Investing in IoT sensor networks for workplaces involves high upfront and ongoing costs, prompting many organizations to begin with pilot projects before scaling up.
At a recent event hosted by Nexus Labs, Paul Vandenberk of HH Angus’ Digital Services team presented a case study on our pilot occupancy sensor project with Manulife, a large financial services company. Paul shared how the successful project provided both valuable metrics and real-world savings. His presentation also highlighted the importance of including in ROI analyses the many qualitative benefits that are often missed in these assessments.
Manulife tested IoT sensors in two office buildings, leading to significant insights. The key takeaways from the pilot program included identifying underused floors, which allowed them to re-allocate space to reflect actual occupancy and freed up a significant area that was released for subletting – an effective savings of ~$3 million annually.
The occupancy data also helped Manulife make a decision on whether to expand the service hours of its staff cafeteria. The real-time data clearly indicated that the proposed expansion of services would not be cost-effective based on how many employees were actually on site for the proposed added hours, saving Manulife significant operational and supply costs had they gone ahead without the data. Additional benefits included the ability to measure the effectiveness of the firm’s return-to-office policies with precise data, and using sensor data for safety (e.g., confirming full evacuation during a fire drill). The success of the pilot has led to broader deployment.
The Nexus Labs event also examined Kilroy Realty, a large Real Estate Investment Trust, that has fully integrated IoT sensors across a 17 million ft2 portfolio, mining sensor data for energy compliance, security, cleaning, leasing, and more. Kilroy invested in robust network infrastructure to support long-term scalability and reliability, and uses a cross-departmental approach to maximize ROI and shared utility from each sensor.
Both companies show that the biggest returns come from treating IoT as core infrastructure and leveraging it across multiple teams and use cases. To read the full Nexus Labs article, click on the link below:
ROI of IoT: The Best Returns Come from Diving In, Not Dipping Your Toe in the Water | Nexus Labs
HH Angus’ Digital Services team leverages data and software to help our clients solve challenges relating to the design, construction, operation and occupancy of their building assets in a vendor-agnostic approach. The team is comprised of mechanical and electrical engineers, software developers, data scientists, Amazon Web Services (AWS) certified specialists, BIM technologists, and project and product managers who specialize in a range of technology for the built environment. Our specialists work with clients’ existing and new technology, providing solutions that encompass smart buildings technologies to support digital twins, machine learning, 3D reality capture/augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR), cloud-based dashboards/visualizations, and more.
The Digital Services team recently launched Angus Remote Management System (ARMS) – a customizable digital platform that gathers data from existing building systems or smart buildings technologies IoT sensors, delivering real-time insights and analytics flexible. Our software visualizes the data through a cloud-based dashboard allowing the client to have a complete picture of their space(s) and building(s) and the key decision points they need to focus on. ARMS, at its core, is flexible software that gathers data from sensor-rich environments. It provides a single-pane-of-glass access to data sets such as room occupancy, space utilization, building automation system (BAS) data, security, occupant comfort factors (temperature, humidity, indoor air quality, etc.), and more.
If you’d like to find out how IoT sensors and other smart building technologies can help optimize your building assets, contact:
