Cisco Plus – one of Canada’s leading IT and thought leadership conferences – will be hosted on Wednesday May 16^th in Toronto’s Congress Centre. The event is designed for end-user customers and Cisco partners (Value-added Resellers, System Integrators,…) to explore the synergies between business strategy and technology. This year, we have carved out some time to co-host a series of industry break-out sessions for C-Suite business decision makers to make the conversation even more strategic and business relevant.

Gartner (2012) predicts that “by 2015, 35% of IT expenditures will be managed outside IT department’s budgets”. This means that IT is increasingly recognized for the impact it can have on addressing real business issues as opposed to being merely a cost centre and resource for necessary tools and software applications. As companies are looking for strategic ways to stay ahead, take on competition, and innovate their products and services, IT will become increasingly part of the business decision making (moving out of the Server Room and into the Board Room)—as it should be.

With this shift in mind, IDC shows that end-user customers “complain about their technology vendors in relation to their vertical or industry strategy”. Vendors and suppliers lack the industry expertise, a true understanding of the business needs, and don’t have specific industry solutions.

Cisco is moving from the Server Room to the Board Room as we’re embracing business value for industry transformation and are building industry teams with deep vertical industry expertise and matching industry solutions and value-added industry relationships.

The Cisco Plus industry break-out sessions (by invitation only) will gather senior business decision makers in the Education, Healthcare, Energy, Real Estate/Communities, and Financial Services sectors for moderated discussions on trends of change, innovation, and productivity. Each of the parallel session are hosted by one of Cisco’s foremost thought leaders and industry experts in the respective industries, and moderated by our Canadian Industry business development leaders.

Exclusive executive participation will provide for intimate and open conversations about the real issues that matter most to the representative companies and industries. Though innovation can be found at all levels within these companies and industries; the mandate for it has to be propagated by its executive leadership.

Sustainable and lasting change starts at the top: and the conversation starts … at Cisco Plus.

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.

Last month, I participated in a panel discussion at Cleantech North on partnering for the establishment and growth of Cleantech applications and investments. Truth to be told: I’m no expert in Cleantech – but am certainly aware of its importance for addressing environmental sustainability while providing positive financial returns for investors and customers.

Cleantech refers to new technology and related business models that provide superior performance at lower cost; reduces or eliminates negative environmental impact; and improves the productive and responsible use of natural resources. Cleantech is mostly equated with renewable energy (wind power, solar power, biomass, hydropower, biofuels) but includes many other appliances that are now more energy efficient.

Being part of one of the largest technology companies in the world, I see the unequivocal relevance of IT in Cleantech and the significance of partnerships in the pursuit of economically sustainable innovation that addresses the many environmental challenges we face on Earth.

(1)   IT is Cleantech. Although technology is often accused of being a great contributor to energy consumption and inefficiency, it certainly can have much greater impact on the betterment of our environment (if you pick the right solutions from the right company). With the deployment of virtualization, we centralize the compute power and subsequent energy load—while delivering distributed and improved services and applications. This consolidation of IT functions has a tremendous impact on the overall environmental footprint, while providing greater flexibility and resiliency.

Furthermore, the use of business video (TelePresence) has a tremendous impact on businesses carbon footprint if make it avoid financial and environmental costly business and commuter travel. Ultra-high Definition and easy to use video communications will bring people together virtually without the hardship on the environment. At Cisco alone we have been able to reduce our carbon emissions by 40% thanks to the use of TelePresence and the elimination of business travel. Oh, and by the way, it also saved the company more than $1B in productivity gains and travel expense reduction.

Lastly, IT devices become more intelligent and energy efficient themselves while delivering more powerful capabilities; the IP Network has now the ability to improve energy performance of its connected IT edge devices (with EnergyWise).

(2)   Everything IT touches can be Green. The positive impact IT can have on the environment goes beyond its own components and devices. As we live in a world where everything becomes connected, we now can use the IP Network (the underlying nervous system of all IT) to monitor, measure, control, and optimize the energy consumption of everything we do, everything we use, and everything we touch. Consider the intelligent optimization of the Smart Grid (with renewable energy end-points) as we understand what and how much to deliver when and where, while harmonizing everything that connects to the grid.

Within buildings we see the converge of HVAC, lighting, and other building systems (that aren’t necessarily IT systems—yet) over the single IP Network which now provides the ability to improve the overall energy footprint. Our mobile devices can consume real-time data of our environmental impact and provide us with strategies to contribute to its reduction.

