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Editorial

TRANSFORMING COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENTS:

INSIGHTS FROM THE INAUGURAL STATE OF THE

SMART BUILDINGS MARKET STUDY

CASEY TALON
Research Director
Navigant Research

SMART BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN avail- barriers, and gaps in the market that will help key influ-
able to building owners and managers for over a decade. encers such as technology developers, systems inte-
In that time, this market has seen innovative projects grators, and consultants shape an accelerated path to
showcase the powerful benefits of advanced automa- smart building solution adoption. We recognize that the
tion and control, connectivity, and analytics. However, market is chaotic, and customers can struggle to make
most buildings have still not adopted a smart building sense of opportunities through the noise. The scope of
approach that leads to improved safety, productivity, our research offers a new foundation of data and market
and space utilization. Because of this lack of adoption, intelligence to define critical metrics for success. We aim
Navigant Research partnered with Intelligent Buildings to help customers understand how they rank against their
LLC, Anixter, and UL to launch the first annual State of competition, and help technology and service providers
the Smart Buildings Market study. We interviewed lead- refine their message to help expedite investment in smart
ers across the real estate industry and fielded a survey building solutions.
of 500 executives and senior managers across North
America, 150 of which represented the commercial office In the commercial office space, co-working and flex-
segment. The results show that the smart buildings ible working demands from employees are upending
market is gaining momentum, and commercial office is traditional leasing paradigms. Recruits are also looking
leading the way. at employer brands in new ways when they consider
their career choices. Smart building investments can
Year 1 – Establishing a New Baseline of Market Demand demonstrate commitments to sustainability and an
The goal of this study is to offer a recurring source of occupant-centric focus that garner the loyalty of the next
data and insight on customer expectations, investment generation of business leaders. Our research shows that

Figure 1.
Which of the following type of companies would you see as the market leaders in adoption of smart building technologies?

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