Billions (in Canada) and Trillions (around the world) of dollars are being spent each year on the development and renewal of our infrastructure. Roads, bridges, homes, and [commercial, industrial, and institutional] buildings make the physical fabric of our communities. A small, yet growing portion, of this global spending goes to the systems that make this infrastructure work; such as security, mechanical, electrical, and transportation systems.

These systems have always been part of the DNA of the underlying infrastructure for our communities (nothing new there). However, the difference is that they are becoming smarter and more capable to have a profound impact on the performance of the infrastructure. Where historically these systems were subservient to the bricks, beams, and concrete they were housed in; it now seems they are being elevated in importance. The intelligent systems have now the ability to make our infrastructure come to life - and provide greater value to those that depend on it.

The great enabler of this shift is the world of information and communications technology (ICT), and more specifically the Internet and IP networks. Networks become the new addition to the DNA of our infrastructure. We have seen already numerous examples where connected and smarter infrastructure has the ability to positively impact economic, social, and environmental sustainability. My blogs have covered several of these examples, and please keep reading them as there are more to come.

The trend of smarter and more connected infrastructure is unstoppable as every sensor, device, system (and user) will become a node on the Internet and its worldwide networks. We [as in leaders in the construction, design, development, ICT industries, and many other stakeholders] have now the stewardship to channel this transformation into a direction that is repeatable and sustainable. Together we have the ability to (re)build the fabric of our communities through the intelligent use of technology and innovation. As we see this technology and innovation converge with bricks and mortar, we will end up with infrastructure that meets our, and our children’s, rapidly growing expectations in a resource constraint world.

At Cisco Plus in Canada on Wednesday May 16^th, a selected group of leaders in the infrastructure industry (architects, engineers, developers, builders) will gather to discuss the implications of “clicks and mortar”, and the opportunities it will provide to all that are interesting pursuing them. The future is here, let’s now optimize and monetize it, together.

When you are visiting Cisco Plus, please attend also the Business Session “Managing Unprecedented Change with Business Transformation” by Sandy Hogan (Cisco Vice President of Americas Business Transformation) on Wednesday May 16^th at 11am EST.

There has been a lot of activity today on vacant land near the city centre of Edmonton. Public and private sector officials, citizens and press gathered in a make-shift tent to witness the groundbreaking of the Boyle Renaissance project. The crowd included renowned guests like the Mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel, TV personality Mike Holmes and officials at the Métis Capital Housing Corporation.

The groundbreaking was for a 90-unit residential project that will provide senior-friendly and barrier-free housing for Métis seniors and the disabled. The project is being spearheaded by Mike Holmes’ team, The Holmes Group, and his partners, and will result in an excellent facility that combines the highest quality of design, construction, energy sustainability and innovation.

Two partners joining Mike at the event were Enmax and Cisco Canada. Enmax Energy will provide the necessary infrastructure for district energy and combined heat and power, giving the building an advanced heating and power system that will use cleaner burning natural gas and meet the highest standards of building energy efficiency.

We at Cisco Canada will provide the network infrastructure that will form the “backbone” of the facility. The building will demonstrate the latest capabilities in systems convergence and provide for an intelligent, and connected, future-enabled environment. Over the top of this centralized IP infrastructure, the Boyle Renaissance will include Cisco’s Smart + Connected Communities (S+CC) Control4 Connected Home solution to deliver user friendly capabilities for the future residents of the building.

In the tent that has been put together for the groundbreaking ceremony, we are demonstrating the possibilities and capabilities of the Connected Home solution. The ability to completely control the home and advanced home applications from a single touch pad interface including turning off lights, lowering blinds adjusting room temperatures and changing channels on the TV– was proudly demonstrated by one of the Métis members.

The technology that will be implemented in the Boyle Renaissance project will provide cutting-edge and user-friendly features and functionalities that will enhance the quality of living for the project’s residents; and will make moving around a lot more effortless.

The success of this highly anticipated project (mind you, the first shovel only went into the ground today) is expected to become the model for future construction within the Métis portfolio and the City of Edmonton. I trust it will also spill over in the rest of Alberta and Canada at large.

We are all hopeful that together, we are re-calibrating the standards for 21st Century building development. Cisco Canada and The Holmes Group will continue to partner to push the envelope and move the ancient-old design and construction industry onto new, greener pastures with the latest and greatest innovation in design, construction and technology.

For more on today’s groundbreaking, please read the press release.

This year, the impressive collection of Canada’s top 100 infrastructure projects total an astounding $ 114 billion investment (18% more than last year !). Only five years ago, a list as impressive as this one would have gone unnoticed by companies in the IT industry. Our industry would have simply dismissed it as just concrete, big cranes, and increased traffic congestion.

On the flip side, the companies that are involved in the large projects would have not given IT much thought either. Traditionally, the IT components in construction would have been as low as 0.25% (civil) to as high as 3% (commercial) – probably not more than $ 400 million of the $ 114 billion investment. IT would have been a rounding error and afterthought.

