Possibilities of digitalization for sustainable and energy efficient real estate management

The construction and management of buildings account for significant greenhouse gas emissions through material and energy usage. From a life cycle perspective, Swedish buildings represent over one-fifth of Sweden´s greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 40% of Sweden´s energy consumption is dedicated to electricity and heating for Swedish buildings.

Measures within the construction and real estate sector will be required to contribute to a more sustainable development.Technical building management aims to optimize operations.

This concept encompasses processes for planned maintenance, inspection, and management, as well as partial renovations/adaptations.

These processes are dependent on the technical systems within the building, and these systems need to interact to achieve optimal operation.

Heating systems and ventilation are among the most crucial systems.To ensure sustainable, cost-effective, and user-independent property management, digitalization efforts are underway.

There are solutions where sensors monitor temperature and ventilation in real-time within the building, which, together with an AI solution capable of forecasting temperature changes from external sources, can control heating and ventilation systems to optimize operations.

Another example of how property management can be digitized is by working with a digital platform that collects and analyzes individual components and systems.

Through this, issues like leaks can be detected early, preventing damage and unnecessary water consumption.As discussed earlier, there are already technical solutions on the market to digitize and achieve more sustainable and energy-efficient property management.

However, discussions with industry representatives indicate that it´s challenging to navigate how new technology fits into existing stock, which technical solution is best suited for the specific stock, and what expertise is required to handle new technology for it to operate optimally throughout its life cycle.

Therefore, there are currently areas where digitalization is not applied and/or does not reach its potential, as well as barriers to broadening and scaling up digital solutions.

To create conditions for continued sustainable digitization of buildings, there needs to be an increase in knowledge primarily among property owners but also among Proptech, engineering consultants, industry organizations, and installers.By identifying existing knowledge gaps, actions can be taken to fill them.

Knowledge gaps can be identified in various ways.

Collaboration and knowledge exchange in various forms, where the results are captured and processed in a structured manner, enable actions such as sharing information with many, educational packages, instructions, or similar.There is great benefit in collaboration and knowledge exchange; this can increase the pace of innovation and business development.

Collaboration and knowledge exchange among property owners can contribute to increased understanding, which can generate greater appetite for digitalization solutions.

This can have a positive impact on providers of digitalization solutions, which in turn can increase the innovation power for solutions aimed at increasing sustainability for the built environment.Digitalization often requires investments and changes in organization, processes, work methods, as well as implementation of sensors and systems.

Many actors are hesitant and find it difficult to start the necessary digitalization, while others have ongoing projects and applications. Sharing experiences and knowledge provides great value in the industry for accelerating digitalization.

There is a concern that specific solutions contribute to a lock-in effect, which is a contributing factor to the importance of education, increased knowledge among the buyer, and a better understanding of the buyer´s needs among Proptech, engineering consultants, industry organizations, and installers for development in the industry.The purpose