Smart Buildings Lure Smart Tenants Seeking Desirable Office Space

Companies returning to the office this year are finding new and innovative ways to lure their employees back to work – including moving into smart buildings.

Businesses are adopting a variety of measures to make the office more appealing, including pay incentives for workers who return to a 9-to-5 routine and flexible working arrangements in terms of working hours. And recently, we are seeing a large investment in high-tech offices that are both fun and efficient to work in.

A recent Envoy survey found that more than 80% of businesses are using incentives to bring workers back to the office, with 61% making changes to the buildings they occupy.

Building on our previous blog post about enticing workers back to the office, we take a deep dive into the high tech offices that are springing up in cities around the world, including Cape Town.

In this article, we provide an overview of smart building facilities setting desirable commercial spaces apart from their peers to attract commercial tenants.

Going high tech for low vacancies

Even the most technophobic workers quickly learned how to work remotely – using a variety of tech – during the pandemic.

Workers of all ages who suddenly found themselves at home faced a steep learning curve with new skills like online collaboration, workflow management, and seemingly simple tasks like collaborating on chat and via Zoom instead of having in-person meetings.
This culture of high-tech working has become firmly entrenched in the minds of employees, and they’ve come to expect a high level of efficiency when it comes to communication and process management – almost always aided by the use of computers and other technology.

For commercial building owners, this trend represents both an urgent need and a great opportunity.

In the current market, traditional offices that lack high tech facilities will struggle to attract tenants in the years to come. This creates a pressing need to invest in technological features that make the building more desirable for modern companies and workers.

From the owner’s point of view, new technologies like smart climate control and energy monitoring, as well as biometric security systems, have the potential to make the building safer for occupants and less expensive to run on a monthly basis.

The combination of building users’ demands in what’s increasingly becoming a tenant’s market and the undeniable benefits of upgrading buildings to smart status points to a strong future trend: the rise of smart buildings throughout Cape Town.

What facilities should a smart building have?

Knowing that smart buildings are a major trend in the office rental market worldwide is well and good, but what exactly does a building need in order to be considered “smart”?

In essence, smart buildings employ technology to carry out tasks which used to be human-driven and not always very efficient. In short, smart technology in the workplace can both improve and facilitate better communication between employees as well as between customers and support teams, boost employee wellness, satisfaction and retention, increase productivity as a result of better technology which in turn maximises ROI.

Here are some of the technologies being leveraged in smart buildings around the world to attract modern tenants.

Intelligent climate control

Office temperatures are typically controlled by aircon systems, and they have a huge effect on employee happiness and productivity.

Workers who find themselves in older buildings with fixed aircon temperatures that have to be adjusted manually by a technician or faulty heating and cooling systems that need replacement are less likely to be productive.
They may also have concerns about their health and well-being.

Intelligent climate control is an automatic system that measures the temperature and humidity in offices and other building facilities and adjusts the climate control system accordingly, providing a temperature controlled environment that workers love being in.

Building energy monitoring

It goes without saying that the ongoing Eskom crisis has forced building owners around the country to control their energy usage and generate power using solar and other methods. However, trying to achieve this manually can be time consuming and opens up a huge potential for human error.

Technology-driven building energy monitoring can control factors including automatic opening and closing of blinds depending on the amount of sunlight entering the building, detection of an inefficient piece of equipment drawing too much energy, flagging windows that are left open, while the aircon is running, and more.
The system can alert building managers of any potential issues as they emerge, giving the maintenance staff an opportunity to fix problems before they cost the building owner a fortune in wasted energy.

Tenants are drawn to modern buildings with lower running costs because they translate to lower rentals in the long run.

Uninterrupted power supply systems

A fully functional uninterrupted power supply system is essential for keeping the lights on when the grid goes down during regular load shedding.

Traditional battery-based UPS systems are nothing new, but today’s smart systems go beyond simply providing backup power by automatically switching between the most efficient power source available.
Uninterrupted power means uninterrupted productivity, and tenants are drawn to buildings with enhanced energy management systems at a time when the national grid shows few signs of stability.

Enhanced security through biometrics

Security is a non-negotiable feature of any office building that hopes to attract and keep tenants.

Unfortunately, the traditional approach of using security guards and cameras as a deterrent may not be up to the requirements of maintaining a safe work environment in 2023 and beyond.

Access control is one of the most crucial aspects of any building security system, and putting the decision to allow anyone into the building into the hands of a single security officer is possibly asking for trouble.
Biometric access control and monitoring systems use fingerprints, retinal scans, and remote chip readers to assess whether someone actually belongs in the building or not.
Smart facial recognition software takes this function to the next level and is able to keep track of who is in the building at all times. This not only allows the security manager to maintain strict access control, but also provides a live list of who is on the premises in case they need to be contacted in an emergency.

High speed Internet and Zoom-ready meeting facilities

As companies do more business online, high-speed internet is no longer a nice-to-have.

Cable internet with high bandwidth, along with backup connectivity which can be used in the event of load shedding, is essential for every modern office building.
Secure public Wi-Fi in the lobby may also be a nice feature since it allows building visitors to access the internet without compromising the data security of office tenants.

Having access to the Internet for the purposes of online meetings is a great first step for any modern company, but it’s also essential to have meeting rooms that are designed with the needs of collaborating remotely in mind.

Boardrooms with large screens and good sound systems that allow team members and clients joining remotely to be clearly seen and heard and share materials in real time boost productivity.

These facilities also allow companies to do business with a global customer base, making the business instantly desirable to future focused commercial property tenants.

Wellness and gym facilities become the new normal

The pandemic has created a generation of people who are finely attuned to their health, and building owners are responding by catering to their needs.

Gym facilities, organic food cafes, roof gardens with yoga facilities, and other exciting offerings are turning the office into a place where employees want to be by catering to their health and well-being.

Owners can either create their own spaces and equip them with gym equipment and catering facilities or lease parts of the building to a popular gym chain or restaurant and negotiate special rates for employees.

Office workers are embracing wellness, and smart buildings that offer great facilities will definitely end up at the top of companies’ rental short lists.

Find your ideal smart commercial property with us

If you’re looking for business premises this year, there’s no better time than now to secure a modern, high-tech office space that’s geared for the future.

The Commercial Space team has decades of experience connecting business owners and managers with the ideal Cape Town commercial property that fits their needs. Contact us today to get started. It’s the smart thing to do.