Smart building is another term often used, but even this term is sometimes interpreted as being more focused on goals of energy management and building health. A good definition of a smart building is a building that integrates data from different systems together to create a better real estate space for owners, occupants, and the environment.
Having said all this, when “smart building” is more narrowly defined as being focused on building health and efficiency, that narrow interpretation does not fully encompass proptech and security. I also see smart building, proptech, and security as three separate markets for services and solutions, so from a market perspective, we kept looking for the right term.
We did need a more all-encompassing term and “built environment” was suggested and agreed to. The name change does not mean we are putting less focus on proptech, which is a fast-growing market, but it does mean that we are not limiting ourselves to the proptech part of the building when it comes to pulling in physical security.
Other organizations are now beginning to adopt a similar lexicon. The National Institute of Building Sciences just formed the AI for the Built Environment Interest Group, looking at how artificial intelligence can enhance the built environment. This is an example of the type of adjacent organization that would benefit from having a better understanding of the security solutions market from SIA and the untapped data our industry creates every day.
At the SIA Built Environment Advisory Board, a big component of our mission is to expand the knowledge and understanding in these areas of the built environment – particularly at that intersection of security, proptech, building automation, and smart building solutions.
We are a highly collaborative community, and we invite anyone who has an interest in or a passion for these topics to learn more about the Built Environment Advisory Board and join our group at www.securityindustry.org/committee/proptech-advisory-board.
Dan Cremins is Senior Business Development Manager for Delta Electronics Americas. He was appointed Chair of the Security Industry Association’s Built Environment Advisory Board in March 2024.
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