Strategic engineering to improve efficiency and save costs

By Jeff Carpenter 

Hidden in the massive amounts of data made possible by the Internet of Things are solutions for making our buildings more comfortable, energy efficient, controllable, and operate more cost effectively. Implementing these solutions, however, comes at a significant cost and demands that every economy of scale be achieved to make it affordable. 

For this to happen, strategic technology planning needs to occur. Unfortunately, it’s too late to accomplish this during the schematic design phase of the traditional A/E process – when technology solutions for program needs are typically identified. At this point the project train has already left the station, and technology design becomes reactive and must catch up as best it can. 

To meet the growing need for proactive strategic technology thought leadership, IMEG is now providing technology advisory services outside the boundaries of traditional A/E design. This fundamentally different approach provides guidance through the exponentially increasing complexities of the built-environment as technology convergence pushes us into the IoT. 

The promises of IoT are vast. Systems and devices that never had connectivity before are being network-enabled, allowing them to collect, store and share data. How best can this serve a client’s needs, and how can it be enabled to its fullest potential? Answers to these questions need to be determined, early.  

For clients to successfully compete in their industries and to recruit and retain the kind of talent that they need to do so, there must be a deliberate strategy behind the use of building, information, and clinical technology. Technology advisory services can provide that strategy.