The past several years have been unpredictable and unprecedented, driving changes across the economy and in how people work each day. The way buildings operate is no exception to this evolution. The quality of property technology (PropTech) has increased steadily over the past decade; technological responses to Covid shifted things further, forcing organizations to reexamine how and when people enter their spaces, as well as take additional measures to promote their health and safety.
Technology not only plays a role in helping organizations keep their people safe, but also delivers changes that make the workplace more efficient and effective. Companies now have an opportunity to provide a better environment for their employees and contribute toward a more sustainable world. Smart building technology offers leaders a way to future-proof their spaces and work toward achieving their sustainability goals with more efficient, data-driven operations.
Data-Driven Effectiveness
Technology has already played a significant role in helping organizations reduce their energy consumption, as it can provide information and tools for facilities operators to mitigate building issues, offer faster and better maintenance delivery, and reduce overall energy consumption. Smart buildings, or a supersystem of interconnected building systems, gives leaders additional and more granular options to make the best choices for their space. Going beyond the environmental benefits, a study from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) also found that commercial buildings could see savings up to $60 billion if certain investments in energy efficiency were increased by just one to four percent.
Companies can better understand how their spaces consume energy through smart building platforms that provide data on how the space operates. These platforms help facilities operators get a more detailed look at HVAC, lighting and shading, automated fault detection, other aspects of building operation via automation working in concert with energy information systems to provide a thorough rundown of a building’s functions and what can be done to reduce energy usage.
In the above-mentioned ACEEE study, the authors point out that HVAC equipment alone typically consumes around 40 percent of a commercial building’s energy—many systems are also too large for the space they serve. Instead of making ad-hoc changes and correcting problems via trial and error, smart building tech “interprets information from a variety of HVAC sensor points and maintains that information in real time” allowing for high levels of control and the ability to detect system faults or streamline usage based on occupancy.
Using platforms that utilize Internet of Things (IoT) and Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) to connect building systems, leaders can access insights and energy-use analytics to create better outcomes. Additionally, building rating systems like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) are long-standing programs to promote green building design, construction, and operation. These programs offer projects the ability to earn certification points by using smart building tech to boost energy efficiency. In the current technological environment, leaders have substantially more options to boost their sustainability efforts and inch the world closer to net-zero emissions.
The Need for Net-Zero
Net-zero emissions, or the removal of all human-created emissions from the atmosphere, is crucial to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. As a result, many organizations are weaving carbon neutrality and emissions reductions into their long-term goals. With commercial buildings being a huge source of pollution (contributing 28 percent of total global energy-related emissions) and representing 55 percent of global electricity consumption, it’s vital for both the public and private sectors to reduce energy demand while also mitigating the release of carbon into the atmosphere. This is no small feat—the International Energy Agency estimates that direct building emissions would need to decrease by 50 percent and indirect emissions by 60 percent by 2030 to achieve meaningful net-zero goals. However, if these and similar objectives are not achieved across the economy, this doesn’t simply create difficulties for future business operations—it poses an existential threat to human civilization as we know it. Given the potential for the loss of major coastal communities, an uptick in stifling heatwaves, erratic weather patterns, and the displacement of over a billion people in the 21st century due to a changing climate, the importance of these sustainability efforts can’t be overstated.
Given the short timeframe, this may sound like a grim outlook for the future of our planet. While it’s true that we need quick and extensive shifts in how we approach and consume energy, the National Academies of Sciences says existing technologies, like electric vehicles or solar power, could lead to net zero with the right investment across society coupled with specific action from government, industry, and individuals.
A huge question remains: are leaders of businesses and governments willing and able to achieve these goals? Only time will tell. In the meantime, however, investors and organizations can use PropTech to contribute to a world with smarter buildings, reduced emissions, a cleaner environment, and a more optimistic future.

Entering the Tween Years of Smart Workspace
Digital Solutions & Strategy Lead
January of every year seems to bring out the crystal ball gazers of every tech industry. A new year – and some would argue (incorrectly, but maybe that’s just me and Seinfeld) a new decade – gives rise to reflection as the last year closes and the annual cycle begins anew.

