Real Estate Technology & Energy

We are quick to believe that new perimeter-weighted graphite/boron/titanium equipment harnessing the latest technologies will miraculously improve our games. Almost every golfer has stood on that first tee of the season wielding a new driver believing that this year’s technology is going to cure his/her slice. Year in and year out, we want to believe it’s the equipment not the player.

Consider the fact that your opponent might already have the “latest and greatest technology.” Getting the newest equipment every year neutralizes your opponent’s advantage. The fear that your opponent’s new tennis racquet might provide some unseen benefit weighs on each competitor’s mind. So, to improve our games, to get every advantage, we look to technology as our savior.

New York’s real estate market is far more competitive than the average tennis match or golf round. More and more buildings are utilizing the latest technologies to their advantage. Similar, to the “radical” conversion in the early nineties from wooden woods to metal woods, eventually all buildings will have online services in their bag. Two years ago less than 5% of commercial buildings used online services for building operations. In 2003, with the advent of energy management programs, lease administration software, work-order systems, online building directories and notification systems, the number of buildings using software for some pat of building operations has climbed to more than 15%.

When was the last time you played tennis against someone using a wooden or even an aluminum racquet? With the benefits of online services, building owners/managers can offer potential tenants better run facilities and more efficient services. The buildings not taking advantage of putting their building services online are stepping onto the court with less than the “best” opportunity to win over the next tenant.

In some areas of real estate, technology is critical. In a survey taken last year more than 75% of all real estate transactions involved the use of online services like CoStar. The ability to retrieve and analyze leasing data makes the use of CoStar very compelling. Ultimately, almost all brokerage firms interested in remaining competitive use online services for acquiring and retaining tenants. Like metal woods or graphite racquets, any real estate firm that desires to remain competitive will use an online service.

Expanding this metaphor further, no one stops at trying to gain the advantage of technology with one club. First it’s the woods, next it’s the perimeter-weighted irons, then it’s the putter and finally the search for the perfect golf ball begins. The reliance that many firms put on online services for leasing is truly only the beginning. Eventually, all building owners and managers will seek to get the “latest and greatest” advantage, or at least neutralize the opponent’s advantage by adopting programs and systems for lease administration, energy management and building operations.

There is a sensible order to technology adoption that focuses on impact. With metal in the club head and a graphite shaft, new metal woods dramatically improved driving distance. Lighter stronger graphite caused a dramatic difference in power and control in tennis racquets. Within ten years of these improvements being introduced, the widespread adoption is apparent. We are only two to three years into the dynamic shift from off-line building management to either server based or web-based building management. In a few more years there will be a similar widespread adoption of online services for building operation, and incoming tenants will expect these services. Right now, in this highly competitive market, can you afford to still be playing with a wooden racquet?

Recently, a building manager asked if the lobby’s existing closed circuit cameras could broadcast images through Shortpath. Yes, certain cameras equipped with the ability to broadcast to an IP address allow web-based viewing. In addition, typical IP-driven software with contemporary security features permit broadcasting of specific cameras to specific individuals. For example, a security guard might be able to see four cameras, a tenant one and a building manager twenty. Viewing lobby activity, watching building staff at work, making sure the front of a building has been cleared of snow or observing a loading dock, the applications are limitless. With the pervasive nature of the Internet, viewing, storing, and accessing data no matter where it resides is possible. So, the questions that come up should not be whether it can be done, but rather what will be achieved and to what effect will the installations have on building security.

New tenants mentioned the desire to see what was going on in the lobby. More specifically, they wanted to observe visitors and authorize their entry without having to come downstairs. Traveling to the lobby and vouching for unexpected visitors was disrupting meetings and was affecting productivity. Based upon what this tenant wanted, quality was not important and the picture could be delayed as much as five seconds. Achieving this solution, not just for this tenant, but also for the entire building would be simple. Once installed a building could turn the image broadcast on and off like a faucet. Tenants desiring the functionality would purchase the broadcast. ie. Property TV.

On the technological side, one of the relevant issues in IP broadcasting and security cameras is the delay. A security incident can take place in as little as two seconds. In fact, a person can commit a crime and run 30 yards in five seconds. So, IP cameras require significant bandwidth in order to broadcast quality digital images in real time and be effective in alerting security guards on premise of suspicious activity. Many buildings already have this bandwidth and have either applied it or could apply it to digital broadcasting. Some of the great reasons to go with digital feeds include price and ease of storage, transfer and search.

