- Zach Cook
Spare cash leftover from your annual budget?
Being budget savvy is a key element throughout each financial year to enable planned business improvement projects, to move forward. However, as we all know, what we plan for on paper and what actually happens in a real business working environment, can prove to be very different.
This time of year, most internal projects are nearly or have been completed but on occasion there is money left in the budget that needs to be spent.
So, what is your excess budget best allocated to?
It makes sense to allocate spare budget to where there are continual resource struggles. This commonly includes ongoing reactive maintenance and potential safety and compliance issues.
Since the start of the pandemic, routine activities have had to be adapted to accommodate new safety guidelines. These routine activities are now more complicated, take longer to complete and longer to organise.
There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel: IoT technology is our lifeline to a scalable and more sustainable future. By utilising IoT technology, many routine activities can be completed remotely meaning in-person visits are only necessary in the event of a failure.
It has become more apparent throughout this pandemic that staying connected in our homes or at work has been and still is an essential part of daily life. A recent survey conducted by Honeywell reveals that workers need to feel safe in the workplace if and when they return. Additionally, sustainability is also becoming increasingly important across all industries, investing in technology now can certainly help with reducing environmental impact.
In Honeywell’s survey, they revealed that 71% of the UK workforce do not feel completely safe working in their employer’s buildings [1].
Over half (62 per cent) of surveyed UK workers believe that building management is more likely to make short-term changes in response to Covid-19 rather than make long-term investments in building systems needed to keep them safe [1].
Vimal Kapur, President and CEO of Honeywell Building Technologies commented: “Many facilities have made changes to their procedures but have not invested in the building itself – and their occupants have noticed.” [1]
“Workers are going to demand more from buildings in the future, and we’re even seeing with these survey results that creating a healthier and safer environment will be a differentiator for staff retention and recruiting, and it may also impact long-term real estate value.” [1]
As mentioned above, investing in the building is as important to its occupants as the safety procedures. So, investing in IoT to reduce the number of maintenance workers will serve both investment and increased building safety.
But how can IoT help with sustainability?
According to the World Green Buildings Council, the built environment contributes around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint. With operational emissions – heating, lighting, cooling – accounting for 28% of carbon emissions. This doesn’t factor in the emissions associated with construction – they add another 11% on top. If we can take control of our buildings and manage them effectively, the potential environmental benefit could be enormous. [2]
It also doesn’t take into account all the carbon emissions related to the ongoing management, compliance and maintenance of the buildings, so the real number could be much higher than 39%.
IoT, if used efficiently, can help reduce these emissions by allowing statutory testing, routine activities, and even some hardware investigation to be done remotely. This means that the maintenance teams travel less and can be more efficient with their time.
Invest in progression
IoT is ever evolving, which means the development of scalable products are more readily available. In turn, IoT is helping make the carbon net zero goal more achievable. Don’t allow common ‘barriers’ such as lack of finance stop you from making the first investment. Whether it is a small or large-scale deployment, IoT efficiency is within easy reach of all those within the real estate, facilities management, healthcare, and social housing.
Vericon Connect
At Vericon we have designed a suite of technologies to combat these issues directly. With our suite of devices, it enables you to monitor, manage and maintain your emergency lighting, boilers, and other devices over your entire portfolio, all from one portal.
You can see our full suite below:
Contact us today to learn more:
Contact Us here Call us on 01242 582 555 or email us at hello@vericonsystems.com
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