‘Digital savviness plays a predominant role in reducing building operating cost’

Dubai, UAE, 17 January 2019: Technology is revolutionising the way buildings work. Echoing the thought was Rohit Mansukhani, Director, Digital Solutions, India and the Middle East, Johnson Controls Middle East. He said: “Information Technology is strengthening the foundation of better buildings. Digital savviness plays a predominant role in reducing the operating costs of buildings. Initially, we had a stand-alone automated system with end-to-end controls, but today, the focus is more on system integration.”

Present-day projects are all about how a BMS talks to the many access points in a building and innovation in IoT has pushed data on to the cloud, increasing conversations around sensors, which then directly connect to a network, Mansukhani said. Highlighting a challenge, he said, “Today, the focus is on data integration. The power is in the data and until a few years back, technology was not as advanced as it is now.” With regard to wayfinding, he said, “All customers, we speak with, are looking for smart wayfinding.” He added, “External data can also be used to enhance security and with everything on social media, the feed itself can be used to drive security.”