This article was contributed by PlaceOS, a Meraki technology partner.

There are numerous challenges that you need to overcome to meet sustainability targets in your building. This can include reducing the building’s carbon footprint, fixing underutilization, and improving technology efficiency. 

While these challenges can feel daunting, new technology approaches to sustainable building operations can make a big difference. Here are the steps you can take to better understand your building and implement smart spaces technology that will help you achieve sustainability targets while creating elevated experiences for people on-site.  

Assess challenges and make improvements

Organizations can start by figuring out where they currently stand. This could mean hiring an energy engineer or consultant to inspect buildings, go through boiler rooms, check records, and leverage analytics to gain data and insights on building operations. 

The next step is to implement changes to make improvements based on the challenges identified from inspections and analyses. This might include installing more energy-efficient technology, retrofitting the building with composite materials to reduce reliance on HVAC systems and better regulate temperature, or implementing technology solutions that can improve efficiency through integration and automation. 

Achieve more through technology 

While upgrading cladding and HVAC requires considerable investment, technology solutions can offer a lower barrier to entry for more sustainable buildings while also improving building experience. 

By performing an audit of existing technology and scoping out user experience and efficiency outcomes you can better see which data sources can be used to provide context-aware information. This can in turn be used to trigger automated actions during the user journey. 

Create elevated experiences

Once you’ve identified data sources that can be used for automation, the last step is to pair that data with smart spaces technology that can help you achieve sustainability targets while creating better experiences. 

For example, occupancy-driven room automation leverages smart cameras and/or sensors to detect occupancy and then automatically adjusts environmental conditions based on user experience goals or efficiency targets. Here’s how it works:

• When a meeting room is booked, automatically turn on HVAC, lighting, and A/V five minutes prior to the meeting start time
• If no one turns up to the meeting after ten minutes, turn HVAC, lighting, and A/V off 

By integrating information from disparate systems, occupancy-driven room automation offers an elevated user experience for people on-site while improving overall building efficiency. 
Visit the Meraki Marketplace to learn more about PlaceOS and request a demo.