announcing support for blockchain in similar use cases as part of a bid to bring more transparency to governance. Andhra Pradesh plans to eventually implement blockchain across the entire administration.

Office buildings are empty 70 per cent of the time yet continue to churn through energy even while vacant. This is a stunning example of how better analysis of data could inform facilities management so that buildings can become more sustainable and efficient.

The Building Internet of Things (BIoT) refers to the connections in a smart building linking devices and sensors, analytics, machine learning, business systems, cloud, productivity, and artificial intelligence. If the Internet of Things (IoT) is the interconnection of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling the sending and receiving of data, imagine the impact this could have in the spaces we inhabit while living, breathing and sleeping.

Smart buildings of the future will leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) for improving building and equipment maintenance, increasing efficiencies in business operations, complying with new regulations and codes, attracting and retaining tenants and employees, and achieving sustainability and corporate social responsibility goals.

Data will control buildings, leading to more efficient operations, optimised resources, better space utilisation, and greater occupancy – benefiting building owners, operators and occupants.

Hasn’t this already happened?

Stakeholders in the built environment market have aggressively pursued new technologies and approaches to improve building operations since the 1970s. But the opportunity now exists to use data to amplify business performance.

As an example, retailers are already using data to capture and enhance customers’ shopping experiences by understanding their dwell times and matching their preferences with other purchase opportunities, leading to increased sales.

In healthcare, patients, clinicians and medicines can flow more efficiently through a hospital by better understanding demand and supply and aligning delivery to relevant times and locations, resulting in more cost-effective health delivery.

In the commercial sector, a company’s attractiveness to potential employees and clients can be linked to the capacity of its building to showcase innovation and improve the health, well-being and productivity of its occupants.

Advancements in technology are driving consumer demand, which in turn is changing expectations, not only for how people use this technology for personal purposes, but also related to where we live, shop, work and spend our leisure time.

How can buildings improve?

Technology is not only an enabler, it is also an enhancer. While data can be used to change the building operations in response to user demands, this also contributes to enhancing the overall user experience, and improved brand perceptions, which can be exploited to amplify business performance through increased productivity, sales and profits.

Buildings as a smart device

For example, many buildings are still uncomfortable for occupants. Office workers will be all too familiar with feeling the office building is too cold in summer and too hot in winter, with facility managers frequently fielding requests from people to adapt temperatures based on their personal experience. 

This disconnect will not be fading anytime soon, given men are typically programmed to enjoy set office temperatures at 22 degrees compared to women’s preference for 25 degrees, due to the different metabolic make-up of the genders. Manual, routine tasks such as rubbish collection will become ‘on demand’ tasks aligned to sensors that can report when the bins are full and need to be collected and emptied; robots may be used to welcome staff, and the entire building could become a living organism that knows occupants’ meeting schedules, the way they use the building and how to optimise the spaces for them.

Some new buildings have now started using apps with an IP-based interface, connecting some sensors and equipment to a Building Management System that proactively optimises the building’s operations including:

• Centralised control and maintenance of HVAC and lighting
• Personalised comfort conditions and collaboration opportunities
• Monitored occupancy and usage so that space can be adapted, reconfigured and rezoned depending on need
• The delivery of energy at the right time to the right place

All of these enhancements will combine to improve the user experience.Through a more comfortable workplace that functions efficiently and improves a sense of health and wellbeing, increased productivity will be the outcome, thus amplifying the overall performance of the business, not just the building operations.

Buildings as a concierge to amplify your business

Enhancing the user experience through technology has the potential for significant competitor advantage and market differentiation. In many airports, it’s no longer necessary to stand in a queue to check-in, and people are expecting the same kind of easy, technology-driven check-ins at hotels.

Thanks to technology, a guest’s name could be displayed on the welcome desk at a digital check-in station; their food preferences or past purchases displayed in a digital room-service order system; and TV, movies and music provided on demand. This ‘concierge in your pocket’ concept is fast gaining popularity and also allows operators to include useful information such as surrounding entertainment venues; medical facilities; and similar services.

Building as a scholar

Some believe the ultimate win is technology that can self-manage, learn, anticipate, adapt and enhance, or at least tell you when there is a problem. Intuitive buildings will emerge, integrating artificial intelligence for smart operations – for example, a hospital that could analyse patient movements in and out of rooms, so they can be cleaned quicker, creating more availability and thereby driving down costs and increasing revenue.

Running a building needs to become a data-driven process where statistics are used meaningfully. Vast amounts of operating data currently sits unused by existing building control systems, generated by automation systems constantly monitored and analysed to find on-going operational problems (eg. hot and cold problem areas, broken dampers or valves, equipment that doesn’t turn off).

Analytics platforms already pull in data from existing equipment and produce useful insights for facility managers to make better operational decisions. There is great potential to automate the analysis of this data and turn it into actionable insights.

Taken a step further, data analytics systems are increasingly being utilised to analyse occupation, space utilisation and energy consumption, and these learnings will continue to be applied to a wide range of diverse applications.

At the core of incorporating, utilising or enhancing this technology is understanding the needs and wants of occupants – putting people at the centre of decisionmaking. Technology for the sake of it is not the end goal. Equally, ensuring the return on investment is acceptable, should be at the forefront of technology investments. If using data more effectively leads to a decrease in energy costs and increase in health, wellbeing and productivity, then the investment will be worth it.

Navigating the complexity

What should we be asking ourselves to steer our way through this complex technology to find the right answers?