Times have changed. IT is increasingly becoming required and even mission critical for the development of future infrastructure projects. The driving force will come from a need for connectivity; connected lighting controls and HVAC in buildings; transportation systems (e.g. automated toll systems); sensors; wireless devices in vehicles and on persons, and so forth. Everything is becoming connected and interdependent. The underlying networks will need to be build or updated to support the massive increase of traffic (bits and bytes) and activity (transactions).

Additionally, the required compute power for the “analytics” that is giving us the ability to optimize the performance of our infrastructure (utilization, economics, energy) is calling for data centers and the secure availability of the cloud.

Not long from now, I suspect that we will find some of the largest IT infrastructure projects rank in the top 100 as provinces, municipalities, and businesses will need to develop this mission critical infrastructure. IT will be more than a rounding error, and become like concrete as the foundation for a smart and connected world.

Today , the first employees of PWC will take possession of the first two floors of their new showcase property in downtown Toronto: PWC Tower @ 18 York. When they will walk into their offices, they will not find a light switch on the wall. Instead, they will now be able to turn on, dim and turn off their lights using the Cisco IP phone in the offices, meeting rooms, and quiet rooms. For any technology person this may not seem a big deal, yet it certainly will be a first for the occupants of 18 York.

__watch video on YouTube http://youtu.be/izs2gQlTtQk

Canadian Construction Leaders meet with John Chambers on Productivity, Innovation, Opportunity, and Transformation.

There is no doubt we all agree on the uncertainties in life: economic struggles, political instability, environmental challenges, rapid technology advancement, quality of healthcare and education, urbanization, globalization and subsequent competition, productivity, job security and prospects, and on and on. It seems that we’re amidst more market transitions than ever before. This is challenging, especially for those that merely seek to survive. What is making some of us very nervous is turning into opportunities for others.

Yes; the construction industry has been struggling with declining productivity for years. Yes, the new workforce in construction and real estate is bringing iPad’s to work and are expecting to use them for business also. Yes, no construction project is alike and—at the surface— requires customized processes. Yes, the construction industry is one of the world’s most fragmented industries…it’s hard work to get millions of companies in the construction value-chain to think alike and embrace transformation like we do. Yes, it is probably one of the few industries left standing that has defied the possibilities of technology to drive innovation, transformation, and productivity opportunities. But, maybe it’s time to move beyond the excuses [we’ve heard them all before].

It was the ‘let’s do it‘ attitude that was clearly noticeable during a CEO roundtable discussion last week at @CiscoCanada between Cisco’s President and CEO John Chambers, and nine distinct leading executives of the Canadian construction and real estate industry representing property managers, contractors, architects, engineers, and developers. There is no better time to spring into action then NOW. The innovation is happening today and the proof points are resounding: one participant talked about his 600,000 SF commercial tower that will demonstrate the latest in thinking and capabilities that provides a true 21^st Century environment for its tenants; another participant talked about her new addition to a large campus whereby IP has become the new fourth utility and will impact the business of education that takes place in the new building; a third participant illustrated how the Network is driving cost from his developments while starting to provide new and exciting opportunities for the operator and clients in his buildings.

With technological (r)evolutions in collaboration, video, and cloud as the building blocks for the construction and real estate transformation—the industry itself needs to get behind it and lead by example, lead by scale, and lead by fear. The market is forcing the construction and real estate to wake up and change its gears. Maybe it’s true that doing so 3 or 5 years ago was too early; but it is also understood that waiting 2 or 3 years may be too late. So, what do we need (and it’s all out there already, let’s repackage it if necessary): COLLABORATION – rethink how the conventional industry works; there are many industries we can learn from that have embraced 21^st century technologies to support 21^st century collaboration, teaming, and productivity. STANDARDS – the LEED standard, despite its flaws, has been able to move a market; possible adjustments in MasterFormat. BENEFITS – is everyone really aware of the benefits for CAPEX, OPEX, operators, tenants (etc) of smarter and connected buildings. METRICS – clear and consistent ways of measuring impact and success. TRAINING – certification for industry professionals and incoming workforce. PARTNERSHIPS – new, innovative, and unconventional relationships that jointly move the ball forward and start the transformation machine. LEADERS – we don’t have to wait for broad industry consensus: we need leaders… and I saw nine sitting in our office last week.

It’s time to lead, follow, or get out of the way. If you’re just seeking to survive…you may as well get out of the way…or follow. Just don’t get left behind !

For more, visit www.rickhuijbregts.com

Last month Cisco launched its UPoE (Universal Power over Ethernet), delivering up to 60W to networked end-devices. Now, I am not very technical myself to understand how this all works, but I certainly can see the business implications (for every IT professional and business, but also the developers of buildings and communities) as the journey of PoE continues to develop.

