A recent Parks Associates white paper identified that over one-third of US multi-dwelling unit (MDU) property managers offer Internet of Things (IoT) or smart-home devices to residents in at least one property that they manage.
The white paper, entitled ‘Simplifying the IoT Edge: Smart Spaces Best Practices’, addresses the demand, growth, and use-cases of IoT edge solutions in smart buildings including apartments and MDUs, retail and warehousing, and hospitality and building management.
“Smart-spaces are defined as physical locations, equipped with networked devices and sensor-based solutions, that give individuals data about the location’s parameters and how the space is being used,” said Kristen Hanich, Research Director, Connectivity at Parks Associates. “Smart-spaces have a strong overlap with smart-home, industrial IoT, and Industry 4.0, making use of the same concept of networked sensors feeding into larger data platforms.”
The growing smart-apartment space presents a unique area for IoT-technology deployments, with specific benefits and challenges. Smart-apartments feature smart-amenities for residents, community-management solutions, and building-automation solutions.
The survey found that internet access is a top amenity for MDU residents, while smart-home-device offerings are emerging as a key differentiator for properties. Almost two-thirds of prospective MDU residents report that pre-installation of smart-home devices is an important factor when selecting their new apartment.
“The property management industry is in a unique position to take the integration of consumers’ physical and digital lives to the next level,” added Girish Naganathan, CTO for Technicolor Connected Home. “Apartments, condos and other MDUs that offer IoT-based services are creating new value-propositions that will transform the entire sector. By redefining how people interact with their most-intimate environments, property managers will also influence how IoT-enabled experiences are extended to other critical settings – including workplaces and public spaces.”
Summing up the findings of the report, Hanich advised: “Technology investments are costly and need to last for many years. However, the pace of technological innovation is constantly increasing, and innovations happen frequently. For companies to gain the full benefit of investment into smart-spaces technologies, as well as the advantage of being able to deploy new and innovative technological solutions, IoT deployments must be as future-proof as possible.”