Eventually, tenants are going to want access to lobby cameras and other views of the building in order to manage their own security. The nanny cam was merely the beginning, and an accessory that could be included for individuals at work as well. With all the installations of cameras by the Department of Transportation to enforce traffic laws, people’s expectation of privacy is quickly eroding. Larger tenants are looking at new and different ways to control their own security. Increasing the number of background checks, scrutinizing people’s lives, now owners and officers are going to find themselves liable for the safety of their employees and businesses are going to look to their landlords for help. One way to economically deliver this kind of help is through the Internet.

Building on IP technology allows owners to integrate existing systems and augment security as necessary with new technologies as they become more affordable. For residential, tenants can see if the laundry room is busy or whether the freight elevator is in use. For commercial, confirmation of identity or even a look outside at the weather might be of interest. Whatever the application, secure and economical, through cables or wireless, the Internet provides a great delivery system for broadcasting images throughout a building community.

Almost all tenants use email and the Internet everyday. Some use it as a secondary communication system. The more advanced are establishing virtual private networks, storing information off-site in managed servers and/or conducting the bulk of their business through a secure ASP. The drive to technological improvement, in many instances, is sparked by a growing need to save (through realized efficiencies and accountability) and/or to improve customer experience. The real estate industry is no different. With installation of visitor access systems and building portals, owners and managers are utilizing technology to increase operating efficiencies and improve their tenants’ experience.

Why web-based access control systems? Over the course of the last few months, individual fears have begun giving way to a lasting mindfulness of a strengthened community and a shared experience. New technologies continue to be offered to protect us throughout the day. Sharing daily travels, we see new security cameras peering at us, we walk through turnstiles and/or get our magnetic cards read like a cereal box at the supermarket. Usually placed in the hands of guard services and monitoring companies, these solutions tend to focus on identification and surveillance. An expectation exists that these systems and the people operating them serve to protect the building and its tenants. However, which visitors and delivery trucks are allowed access to each building is ultimately the tenant’s responsibility.

Confusion and delay are often the norm as guards monitoring the lobby attempt to decipher which visitors actually have permission to enter a building. Rather than focusing on security cameras and looking for suspicious behavior, lobby personnel are busy directing traffic. Important visitors are forced to wait, lines form, and tempers flare. Since the Internet is a common thread running through almost every tenant, a web-based access system creates the opportunity to maintain order and efficiency as a team. Bringing together community and responsibility, web-based access systems and building portals foster a collective awareness. Tenants, empowered by technology, take part in their own safety and security.

With the introduction of the Internet, building portals and access systems thought first to be ancillary now provide the cornerstone of developing each building’s natural community and shared experience. Using a building portal as the collective nervous system of every building, individual tenants can together manage the livelihood of their community. The power of keycard systems, surveillance cameras and other scanning devices managed by one web-based platform, allow tenants to participate in the egress and ingress of employees, visitors, vendors and strangers. People arrive on time, instead of being herded towards an unknowing lobby desk waiting to find out whether they will be allowed entrance. A well-designed system must be user-friendly enough for all tenants and building employees. Training should be simple and inexpensive.

How does it translate off-line? Take a look at two different scenarios. Scenario #1; after a potential tenant just waited three minutes in the lobby trying to get a visitor pass and access to the appropriate floor, the leasing agent attempts to show the space. Meanwhile, the only thing on the potential tenant’s mind is what his legal bill will add up to when his $350 per hour attorney is forced to wait in the lobby. Scenario #2; the leasing agent prior to visiting the building logged into the building portal and created a visitor pass for the customer. When the customer arrived the pre-printed pass is given to him as he is directed to the appropriate elevator. He is greeted on the floor by the agent and shown the space. No lines, no hassles.

Clearly, the biggest issue facing building security is vendor access. Trucks carrying everything from office supplies to water are arriving at loading docks every day. What precautions, if any, can be taken to ensure that these visitor/strangers are not arriving with malicious intent? Many buildings use their security force to check delivery slips, the drivers and the contents of each truck. Even so, for some buildings the amount of traffic makes it virtually impossible to be completely thorough. Using a web-based portal and access system to track and record expected deliveries aids in securing each building. Taken a step further, if as a building community, tenants only used vendors that complied with the building’s access control system, traffic in the building would at least diminish to manageable.

Connectivity is commonplace, web-browsers are pervasive, and almost everybody has email. The real estate industry is poised to make sweeping changes in the way it deals with tenants and their concerns. For obvious reasons, those building owners who are spending money on new technologies are investing in solutions that augment existing security. Using the web will ultimately succeed in making these investments more than worthwhile. A comprehensive system combining access control, building information and vendor management in one easy-to-use centralized application provides the only truly universal solution that will meet the demand of the times.