The commercial real estate sector, which has been notoriously slow to embrace digital transformation, is showing a renewed focus on innovation and adopting IoT-enabled property technology (PropTech) solutions to enable more efficient operations, enhanced security, and emissions reductions, as well as unlocking new revenue streams. Wireless power is needed to bring the real estate industry’s vision for smart building design to life and make its offerings more competitive.
Greater Efficiencies
According to a study from McKinsey, building product executives are increasing investments in innovation in response to industry demand for IoT devices that can make facility management, data collection, and system automation more efficient. IoT sensors for predictive maintenance, for example, can save 10 percent more on average than preventative maintenance measures and about 40 percent more than reactive maintenance. The placement and positioning of these devices, however, require careful consideration at the earlier design stages because they rely on a complex and costly network of cables and connectors to receive power and communicate with one another.
Using wireless power, Powermat offers the real estate sector greater design freedom through cable-free, universal power and communication solutions that are safe and easy to install and can reduce overall system costs even further by offering the industry’s highest IP rating and an easy method of adding and changing electrical products within a space. With Powermat’s custom reference designs and end-to-end support, PropTech solution providers can design transformative wireless power solutions to meet developers’ optimal price points and unique performance requirements.
Enhanced Security
Individual homeowners and multinational asset owners have—at least—one common challenge: installing security cameras. Mounted on the outside, smart cameras require drilling wires through walls to receive power. Especially for property managers, this makes continuous upgrades and retrofits costly and more complex.
Wireless technology eliminates the need for drilling holes for cabling. It allows for greater freedom in positioning, making smart camera installation easier and less expensive – whether the first build or a retrofit. Powermat industry-leading wireless power technology provides up to 50W of power transfer over a distance of up to 40 cm, with the ability to power smart cameras through walls and in challenging outdoor conditions, including wet or highly metallic environments.
Better Sustainability
Buildings account for about 40 percent of global energy consumption and one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Digital strategies present a considerable opportunity to improve sustainability in the sector. Motion and occupancy sensors, for example, can be used to collect data and regulate air-conditioning and lighting in real time, thereby reducing overall energy costs and offering value to tenants through lower energy bills.
In the United States, the Biden Administration recently launched an initiative to update building codes and standards in an effort to increase resiliency against intensifying hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events linked to climate change. In Israel, Microsoft is testing countless real estate technologies to inform its smart real estate plans around the world.
Wireless power can meet commercial and industrial buildings’ small IoT device power and needs. Wireless power further contributes to the sector’s sustainability goals by reducing excessive battery and electronic waste associated with traditional power sources.
Wireless Power for Smarter Buildings
As the market for smart buildings is expected to reach nearly $80 billion by 2030, sixty-nine percent of real estate market participants worldwide said that adopting new technology solutions is a strategic priority. To truly make their tenants’ lives more convenient, connected, and sustainable, wireless power is an absolute must for all PropTech and building IoT designs.