• How do we amplify the value of our existing assets through better collection and analysis of data?
• When the BIoT kicks in, how will we manage and make sense of the sheer volume of data emitted?
• What is the order of importance of data and what data do we not need to collate/store?
• How will the sharing of data take place and who owns the data?
• How do new construction processes and materials become mainstream when the industry is resistant to change?

A centralised command system streamlining patient flow

The hospital's command centre contains 22 monitors that follow patients from their arrival to discharge, monitoring and identifying when beds become available, the types of tests patients are waiting for, and when rooms require cleaning. The system gives doctors and administrators the information needed to spot delays and bottlenecks across the site, so they can address these issues quickly and restore patient flow to the desired rates. Data stems from a raft of IT systems around the hospital, each with real-time analytics to synchronise and coordinate optimised outcomes and patient flow.

Monitoring includes bed management to track bottlenecks, emergency department admissions and waits, an early warning system to detect patients in distress, and a pathways module that displays what needs to be done to keep patients on track for timely discharge.

The technology is already delivering an estimated 20 per cent increase in efficiencies across the hospital, including freeing up an additional 40 beds. These additional beds will not only significantly impact Humber River Hospital’s operating bottom line, but also delay the need for expansion, therefore saving on additional capital costs.

While this is more of a hidden cost, projections could be configured into a business case. This is a prime example of how technology can be used to not only save costs through increased efficiencies, but also amplify the revenue potential for a business operating out of a building.

Yet these advancements are just the beginning of hospitals using technology in a new way to deliver efficiencies.

For more information on Humber River Hospital’s digital transformation, watch this video.

While the command centre is primarily focusing on patient flows, tests and rooms, the potential for monitoring and optimising patients’ medical information, medicines, sterile supplies, waste and clinicians relative to one another, would provide additional benefit.

Opportunities also abound in the remote health space. Humber River Hospital is planning to use home monitoring systems to further optimise patient care, leading to speedier discharges, reduced rates of re-admission, and optimised patient care. This has the potential to reduce costs associated with patient/doctor face time and optimise patient care beyond the doctor’s office. Activity trackers used during cancer treatment and connected inhalers are just two examples of IoT’s value in connected medical devices.

In one US pilot study, patients being treated remotely for diabetes achieved an 18 per cent reduction for inpatient administrations, 31 per cent reduction for readmission rates and reduced overall costs to the test centre by 7 per cent.

The advent of blockchain could also increase the availability of data between patients and doctors, helping organisations bridge traditional data silos, dramatically increase IT and organisational efficiencies, keep business and medical data secure, and streamline patients’ access to medical data.

There is significant potential for the IoT in healthcare buildings of the future. This technology will influence both sides of the equation: cost reduction and revenue generation. If business can leverage both, then the economics for the IoT becomes far more feasible, helping organisations look after their assets as well as people.

With IBM estimating that a single data breach costs a company close to USD 4 million on average, the cost of ignorance is far too high to ignore. The question we must ask ourselves is not if, but when, it happens – how can we protect against and manage this?

How can we protect against and manage cyber attacks in property?

Firstly, it’s important to note customers are willing to share personal data in exchange for better service. Sixty-one per cent of millennials are happy to share personal data if it leads to a more personalised in-store or online shopping experience, while 58 per cent will share personal data to power product recommendations that match their needs.

As consumers continue to expect more from their buildings, they will also trade their personal information in exchange for a superior user experience in that building. However, we need to make sure that the trade-off is safe with many cybersecurity events now attempting extortion for data.

How does data security relate to buildings?

Given our willingness to share our personal data, it’s also expected that residents are happy for hotels, concierges and body corporates to retain key information.

However, in many buildings a computer as old as the building typically runs the automation system application, graphics, and database. IT groups are not always aware of standalone computers for different facilities and therefore the device rarely receives critical security patches.

Often systems operate on legacy technology and, most building automation systems are old and not typically upgraded until a major update is absolutely necessary or something breaks.

Alarmingly, a failure to roll out mandatory security patches on employee computers caused the United Kingdom’s National Health Service to suffer a significant ransomware attack in 2017. The attack resulted in cancelled operations, diverted ambulances and patient records being made unavailable in England and Scotland.

Virtualising security patches in the cloud is one option of overcoming this ongoing challenge.

Education across functions is critical given few facility managers have an IT background. Systems are often designed, supplied and maintained under commercial contracts without cybersecurity protection ever being a top consideration. Vendors and products are not regularly assessed on their cybersecurity with landlords often failing to fully examine contracts to check who can access data generated.

What can be done?

The growing IoT will create more entry points for cyber attacks to happen in buildings of the future. As attacks become more prevalent and sophisticated, building systems will require an ongoing security strategy to maintain protection. Throwing tech inside a building is only part of the story – investment is also required to ensure that a building’s systems remain secure forever.

Designers, engineers and building developers and operators could be held liable if a cyber attack causes harm to building occupants. Conditions that seem benign, such as turning off all the lights, could result in unsafe conditions as people try to leave the building.

More severe situations could be caused by, for example, turning off ventilation to a chemical room, allowing harmful fumes to spread in a building. Building developers need to consider cyber attacks early in the design process with an emphasis on prevention, mitigation and recovery.

Questions we should we be asking?

• Are we ready for the inevitable cyber attacks that will threaten our operation of buildings of the future?
• We have become all too familiar with security breaches of our data – how much should we trust privacy of our online personal information?
• How would this equate to buildings?
• Which machines in buildings do we not want to connect?