Smart Buildings Explained with Pete Swanson

Show notes

In this episode of the Digital Construction Podcast, Andrea welcomed Pete Swanson, the digital technology lead at Mott MacDonald, to discuss smart buildings. Pete shared his career journey, starting in audiovisual technology and developing a passion for delivering effective tech solutions in various environments, eventually leading him to the smart buildings industry. He highlighted his experiences as a contractor, a consultant at WSP, and his time at Lendlease, emphasizing his interest in the operational phase of buildings. Pete explained that for him, a smart building is an aspiration to deliver great experiences, performance, and sustainable outcomes using technology, emphasizing that it's a concept rather than a product. He further elaborated on the main enabling technologies, contrasting traditional buildings with smart buildings by focusing on the integration of systems through connectivity and security. Pete stressed the importance of data sharing in a structured way, drawing a parallel with the Common Data Environment in digital construction. He also advocated for an approach using various applications for different functionalities rather than a single monolithic platform to allow for flexibility and adaptability. Pete highlighted the availability of various energy optimization solutions and the importance of understanding the value being pursued and how these solutions integrate with existing teams and workflows. Regarding sustainability goals, Pete affirmed the significant role of smart buildings in reducing energy consumption and carbon impact, considering it a win-win situation that aligns with growing cultural awareness of climate change. He also extended the sustainability perspective to include occupant health and well-being through technologies like ambient audio and lighting, emphasizing a holistic approach beyond just energy reduction. Andrea then raised the topic of smart buildings potentially improving productivity. Pete agreed but noted the challenge in proving this metric directly, distinguishing between ROI-based solutions and those focused on experience improvement. He suggested that occupancy rates could be an indicator of value but cautioned against assuming direct causation between building technology and productivity. The conversation then shifted to safety and security in smart buildings and the associated privacy concerns raised by data collection. Pete acknowledged that access control, CCTV, and video analytics are part of smart building technologies but stressed the need to carefully manage occupier-centric data with privacy and security implications in mind. Andrea also explored how smart buildings can assist with maintenance, moving from reactive to predictive approaches. Pete provided examples such as occupancy-based cleaning and bin monitoring, as well as detecting potential equipment degradation. He emphasized that these solutions require integration with existing workflows and responsible personnel to act on the alerts. The discussion then broadened to the concept of smart cities and how smart buildings can integrate into a larger infrastructure and share data. Pete noted that smart cities are often assemblages of buildings and highlighted the opportunity for beneficial data sharing between buildings, such as for energy management, while acknowledging the current challenges in achieving this due to varying systems and ownership. Finally, Andrea addressed the user experience aspect, noting complaints about smart technologies. Pete traced this back to a lack of understanding of users, recalling his early experiences in AV where solutions were often over-engineered and didn't meet user needs. He stressed the importance of engaging with actual users and understanding their user interface, user experience, and user journey, advocating for simplicity over complexity. He used the example of BMS interfaces and the need to cater to different user cohorts. Pete concluded by emphasizing that focusing on user experience upfront is less costly than addressing issues later in the project.

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