Once upon a time, space allocation decisions were based on educated assumptions about how building space would be used. With the advent of smart building technologies, facility managers can use powerful tools to help them obtain accurate information about space occupancy, rather than relying on estimates and approximations. Occupancy sensors can help collect data on space usage and optimize space management decisions.
In this article, we will discuss:
▲Use cases and benefits of occupancy monitoring
▲ Five types of sensors for monitoring occupancy
Use cases and benefits of occupancy monitoring
The integration of occupancy monitoring sensors with intelligent building management systems lays the foundation for smarter and more efficient workplace space allocation decisions.
For example, occupancy monitoring sensors can be used to track desk occupancy to generate an overview of space utilization efficiency. This overview can then drive space optimization decisions, such as implementing space-saving strategies when desks are not being fully utilized.
Overall, the most common use cases for occupancy monitoring in smart building and facilities management include:
▲Real-time space management
▲Effective resource allocation
▲Tenant/Employee Comfort
Occupancy monitoring and real-time space management
Occupancy monitoring enables effective management of desks, offices, and meeting rooms. Occupancy sensors provide real-time visibility into the utilization of rooms, desks, and lounge areas, allowing for immediate access to information about space availability. This visibility minimizes the time spent searching for available space while avoiding conflicting bookings. It also eliminates the need to physically visit spaces to check room availability.
One of the main benefits of occupancy monitoring is that it provides a complete view of the occupancy status of multiple offices, rooms, and buildings through a single control panel. This enables holistic optimization that takes all rooms and buildings into account.
Occupancy monitoring and effective resource allocation
In addition to providing real-time information on office space usage, occupancy monitoring helps extract reliable statistics on minimum, average, and peak usage of office space, including insights into when peak usage occurs.
This data enables facility managers to assess the exact requirements of various businesses and provide them with solutions that meet those requirements. In this way, businesses can significantly reduce operating costs (e.g., costs incurred on unused space).
In addition, landlords may have the opportunity to rent out vacant space to other tenants. Given the ever-changing work patterns (e.g., regular work-from-home), these optimizations are now very challenging, making it difficult for businesses to estimate their exact space needs. In the post-COVID-19 era, businesses will increasingly focus on optimizing office space costs as remote work is likely to become a very common practice.
Occupancy monitoring and tenant/employee comfort
Real-time occupancy monitoring offers a way to improve tenant and employee comfort; for example, it can drive fine-tuning of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) functions based on proper integration with building management systems.
Facilities managers can consider space occupancy density, as the number of people in each space affects HVAC requirements. Similarly, it can ensure adequate lighting conditions in occupied spaces. Occupancy monitoring can help optimize tenant comfort while saving energy costs.
Five types of sensors for monitoring occupancy
Occupancy monitoring requires the deployment of sensors to reliably monitor the presence of people in desks, offices, rest areas, and other building spaces.
Examples of sensors for monitoring occupancy rates include:
▲Smart lighting sensors: These lights contain motion sensors that can detect occupancy in certain areas of a building. In most cases, smart lighting systems supplement their sensing capabilities with functions such as lighting control.
▲Cameras and People Counting: Many cameras today come with image processing capabilities such as face detection and people counting. These systems provide a way to calculate the number of employees in each space, serving as a means to extract utilization information and related statistics. In some countries, the use of such systems raises privacy and data protection concerns. However, these issues are usually mitigated when facial recognition (i.e., personal identification) is not deployed.
▲ Bluetooth Low Energy solutions: These systems utilize Bluetooth technology to assess and track occupancy in a given space. They can operate on mainstream smartphones and provide accurate tracking of individuals. However, Bluetooth solutions rely on staff carrying smartphones with Bluetooth enabled, which is not always the case. Therefore, these solutions are not the most practical.
▲Infrared Sensors: Infrared sensing systems process thermal signals from the workspace and can identify interference caused by human body heat. They can be deployed in different parts of the office, such as walls, ceilings, or desks.
▲Ultrasonic sensors: These systems can identify interference from high-frequency sound wave reflection patterns in the workplace. When the interference becomes continuous, the sensing system assumes that someone is in the room.
Each of these solutions has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, choosing the right sensing solution may require addressing various trade-offs to balance the accuracy, versatility, and cost-effectiveness of each solution.
Summarize
The COVID-19 pandemic has added new requirements for occupancy monitoring. With the implementation of social distancing rules, building and office managers need to ensure compliance with regulations and optimize spaces for employees working from home.
