Page 40 - REALCOMM EDGE-Fall 2017-FINAL

Intelligent BUILDINGS

The Workforce Behind Digital

Transformation in Buildings

Noah Goldstein
Director
Navigant

he digital transformation of buildings is coming, driven still working, they will be faced with the sometimes-daunting
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by networked solutions, more sensors, and a drive toward challenge of upgrading their buildings to the new Internet of
T operational efficiency. The building of tomorrow will Things (IoT) paradigm, incorporating more sensors and new
be tuned to its tenants, self-heal, and be optimized for a new communication technology.
electric grid. However, it is not clear when tomorrow will come. The Pew Charitable Trust reports older Americans are less
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There are several obstacles to this future, tech-savvy than younger Americans. This
but this article focuses on one that has supports an assumption that aging FMs are,
traditionally been overlooked: people. or will, find adapting to the digital building
People, namely facility managers (FMs), challenging because of added IT and wire-
building operators, and plant engineers, less responsibility. However, there are many
are responsible for keeping the lights on, exceptions to this assumption, and it would
the building comfortable, and even the be easy to argue that FMs may be the best
floors clean. They manage special events, jack of all trades in industry today. It is likely
power outages, legacy equipment, natural that the smaller commercial buildings
disasters, changes in ownership, changes (e.g., class B real estate) are managed by a
in management, upgrades to IT, and soft- different demographic group than fancy
ware and equipment upgrades. FMs are class A high-rise skyscrapers. But if, for the
also increasingly responsible for applied sake of argument, there is a proportion of
sustainability and increased reporting to people managing buildings today who are
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the C-suite. challenged by IT, the IoT, and new modes
The role of FM will grow more com- of managing data and buildings, then this
plex, with new energy and communication technology coming digitized revolution will face adaptive issues.
on board, more stakeholders asking for data, and more diverse Not all FMs are alike, and some will be quite tech-savvy. If the
tenant and facility needs. The building of tomorrow is positioned building of tomorrow will be advanced like a jet fighter plane
to be a fully digital building—fully instrumented and networked, and not like a classic car, then we need to address the pilots—
relying on wired and wireless solutions. As the building transi- what can be done to get them, and their buildings, prepared for
tions, so should its operators. Industry focuses will shift to whiz- the future?
bang easy fixes based on apps and more data streams. However,
in all the company pitches, webinars, and conference sessions, 1. Let the people speak
nobody ever talks about the aging of the FM workforce. Property ownership groups should examine their staff’s
capabilities and share the findings with the industry. FM
An Aging Workforce organization groups like IFMA have sponsored studies on FM
Quite frankly, FMs are not a young bunch. According to the demographics in the past. The intelligent building community,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, close to 30% of FMs are less than including facility and property managers, need more research
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10 years away from retirement age. A recent Royal Institution focusing on FMs and their colleagues’ views of technology and
of Chartered Surveyors and International Facility Management digital solutions.
Association (RICS/IFMA) study revealed that more FMs are older
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than 70 years old than under 30 years old. They estimate that 2. Invest and educate
in the next 15 years, 50% of the existing global FM workforce The existing crop of FMs will need training to keep abreast of
will retire. When they retire, they will take their experience changes in IT and hardware (which used to be called equipment).
and knowledge of each building with them. For those FMs At the same time, this group has better inside knowledge of

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