Smart buildings have the capacity to generate useful data for improving the built environment
The application of data to the built environment is frustrated by a lack of attention to key parts of the workplace experience
NEW YORK (PRWEB) March 25, 2020
Workplace and real estate strategy consultancy PLASTARC shared its expertise on the use of data in the latest edition of Corporate Real Estate Journal, which is now available in print and via online subscription. As a premiere magazine covering the real estate industry, the peer-reviewed journal is read by leaders at the intersection of technology, facilities management, human resources, and other professionals, serving as a key connection between academic researchers and the practitioners who apply their insights.
Following contributions on the topic to both Quartz at Work and Work Design Magazine, PLASTARC’S piece, “Frontiers in social data for real estate,” highlights some of the opportunities that now present themselves to anyone needing to use data to improve the performance of spaces. Citing scholarship and their experience advising on workplace transformation projects, it explores both current best practices and near-term possibilities for the use of data to improve research. Special attention is given to the analysis of trace data, such as that collected by building systems and mobile apps, which can allow companies to gain insights into the preferences and behavior of occupants.
Author Melissa Marsh explains that the opportunity is greatest where tools and techniques have already been developed, but have not yet been fully brought to bear: “The application of data to the built environment is frustrated by a lack of attention to key parts of the workplace experience. For example, much of the physical environment can be modeled before it is built, but we are only now seeing this used for non-visual elements of design.“
PLASTARC increases the value of real estate through delivery of technology-enabled, people-centric environments. Incorporating social data into their mixed-methods workplace research, they support clients who ask the most interesting questions at the intersection of people, place, and technology.
In the recent article, PLASTARC also discusses areas for study and growth in the application of data to the built environment. Privacy is certainly a major issue. Equally problematic is data that is taken out of context, misinterpreted, or misused. To address some of these concerns, PLASTARC contributes to multiple cross-disciplinary organizations that work to bridge the gap between people-data and design practice. These include the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA), and the Social Science and Architecture Committee of the American Institute of Architects New York chapter (AIANY).
PLASTARC’s contribution to CREJ expands on work the firm shared at CoreNet’s Global Summit APAC last spring. Presenting alongside fellow leaders in the use of data in real estate, PLASTARC discussed insight gleaned from work with a diverse roster of distinguished clients such as the United Nations, Mozilla, Intercom, Informatica, and Verizon, for whom PLASTARC’s quantitative approach to social data informs a range of workplace transformations.