Smart Buildings, Smart Business

摘要

The impact of finances is rarely exempted from the evaluation criteria when building owners and investors make decisions to construct smart buildings. A major aspect of this is return on investment (ROI). Businesses measure ROI by revenue per square foot, not solely on the square foot cost per employee. Smart buildings typically bring cost savings. For example, the effective uses of lighting, to include daylight harvesting, efficient new glazes, task lighting, photovoltaics, employment of exterior shading devices, etc., reduce the heating and cooling load requirements of facilities and results in reduced sizes of HVAC equipment. Smaller equipment sizes likewise lower the quantities and sizes of supporting materials, such as ductwork. That results in construction and operational cost savings.