Our Executive Officer, Justin Kirby, moderated the panel discussion titled “From Blueprint to Bottom Line: Unlocking ROI in Smart Buildings” at WORKTECH’s Smarter Technologies 25 Conference, held yesterday at the WeWork Waterloo offices. The panel featured the following participants:

• Damien Renaut, Digital Buildings Lead, Landsec
• Chris Boultwood, Head Of Technology at Workspace Group
• Dr. Pe-Ru Tsen, Senior Director – Global Real Estate Workplace Experience at Boston Consulting Group (
• Daniel Watson, UK Director at Hereworks

During the discussion, the panelists explored common challenges that hinder investment in smart buildings, such as resistance to change and the difficulty of demonstrating clear return on investment (ROI). They emphasized the importance of establishing a clear strategy, understanding user needs, and involving stakeholders in defining success metrics.

The solutions discussed included leveraging existing systems and focusing on how technology can improve both operational efficiency and the user experience, while also aligning with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability goals. Ultimately, the discussion highlighted the need for better collaboration and communication across teams to effectively unlock investment in smart building technologies.

We will be announcing new project initiatives related to this topic and other focus areas soon. In the meantime, we have included an AI-generated summary of the panel session below, and you can also listen to an AI-generated podcast discussion of the session that Justin posted on LinkedIn.

From Blueprint To Bottom Line: Unlocking Roi In Smart Buildings

The panel discussion hosted by the Digital Buildings Council focused on unlocking investment in smart building technologies, featuring insights from industry experts including Damien Renaut from Landsec, Chris Boultwood from Workspace Group, Dr Pe-Ru Tsen from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Dan Watson from Hereworks. The session commenced with an introduction to the DBC’s mission of promoting digital practices in the built environment, followed by an exploration of challenges such as resistance to change, the necessity for data-driven decision-making, and the importance of aligning with ESG and sustainability goals. Panellists offered solutions emphasizing the need for a clear strategy, understanding customer needs, and leveraging existing systems. Action items included collaborating across teams to identify challenges and involving broader stakeholder input in establishing success criteria for smart building projects, with a commitment to communicate progress on LinkedIn.

1. Defining the Scope Beyond Traditional ROI:

The moderator, Justin Kirby, clarified early on that the panel’s focus was not solely on traditional Return on Investment calculations but rather on the broader aspects of how investment is justified and business success is proven through smart building technologies. He stated, “Although it’s got the term ROI in it, and that’s been a sort of theme du jour throughout all these panels. It’s not really about ROI per se, surprisingly, given the title. It’s about the unlocking it and that being also about how investment is unlocked, you know, how business success is proved, etc.”

2. Key Challenges in Unlocking Investment:

The panellists identified several key challenges hindering investment in smart building technologies:

• Resistance to Change and Lack of Collaboration: Chris Boultwood (Workspace Group) highlighted “resistance to change generally across different teams” and the challenge of achieving effective collaboration to identify and resolve business issues before seeking investment. He noted the time-consuming nature of this process, citing their CRM migration as an example with “two years worth of consultation prior to that.”
• Lack of Clear ROI Metrics: Dan Watson (Hereworks) pointed out the industry’s struggle with demonstrating clear and tangible ROI, stating, “none of our tenants, actually none of our users or none of their kind of clients give us [clear ROI metrics]. And there’s two reasons. The first reason is they don’t know what they are. They don’t know what they are is themselves.” He suggested a need to move away from solely focusing on use cases and instead start with “having success criteria.”
• Implementing Technologies Holistically: Damien Renaut (Landsec) discussed the challenge of “implementing technologies holistically” across their diverse portfolio (commercial offices, residential, and retail) and ensuring they align with their digital and smart strategy, including cyber security and standards.
• Balancing Operational Efficiency with Occupier Experience: Pe-Ru Tsen (BCG) emphasised the importance of “employee experience and connection in office spaces” alongside operational efficiency. She noted that for their consultants, returning to the office is a “special moment” for learning and connection, making experience a key consideration beyond pure cost savings.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Several panellists underscored the necessity of data to justify investments. Chris Boultwood mentioned the challenge of “knowing which data points to align to make those decisions upon” and the need for the property sector to increase trust and expectation in leveraging data.

3. Solutions for Unlocking Investment:

The discussion also explored potential solutions to overcome these challenges:

• Developing a Clear Strategy and Vision: Pe-Ru Tsen (BCG) and Damien Renaut (Landsec) both stressed the importance of having a well-defined strategy and vision for smart building initiatives. Damien elaborated on this, stating, “making sure that first you have a strategy… the vision and how to get to that vision. I think it’s number one writing down what your detail is going to because that’s what you need to prove and clever.”
• Understanding Customer/Occupier Needs: Chris Boultwood (Workspace Group) emphasised the significance of “understanding customer needs and improving employee experience” as a driver for investment. He highlighted that positive feedback often stems from the building management teams and their interactions with customers, suggesting that technology investments should also aim to empower these front-line staff.
• Leveraging Existing Systems and Setting Clear Success Criteria: Dan Watson (Hereworks) advocated for “leveraging existing systems” rather than always implementing new devices. He reiterated the need to define “success criteria” from the outset, involving all stakeholders to understand what success looks like for every user and operator.
• Delivering Value to Occupiers: Damien Renaut (Landsec) highlighted the crucial element of “delivering value to the occupiers” and being able to demonstrate this value when presenting a business case for smart building investments. He noted the importance of speaking the language of the CFO, focusing on how the investment increases value, lowers costs, or reduces risks.
• Effective Collaboration and Stakeholder Involvement: Chris Boultwood (Workspace Group) and the panel collectively agreed on the importance of involving a wide range of people in setting success criteria. Chris stated, “involve as many people as you can do the success criteria setting because the more metrics you’ve got to try and improve the better the opportunity to show you that successful three out of five that might be enough.”
• Focusing on User Experience: Chris Boultwood highlighted that their initiatives now focus on “not just how we make things more efficient, but how do we give our colleagues on site more time to spend [with] customers for example.” This suggests a shift towards technology supporting human interaction and improving overall experience.

4. The Role of ESG and Sustainability:

The panel acknowledged the growing importance of ESG and sustainability goals as drivers for investment in smart buildings. While one audience question touched on the potential impact of rolling back reporting requirements, Pe-Ru Tsen (BCG) affirmed that their commitment to ESG remains strong, driven by internal commitments and stakeholder expectations: “I think we have a commitment on ESG from our side anyway and I think that’s also something that people are expecting so I think that’s something and our bodies are persistent.”

5. Landlord vs. Occupier Perspectives on ROI:

Damien Renaut (Landsec) addressed the question of differing ROI conversations between landlords and occupiers. He explained that while the solutions often fall under the service charge and are ultimately paid for by occupiers, the benefits largely accrue to them. Therefore, landlords still need to justify the value proposition to occupiers, stating, “we still have to sell that’s how I see the relationship.”

Action Items Identified:

• Chris Boultwood (Workspace Group): “Continue working with colleagues across the business to understand pain points and objectives.”
• All Panellists: “Involve as many people as possible in setting success criteria for smart building projects.”

Overall Conclusion:

The panel discussion underscored that unlocking investment in smart buildings requires a holistic approach that goes beyond simple financial ROI calculations. It necessitates a clear strategy aligned with business objectives, a deep understanding of occupier needs, effective collaboration across teams, and the ability to demonstrate tangible value, encompassing not only efficiency gains but also enhanced user experiences and contributions to sustainability goals. Data-driven decision-making and the establishment of clear success criteria are crucial for justifying investments and demonstrating their impact.

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