This latter argument requires partnering….and lots of it. It’s the governments, venture capital world and companies like ours that need to embrace the many innovators out there that are seeking to play a role in the improvement of our environment. If we can spend Billions on bail-outs and Trillions on wars, we certainly should be able to find the capital (financial and intellectual) to spearhead new technologies and business models that can make our world a better (and greener) place. In turn, we would all welcome financial returns and an eco-system that will help us grow greater business opportunities and create new industries and jobs. Cleantech is good for everyone: IT is good for Cleantech and Cleantech can’t do without IT.

For the past three years Cisco has been a supporter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and has actively participated in most of their National events and forums. ULI’s latest Fall Meeting and Urban Land Expo with more than 6,000 attendees, just came to a close last week in Los Angeles and Cisco joined as Sustaining Member and Anniversary Sponsor. The meetings were as inspiring as they were sobering. Clearly, the U.S. real estate market is leading and responding to the economic anguish. There is very little new development happening and (growing) vacancies taint the existing real estate portfolios and market atmosphere.

Top of mind for the leading real estate professionals were the economic uncertainties in the U.S. and abroad (especially in Europe led by the Greece situation); the continuing  trouble in the housing market; the political instability (in the U.S. and around the world); and the perceived pressure to pay more attention to environmental issues like energy savings and carbon reductions. In these times of ambiguity, real estate owners have become more forceful and resourceful in providing features and functionalities that differentiate their properties over the very large existing (and mostly obsolete) building stock. Although the greening of buildings through LEED certification already was becoming widely accepted before the latest economic downturn, it seems that the pursuit of LEED accreditation is one of those factors that real estate owners and developers use to control the marketability and brand of their product. Many session presenters and panel members were flaunting the pursuit of LEED Gold or even Platinum certification: it appears to have become the new norm.

Here I was sitting with my Cisco hat on, becoming growingly surprised why nobody made any mention of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) as an enabler for their buildings to become leaner, greener, and meaner --- except for the few technology-focused breakout sessions, including the well attended opening session with Joe O’Connor (moderator, Cisco Smart + Connected Communities), Stan Gale (Gale International), Anil Menon (Cisco Smart + Connected Communities), Thomas Ike (Lutron Electronics), and Phil Williams (Webcor Builders).

Naturally, the omission of ICT from the real estate buzz did not come as a surprise to me. Compare it to asking the CEO of a leading financial institution or airliner what the top 5 issues are that are on her mind – it rarely is ICT. Considering we clearly have transitioned well into the “information age”, and are increasingly becoming part of a connected world (which nobody denies), it is rather disappointing that ICT does not often enough get called out as a leading enabler and solution (or even concern) for the challenges that we all face. And it certainly is not the lack of proof points by now, which demonstrate that the IT-enablement of buildings (Smart + Connected Real Estate) has a profound impact on the economic sustainability (reduced CAPEX, impact on OPEX, new business opportunities in real estate as we embrace the cloud for building analytics, for instance); environmental sustainability (energy measurement and visualization, energy and carbon reduction); and social sustainability (future-ready places to live, learn, work, and play; the marriage of virtual and physical in the design and planning of spaces and communities). – sorry for sounding like a broken record.

Yes, we can build (and renovate) buildings for less money up front, that cost less to operate, that virtually automatically optimize energy and carbon consumption, and provide innovative and dynamic environments for those that live, learn, and earn in them---with the use of existing information technologies (no more bleeding edge). I understand…it is a journey that we’re part of. Just like only three years ago I was questioned what Cisco was doing at the ULI; this year we seem to have become a household name and participant. I am not asked anymore why we are there…but am asked what we can do for them (the real estate world). We’re glad to be part of the journey. We are already looking forward to our participation at the 2012 ULI Real Estate Summit and the Spring Council Forum in May in Charlotte, North Carolina.

See you there. Hmmm…it’ll be a great opportunity to also check out Envision Charlotte.

We are walking into the Rêve, one of Tridel’s latest developments on King West in Toronto. This 14-storey residential building is one of the most advanced, enabled, and green communities in town.

