The PTS Smart Scale

Last year, we redefined Smart Buildings with our people-centric, “Design Thinking” approach, which challenges 5 ‘Smart Building Myths’ and establishes the true nature of building intelligence. Read our perspective here

For PTS, a smart building is much more than the traditional definition suggests. We understand the whole challenge and redefine Smart Buildings as…”Optimised environments that improve the daily experience of staff while providing tangible benefits to the business.”

Developers and tenants are under increasing pressure to deliver Smart Buildings; Developers to provide improved infrastructure to attract the right type of tenant, and the tenant to provide its end users with the highest quality experience while delivering tangible benefits to the business. In order to gain perspective and to help both parties to understand these Smart Building benefits and opportunities, we have developed the PTS Smart Scale.

The PTS Smart Scale is a tool that we use with our clients to give an immediate indication of the ‘level’ of smart that a tenant or developer must aspire to, based on easily digestible information and scenarios. This way, we keep the process relevant to our clients; they identify their end goals and desired user experiences, and advise them throughout every stage of the process to ensure that they achieve it!

Here is a glance over the ‘levels’ of our scale.

BMS with basic controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.

Basic networking equipment with limited functionality enabled

Basic network cabling. Focused on landlord mostly back of house areas with limited capacity to expand

BMS with advanced SMART controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.

Scalability and resilient and with greater functionality enabled

Grid cabling solution with scalability

An enabling software application that facilitates a Smart Building

BMS with advanced Smart controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.

Scalability and resilient and with greater campus-wide functionality enabled

Grid cabling solution with campus connectivity

An enabling software application that facilitates Smart ready for metropolitan area

BMS with advanced Smart controls for lighting, security, HVAC etc.

Scalability and resilient and with high functionality enabled over metropolitan area

Grid cabling solutions with campus connectivity

By illustrating to our clients the level of Smart required to support their desired user scenarios and by completing a full audit of their existing landscape, we are able to quickly identify where they currently sit on the scale and where their Smart aspirations lie. From this information we are able to provide our clients with immediate indicative Cap Ex, Op Ex and RIO relevant to their unique requirements.

The purpose of a Smart Buildings is to enable a frictionless experience that improves the lives of its users. This means fewer and more meaningful interruptions, user-friendly interfaces (voice, wearable) and the invisible and pervasive background technology dramatically increases user satisfaction without them knowing.

In order to achieve the highest quality experiences (on whichever level of the scale your aspirations lie), we must consider the entire user journey and the technology landscape combined. To do this, we typically guide our clients through three main scenario sets, ‘Live’, ‘Work’ and ‘Play’.

Live: Where the technology respects and values your time

Work: Data-enabled tech for a more productive and empowered workspace

Play: Supporting and enabling better and richer experiences

Over the coming weeks, PTS will be showing just how far the ‘Smart’ experience can go with some stunning use case examples, all mapped against our PTS Smart Scale…