Cities Get Smart: Tech Is Accelerating Change for Infrastructure and Buildings

03 June 2023 / Report

Cities and infrastructure asset owners are looking to become more efficient, competitive, and sustainable by utilizing data and information. They are turning to smart city and smart building initiatives to reduce cost, enhance productivity, and solve urban problems.

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Smart city and building initiatives can improve decision-making for municipalities and commercial building owners, resulting inincreases in economic activity,decreases in both costs and carbon emissions, and improvements in quality-of-life measures.
Building owners and occupants are exploring how smart technologies can be used for operational and cost savings in a post-COVID world; retrofitting a building with such tools as smart meters, touchless technologies, and occupant monitoring can save up to 40 percent in energy costs, which are the largest cost of operating a property.¹
The business benefits for smart infrastructure and buildings include not only operational optimization, but also increased intelligence to support asset replacement and maintenance decisions, as well as new business opportunities in this expanding market.
Security, trust, and privacy considerations need to be prioritized, as smart infrastructure is often critical infrastructure, and can leave citizens, cities, and businesses vulnerable to cyberattacks, natural and man-made hazards, and other types of project failures.

[1] Jennifer King and Christopher Perry, Smart Buildings: Using Smart Technology to Save Energy in Existing Buildings, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Report A1701, February 2017.