Education From Afar: Perspectives on Virtual Learning
Communications Lead
Host’s goals of providing increased digital and virtual learning options have been on the agenda for some time. However, with a global pandemic shuttering offices throughout the world, our learning and development professionals have had to expedite these options to ensure that new hires receive the same level of expert training, even if the training isn’t performed in person.

Leading Virtual Teams
Global Hospitality
Leading virtual teams can become untenable if you expect the virtual world to correlate perfectly with a traditional office environment. According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, 82 percent of virtual teams fell short of their goals. With that said, everything that makes for a strong leader in an office is twice as important in the virtual landscape.

Bringing a New Member onto Your Remote Team
Director, Global Hospitality Operations
New employees join organizations every day, including during this unprecedented time where many are working remotely during the COVID outbreak. While it's a best practice to spend face-to-face time when onboarding, right now that's just not an option most of the time. Employee onboarding lays the foundation for the success of new hires at your company and provides a baseline to make connections going forward.

The Leader's Role in Fostering New Social Norms as Workplaces Reopen
By now, almost all organizations around the world are somewhere on their re-opening journey, whether starting to plan, bringing employees back to the workplace, or assessing “what’s next” for the future of their work environments. Companies and organizations are appropriately focused on a range of activities such as resetting the physical work environment to achieve social distancing, installing signage, adjusting building systems, securing sustainable quantities of supplies, and adapting service levels in areas such as cleaning and food service.
The Double Shift Juggling Parenting and Working During the Coronavirus
Director, Deployment and Operations
Working parents are facing a particularly challenging time, as the boundaries between work and home have completely broken down, resulting in the need for parents to juggle between parent mode to work mode and back again each day. The “double shift” is now the “double double shift.” Between putting three meals on the table, homeschooling, hosting Zoom meetings and conference calls, doing laundry, cleaning the house and trying to be present as both an employee and a parent, working parents are struggling and facing burnout.

Patrick Goes to Work
Global Hospitality Lead
When I’m focused on exciting new projects and things are going well, it’s always a surprise when they go awry unexpectedly. However, surprise doesn’t adequately cover our collective reaction to the rise of a global pandemic.

Customer Service Keeps Us Connected, Safe and Well – Let’s Celebrate It!
Global Hospitality Lead
I think it’s worth our time to reflect on what customer service has meant to us in the past, what it means right now as our social lives are stunted by pandemic concerns, and what it will look like once we finally navigate our way through this challenging era of our lives.

The Employee Experience Formula That Inspires Innovation
Host Labs Lead
It will likely come as no surprise that our evolving workspaces, enabled by technology, outfitted with the most coveted amenities and served by hospitality experts, are designed to make employees feel valued, signaling to them that the work they do is important and impactful. But what about when the workspace provided by an employer is removed (even temporarily) and placemaking becomes a virtual endeavor?

Delight in the Workplace: An Opportunity for Limitless Value
Host Labs Lead
As surprising as it may seem coming from a commercial real estate company, the Host team obsesses over enriching lives and creating delight for people who work in the buildings we manage. We consider the daily journey of our customers and map both their current and best experiences in the workplace.

Why Workplace Experience Platforms Need the Human Element

Thoughtful Reads: The Importance of In-Between Moments

The Value of Authenticity
Employee Experience

Thoughtful Reads: Guide to the Hybrid Workplace

What We've Learned: Host Conversations #1

What Is the Workplace Experience Anyway?
Employee Experience

5 Hospitality Skills That Prepare You for the Corporate World

Thoughtful Reads: Tech Tools for Hybrid Work

Small Things: Host Team Recipes #1
Hospitality

Employee Experience Can Make or Break Your Business
Employee Experience

Thoughtful Reads: The Sensitivity Revolution

Host Conversations: Customer Service Week

Three Key Drivers of Employee Wellbeing
Wellness

Thoughtful Reads: Worker Risks Are Paying Off
