Whitepapers

Most smart building experts cite education as vital to ensuring that key stakeholders understand the importance of integration that starts with the design phase. They also need to understand that sustainability can be achieved in a way that ultimately saves money. Educating these in- dividuals about the type of data that can be analyzed and leveraging digital data to simulate outcomes through technologies like digital twins and gamification can broaden their perspective. At the same time, organizations need to educate employees on how to make better decisions and adopt practices that support sustainability via incentives and a sense of inclusion. The good news is that as technology continues to evolve and smart building technologies become more predominant, the industry is star- ting to better understand the importance of sustainability and progress toward more quantifiable measurements that can help determine ROI. THE NEED FOR ASSESSMENTS AND CERTIFICATION While data is the foundation of a sustainable smart building, holistic assessments that take into account all aspects of a smart building and are built on a measurable, verifiable, and objective repeatable framework of criteria are vital to benchmarking efficiency, opera- tions, and occupant experiences to determine investment strategies. Assessment is also vital for building owners and operators to know where they stand, identify solutions that will have the greatest impact, and achieve ratings and certification that can be leveraged to pro- mote their commitment to sustainability. Self-Assessment as the First Step For companies looking to determine areas where they can improve sus- tainability, they first need to have a baseline for where they are today. For example, TIA QuEST Forum's Sustainability Assessor is ideal for compa- nies in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry to rapidly self-assess and benchmark their sustainability and corporate social responsibility programs against industry best practices. By simply answering key questions, the Sustainability Assessor gives an organiza- tion a rating of how they perform in ten different areas of sustainability. These areas include environmental management, resource efficiency optimization, carbon footprint and ozone depletion, corporate and so- cial responsibility, supply chain management, stakeholder engagement, organizational engagement and capability, eco design, and end-to-end delivery. Sustainability Assessor then maps these different areas to the scale of impact it will have on the top and bottom line of the company and provides customized recommendations for improvement. "Self-assessment tools can be extremely helpful for organizations that don't necessarily know where to start. These tools probe into areas they may not have thought about and provide them with speci- fic guidance on which sustainability efforts to consider pursuing that align with their business priorities." - Julio De Jesus Flores, Global Quality Manager, iQor While TIA QuEST Forum's Sustainability Assessor is based on the ICT industry's TL 9000 standard and is geared more towards assessing the sustainability of a company's, or their supply chain's, operations, the online self-assessment tool of TIA UL's SPIRE Smart Building As- sessment and Rating Program is designed to assess physical buildings in any market or industry. The SPIRE self-assessment tool provides an automated user-friendly platform for entering building information based on the six distinctive SPIRE assessment criteria—connectivity, health and wellbeing, life and property safety, power and energy, cy- bersecurity, and sustainability. It allows building owners and operators to gain valuable insights into the current state of their smart building and acquire an assessment of building functionality that can be used as a roadmap for future improvements to help increase asset values. Through UL and other testing services, building owners and operators can also assess their indoor air quality and other building factors that can help identify problem areas to address. All of these assessment tools are important as building owners and operators are coming to realize they need to do their part in protecting the planet, while deli- vering quality occupant experiences and reducing cost. Certification Programs Over the past couple of decades, sustainability has been the focus for several nationally or globally recognized smart building certification programs in the marketplace. Many of the following certifications are considered prestigious and offer organizations the means to promote their commitment to sustainability and the environment. • LEED – U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design • BREEAM – Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method • Green Globes – Used primarily in Canada and the U.S. • Living Building Challenge – Created by the International Living Future Institute • WELL Building Standard – Administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) • Fitwel – Operated by the Center for Active Design (CfAD) • Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) 360 Performance Program • Other nationally and globally recognized rating systems, such as Singapore BCA Green Mark, Australian Green Star, German Sustainable Building Council's DGNB, France's Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQE) and China Academy of Building Research (CABR) • Codes such as ASHRAE 189.1, International Green Construction Code and CALGreen www.lora-alliance.org p.9

• Cover