A second life for old buildings
With the pandemic, public health measures have turned homes into offices and left office buildings empty. While some of these changes have diminished, the use of buildings has truly changed: office traffic will no longer be the same, teleworking and hybrid work will continue and physical commerce will never fully recover the lost ground.
At the same time, residential real estate is facing a housing shortage that new construction cannot fill due to a lack of materials, labor and land. In a sector where certain types of assets are overabundant, while others are insufficient, companies will have to make real efforts to meet the challenges of repurposing buildings, which constitute significant opportunities in order to meet changing needs. real estate.
Energy at the heart of redesigning the use of buildings
The developments observed in the use of buildings over the past two years have occurred when changes had already been made to respond to regulatory and societal pressure for greater energy efficiency. This involves better approaches to building efficiency, in terms of building design, modernization and energy management system.
For example, the growing adoption of electric vehicles will lead to increased demand for electric power. At the same time, the economic case for small-scale renewables will drive deployments of solar panels. These developments will lead buildings to become both consumers and producers of electricity. We will then speak of "prosumers" to describe the way in which owners manage this new relationship with electricity. How buildings interact with energy infrastructure has long been critical. Nevertheless, the impact of changing consumer needs on the redevelopment of buildings will lead to strengthening this interaction. Calls for tenders should therefore naturally increasingly focus on energy management issues.
Digitization as a catalyst
Traditional technologies and approaches are no longer sufficient today to make major changes in how buildings interact with electrical infrastructure viable. Smart technologies, including smart meters, will become essential to allow buildings to feed energy back into the grid and to provide network operators with information on the energy consumption of each building.
The network of an individual building can be made more versatile and flexible with digital technology. Smart electrical systems in buildings are able to react to grid conditions, for example by charging electric vehicles at times of low demand. As the global electrical system continues to transform, digital systems will provide the flexibility and adaptability needed at every stage of energy production and use. These changes lead to a smarter, more responsive relationship between buildings and infrastructure. Projects demonstrating the value of this type of approach are already underway, smart energy management will become an essential part of the response to the climate crisis.
Building security redefined
With the pandemic, public health authorities are trying to understand the dynamics of viral transmission and the impact of interventions such as increased ventilation on the functioning of building management systems. It is important to find a balance between the safety of people and the maintenance of daily activities.
At the same time, it will be essential to identify the cybersecurity risk profile of buildings, because intelligent systems can create flaws in their structure, at the level of electrical distribution boards and heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment. These elements should be seen as part of a complex and coherent overall system, and not as separate issues that can be dealt with in isolation. It is therefore likely that new building safety standards will develop over the next few years.
Closer links between buildings and other sectors of activity
Many factors such as climate concerns or public pressure to meet changing needs will impact developments in this sector. It is therefore necessary to involve a wide range of stakeholders facing their own transformation challenges.
The connection between different industries can be facilitated by the process known as “sector coupling”, i.e. the electrification of transport and tertiary and industrial buildings.
Good sector coupling in the building sector will support and accelerate decarbonisation through a more resilient grid, decentralized production and smart energy use that adapts to supply. This is an essential element of the energy transformation. The changing use of buildings offers this same sector a unique opportunity to contribute to the process.
Tribune by Laëtitia Tran-Rodeghiero, Commercial Buildings Segment Manager at Eaton Electrical France (LinkedIn).