Stefan Schwab is CEO of Building Robotics, a Siemens company that combines the brands of Comfy and Enlighted.
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The pandemic has highlighted the need to rethink traditional working and operating models for a multitude of industries and presented opportunities for organizations in the public and private sectors to reconsider how they evolve their environments.
State and local reopening requirements, Covid-safety protocols and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have changed considerations from an energy-efficiency standpoint for buildings and operations. Now, they have a focus on energy efficiency, student and employee experiences, and additional environment, social and governance (ESG) related concerns. We can learn a few things from the U.S. education sector.
Funding The Future Of Education
The education sector is taking this sea change seriously, with the pandemic prompting them to reconsider how they approach the safety of their spaces for staff and students while optimizing students’ learning environments and education experience. As educators and administrators continue to manage this balance, there is a unique opportunity for the sector to improve its environmental footprint and achieve long-term sustainability goals.
New technologies and intelligence-enabled tools for improving airflow, energy savings and automating building processes are critical to modernizing buildings and physical spaces, but also require a significant investment in the acquisition of these tools as well as maintenance. To bridge this gap, the U.S. Federal Government passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill in March 2021—which included an extension of the funding for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).
A survey by the Princeton Review revealed that a university’s sustainability stance was considered by 75% of applicants up from 66% the prior year; demonstrating how important sustainability is for students. The need to modernize school campuses for efficiency, health and safety is urgent. For example, the air quality of indoor spaces became a serious concern during the pandemic. Experts predict that airborne viral pandemics will only increase in frequency in the future. As such, equipping our physical spaces with the right technology to prepare for this inevitability becomes vital.
The effect of schools’ physical environment on students’ academic performance is well documented. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Research links key environmental factors to health outcomes and students’ ability to perform. Improvements in school environmental quality can enhance academic performance, as well as teacher and staff productivity and retention.”
A school’s HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system is a key component in optimizing the physical environment of a school campus.
Expanding IoT Applications: Connected Sensors For Health And Sustainability
Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have already established their role in creating a networked infrastructure. Now, engineers are uncovering ways to apply IoT technologies to support health and well-being by creating safe and healthy buildings. Integration of building management systems with connected sensors can give building operation managers, sustainability and business managers and other decision-makers insights into building usage patterns.
Schools and universities have unique challenges compared to office environments due to a higher number of people in an enclosed space in most learning environments. In the office, you can orchestrate people’s attendance to control capacity, but that’s not feasible for most academic institutions. Having the right tools and technologies to understand space usage and obtain real-time occupancy data is tremendously important as higher education reconfigures its approach to curriculum planning and building maintenance.
Planning A Smart And Safe Campus
When implementing smart IoT technology and working with operations decision-makers in the education sector, pay close attention to the unique needs of campuses and their growth plans to meet short-term requirements as well as longer-term sustainability goals.
You should take into account how teachers and students interact differently in various academic disciplines, the physical constraints of the buildings in relation to how they are used and the state of the HVAC systems to determine what kind of data is useful to gain actionable insights, how the data can be collected and how to set a baseline for measuring progress. As expected, programs such as HEERF require a high level of transparency and accountability. Detailed planning is critical for schools to be able to demonstrate their wise use of energy resources.
For example, my company recently worked with a community college that has more than 50 years of history and multiple locations in two counties. One important lesson we learned from this initiative is determining a feasible solution that can quickly gather pertinent data for planning, such as LED lighting with IoT sensors.
There has never been a more opportune time for schools to institute these building improvements. Educators and their facility managers can make great strides in advancing health and safety efforts while achieving extensive energy and cost savings—two critical factors that demonstrate an educator’s commitment to protecting students and staff, while helping preserve our planet for future generations.
The information provided here is not investment, tax, or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.
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