Power over Ethernet (PoE)  is a technique that delivers electrical power over Local Area Network cabling to networked devices. PoE itself isn’t new (but not old either). In 2000 we were able to deliver 7W over the network, called “Inline Power”. The term PoE was coined in 2003 when the IEEE approved a standard (IEEE 802.3af) for PoE up to 15.4W. Only 4 years ago PoE was able to deliver 30W to networked devices, enough to power IP Phones, wireless access points, but also video surveillance cameras and access controllers. Last year, Delta Controls was the first building automation company to launch its PoE IP HVAC controller to the market which was premiered at Carleton University in Ottawa. This year, Universal Power over Ethernet (UPoE) leapfrogged the industry to provide 60W per switch port to enable new deployment options in next-generation infrastructure.

So, how is all this relevant for those outside of IT (especially for those that build buildings and communities)? UPoE will cut capital and operational cost; simplify facilities maintenance and management; reduce environmental footprint; and provide for future-ready physical environments.

(1) As “the Internet of Things” becomes part of the DNA of an infrastructure project (as the 4^th Utility), we’ll see more and more devices connect natively to the Network (from IP Phones to LED lighting, HVAC controllers, TelePresence, LCD displays, etc.). Once connected to the Network, many of these devices can, should, and will be able to be powered through this same network. The elimination (or reduction) of electrical cabling and the labor related to it will have a significant positive impact on the capital cost of a networked building. How many power plugs do you need at a desk if your phone, TelePresence unit, and your laptop are going to be powered through the same network that operates them? Consider $300 per door (or more) savings for eliminating the electrical provisioning for each access controller above your ceiling panels.

(2) Operational maintenance and management (including Moves, Adds, and Changes or MACs) of networked devices that are powered over Ethernet become much more efficient and cost effective. Especially if you extend the PoE infrastructure with available kinetic technologies (i.e. a kinetic light switch does not need ANY wiring as its kinetic energy communicates over a PoE wireless network) the possibilities of quick customization and change of our physical environments becomes more effortless and instant. One would not need an electrician (as we know them) anymore to add or rewire electrical infrastructure to accommodate new locations for networked devices. A video surveillance camera, LCD display, or LED light fixture can be placed (and powered) in places where no electrical wiring is provided.

(3) It is a well established fact that much of our energy loss is due to the many up and down conversions that are needed to move electrons from the power plant to the low-voltage end devices in your building (consider how hot the power plug for your laptop can get). If you add the possibility of adding solar energy or other alternative energy sources, you now can leverage the network to generate in DC and deliver in DC, thus eliminating energy loss due to conversions. Also, the Network is optimized to monitor, manage and control the power delivery and consumption to all its networked devices (see: EnergyWise). UPoE makes energy optimization and reduction part of the buildings DNA.

(4) Lastly (yet, there are many more benefits that I’ll discuss in future blogs), UPoE adds to the future-readiness of a networked building. We don’t know what systems and devices will be required for the performance and operation of our physical environments. What we do know is that the Network is the new lifeline of such environments; and end devices will consume less and less energy (maybe 60W or less—wouldn’t that be interesting)?

This means that the networks we are building today are able to power, enhance, and enable the features and functionalities of tomorrow.

Maybe it’s time to re-write MasterFormat Division 26? (and consequently also 23, 25, 27, 28, 33).

www.rickhuijbregts.com

Last week I attended two industry event: BOMA International in Washington and the ULI National Policy and Practice forum in Chicago (on “The New Transparency in Real Estate: Sustainability Metrics, Asset Performance, and Public Disclosure”). Both excellent events with topics that we probably wouldn’t be discussing at either event only five years ago. “Information” or [performance data] has become a mainstream topic in the real estate sector that now intrigues the most skeptical and least technology savvy individuals in the industry. Shareholders are demanding more detailed performance data as they assess risk and make investment decisions; tenants are demanding more detailed performance data as they need to comply with corporate policies and regulations; and in some instances also governments are demanding more detailed performance data as it has code or tax implications. Consequently, landlords require more detailed performance data, merely to meet the rapidly changing requirements of their property stakeholders.

Interesting studies were presented by both JCI (Institute for Building Efficiency) and Nils Kok (fellow country-man and visiting professor at Berkeley University—interesting blog to follow). Nils cited a study in where he concluded that LEED buildings have on average 7% higher effective rents and 13% increased property value. Although at both events it was clear that “green” [or environmental sustainability] was main topic of discussion; in my humble opinion we missed an opportunity to involve the other critical aspects of true performance. A vacant building that is incredibly energy efficient is wasteful. A building with lowest carbon footprint that reduces workforce productivity is shameful. A LEED building with low operating cost without any internet connectivity to the rest of world is useless. True performance data would constantly (yes; ideally in real-time) present the balance between environmental, economic, corporate, and social sustainability. It may well be the case that you may have to sacrifice a little on one aspect in order to optimize another.

Buildings that demonstrate the perfect harmony of all pillars of sustainability will outperform its less optimized peers (hmm. It’s like nature: see my blog on biomimicry). It is important that we recognize the different meanings of “property value” (a sales price for the owner; workforce productivity for the tenant; easy/cost of operations for the landlord, etc) and use all available data (green, utilization, economic, etc) to define the true drivers for high performance buildings. Maybe I do this during my summer vacation