As we walk in, we are greeted by the concierge that is not actually there. A high-definition Cisco TelePresence video solution beams the concierge in from some remote location. It’s as if she’s there and provides us directions as no in-person experience would have done any better. [Virtual Concierge]

On the 14^th floor, we enter the Eco-Suite. This sustainable home combines high quality design, environmental features, and the latest technologies in an effort to augment and improve the experience of condo living as we know it.

Where we once would expect light switches, we now find touch displays that control much more than light. For every room in the suite, we can control our lights, blinds, energy, TV and audio. It provides also the platform for accessing new web-based applications and value-added services. The same features and functionalities (and look and feel) are available on the TV screen, internet, and handheld devices.

Solar panels on the roof generate and augment power for the building, and many other environmental features such as green roofs, recycled building materials, and water-saving automatic faucets provide the ideal home for the environmentally conscious residents in the LEED-certified Rêve.

Surely, it is not about the technology or the panels on the roof, or even the TelePresence video solutions in the building.  All those are merely a means to an end: creating an environment (both physical and virtual) that becomes an extension and enabler for the rapidly changing expectations we have of life in an increasingly connected world.

We are looking for comfort, safety and security (both physical and virtual), health, flexibility and future-readiness, access to friends, family, and information, anytime and anywhere, and the ability to personalize everything around us as we see fit and when we see fit. We want to have all this while using as few resources as possible and leaving a smaller footprint in the world.

With the proliferation of connected devices (from tablets, smart phones, laptops, to the intelligence in our cars, and even our fridges and stoves) we can now surround ourselves ubiquitously with enabling technologies that provide the means to that end. Where typically this ability is limited to the devices that we carry; Tridel now made it integral part of the spaces that we live in.

Design, technology, the environment, innovation, and life… all becoming one.

Today we received three powerful presentations of cloud-based application providers in the Smart + Connected space. One is an up-and-coming star in automated fault detection and energy management. Another is leading in dashboards and process optimization through data visualization. The last one showed some impressive analytics for carbon measurement and reporting. All three are nothing but impressive and I look forward doing business with all of them – but they’re also not the first nor alone. I truthfully don’t remember how many cloud-based application providers we have met and whose solutions we have reviewed. One is better than the other, and we may have to see eventually how this market will shake itself down.

Naturally, there is nothing wrong with all this. It’s the new way. This is where the future lies for all businesses; and so also for the construction and real estate industry (who by and large - with few exceptions - does not quite understand the impact this will have on business as we know it).

Flashback. 18 years ago. In my first conversation with my Harvard professor, I was introduced to the concept of “Islands of Automation”. Interesting concept: there is all this wealth of facility and operational data sitting in many disparate systems and software that seem not able to communicate with one another in an effort to optimize building performance and the eventual experience in the environment. The result is: multiple screens, multiple interfaces, multiple control…lots of cost and inefficiency. There must and shall be ways with which we can better utilize all this silo-ed information and create higher performance buildings.

Now, back to today. Yes. We did it. Indeed, a standardized foundational infrastructure is deployed to tap into all these disparate systems and free up the wealth of building data that finds itself locked in proprietary silos: introducing the Network as the Platform for Building Transformation (shameless plug). IP has become the standard to moving bits and bites around to power up these valuable and up and coming cloud-based applications.

However….if we (simplistically) break their services down in three layers; we recognize that this new industry is fighting over at least two layers that they all have in common. (1) access to the data and the ownership of the data warehouse. All deploy many (sometimes proprietary or customized) ways to extract the data from the building. (2) the visualization of data through sexy and easy-to-use dashboards. One is prettier than the other. As a customer, do I now still have many different websites to go to in order to access my data (energy, carbon, maintenance, fault detection, etc…..mind you; there is probably not ONE perfect app out there; we’re going for “best of breed”).

(3) the actual meat and potatoes—the analytics. It is this 3^rd (architecturally considered the middle layer) that really sets the vendors apart. Where the real value is added.

If a building owner can’t “standardize” on data collection, aggregation, and warehousing (call it the back-end);  as well as the front end access (dashboards) of the information; and naturally one Network that connects the two together….aren’t we still building Islands of Automation, yet now they’re in the cloud? Different tentacles reach in the building to grab what they need, yet ignoring the possible value of the aggregate? Various data warehouses on different databases around the world capturing bits and pieces of building performance data that is required for the specific service or function? We still may need bridges between the islands of automation. They now have become virtual. Who is going to capitalize on the new bridge construction…and tolls?

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