{"id":3919,"date":"2021-05-19T09:30:42","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T08:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-388643-2486556.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=3919"},"modified":"2022-05-12T17:09:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T16:09:56","slug":"building-safety-sector-spotlight-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/safecility.com\/building-safety-sector-spotlight-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Safety Sector Spotlight Part Two: New Working Practices, Emerging Technologies and Future Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the second part of our sector spotlight, we review the impacts of Covid-19, the power of harnessing cost-effective building safety compliance and how we can build a safer future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Safecility<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile Covid-19 has been incredibly brutal, deadly and disruptive,\u201d says consulting engineer Paul Condron, \u201cwe will emerge at the end, pick up the pieces and revert to normality. In my opinion, we must have this as a mind-set. Also, we must endeavour to return to safe and functional facilities. We can only achieve this by maintaining and servicing our life safety systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As populations struggle to deal with the impacts of the virus, a sound philosophy is now more critical than ever for risk mitigation and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe duty-holders still retain their obligations in respect of their duty-of-care under health and safety regulations and other legislation,\u201d adds Condron. \u201cThis virus does not change or reduce these duties or obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe present conditions will make full adherence to requirements more difficult, and perhaps require risk assessment and specific engineered solutions in respect of the ability to comply with the intent of some required procedures or actions. In this Covid era, people may see an opportunity to make amendments to systems already in place. If a building is now empty, why not try and do something with it now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe duty-holders still retain their obligations in respect of their duty-of-care under health and safety regulations and other legislation, this virus does not change or reduce these duties or obligations.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>Paul Condron, PCCE Consulting<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As Head of Service Transformation and Innovation at Vivid, Justin Crittall and his colleagues are working hard to continue to deliver services with new safety measures in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are significant implications for the provider of affordable homes and housing-related services, according to Crittall. \u201cOur customers have been impacted in their ability to pay rent and maintain their houses,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s about considering how much investment we are doing in supporting our customers who are negatively affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor us, it\u2019s all about growth and how to tackle the housing shortage and develop future homes for future generations. However, we feel quite lucky in the sense that our core purpose is having houses and occupants paying rent, so, in theory, that doesn\u2019t change in the Covid era.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crittall sees an opportunity for working practices to be reshaped as businesses continue to adjust to demands resulting from the pandemic. \u201cSocial distancing and the pandemic has meant that we cannot provide a service as normal anymore, which fundamentally affects our bottom-line,\u201d \u201che explains. \u201cWe had to be agile and challenge ourselves around what face-to-face meetings really needed to exist. For example, we are now doing virtual viewings of properties. No longer are we meeting someone at a property and walking them around. They can download it all and view a property 24\/7 from the comfort of their home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What Covid-19 has done is made us think about practices without a physical human being present.”<\/strong><\/p>Justin Crittall,  Head of Service Transformation and Innovation, VIVID Homes<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The accomplished professional with a history of working in the not-for-profit sector also believes there is further scope around virtual and augmented reality to enhance the user experience, for the benefit of both user safety and experience. \u201dAugmented reality could start to really immerse people into a 3D world when viewing a property. We\u2019re also looking at how we can do more remote repairs and fixings. Rather than sending an engineer out, could we use video to have an engineer on the end of the line? In a video chat, you\u2019d be able to talk someone through that and guide them through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By businesses going back to the traditional way, they are really restricting access, according to Crittall. \u201cLooking at the customer experience, I think it\u2019s a question of, \u2018Why do we have some of these rigid approaches? What Covid-19 has done is made us think about practices without a physical human being present. Could our best technical qualified engineers be based in a contact centre environment instead? We\u2019ve already started that pre-Covid around compliance checks, but it\u2019s probably better to use technology to do that because it\u2019s live and in real-time, and it\u2019s also better in regards to data collection, retention and auditing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Technological advancements<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Technological<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the world becomes a more digital and automated place, emerging technologies continue to shape industry standards. And, like other sectors, the building safety<\/a> industry<\/strong> is under pressure to keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safecility CEO Cian O\u2019Flaherty fundamentally believes that those responsible for buildings are going to be asked for more information and at a higher quality in the future, and the only way to achieve that in an acceptable way is through technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTechnologies are going to have to talk to each other,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have a vendor for emergency lighting<\/strong>, a vendor for smoke and fire, a vendor for water. So the skill-sets needed are going to be very different from having a qualified technician with a sheet of paper and a van.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cManagement and responsiveness is also going to be tracked. Half of compliance is doing the testing, the other half is correcting the failures, and building owners are really going to need to account for both of those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Routine maintenance is very important for everything that we do, but new technologies help us to ensure everything is working properly on an ongoing basis.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>David Vaughn, Light Solutions Managing Director<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Connectivity will continue to be key for David Vaughan, Managing Director of Light Solutions, a provider of LED retrofit solutions to reduce energy costs. \u201cWe fit a lot of intelligent gear to lighting products so that they can communicate to a centralised control room,\u201d says Vaughan. \u201cNowadays, everything is connected to control systems and you can see if everything is working. That has huge benefits for safety systems because you can plan your maintenance checks. For example, you can look at a thousand products in one installation system and immediately see any faults. We can then programme a response to ensure the system is fully functioning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continues: \u201cIn our industry there\u2019s the system called DALI (digital addressable lighting interface), which is similar to being connected on the internet, as every lighting product can be connected. Routine maintenance is very important for everything that we do, but new technologies help us to ensure everything is working properly on an ongoing basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business model innovations and falling hardware costs have made it affordable for housing authorities to implement estate-wide Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. For Safecility\u2019s clients \u2013 typically asset, estate and facilities managers \u2013 it always boils down to one simple concern: a solid return on investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re always looking at achieving more with less when it comes to new technologies,\u201d explains O\u2019Flaherty. \u201cAnd proving concepts and apps that justify spending money on is difficult. But we think we\u2019ve done exactly that. We can see, on the one hand, that the need for compliance is growing and, on the other hand, budgets are shrinking. So we sit in a position where our customers can achieve more compliance with less spend, and that\u2019s really key.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PCCE Training\u2019s Paul Condron highlights how he has embraced advancements in technology in his role as a consultancy and training expert. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to get into stuff like automatic test systems for emergency lighting<\/strong>,\u201d he states. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt when they become commonplace in Ireland, they will again increase in sophistication and the ease at which you can monitor your systems. There\u2019s a lot of advances going on \u2013 it’s just a matter of using the technology that\u2019s there and getting clients to understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repetitive tasks are incredibly difficult to maintain concentration for and fire safety maintenance is an incredibly repetitive task. Handing that responsibility over to a system that is proven to be engaging and responsive when something isn\u2019t working is the sensible option.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>Cian O Flaherty, CEO Safecility<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The impact of emerging technologies on fire safety is going to be incredibly positive, according to O\u2019Flaherty. \u201cKeeping people alive is the critical mission of fire safety systems. Mistakes really can cost lives, but mistakes are human. Repetitive tasks are incredibly difficult to maintain concentration for and fire safety maintenance is an incredibly repetitive task. Handing that responsibility over to a system that is proven to be engaging and responsive when something isn\u2019t working is the sensible option.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limerick City and County Council\u2019s Rosie Web thinks the construction industry will be the next sector to launch into digital maintenance and operations. \u201cDatabases are becoming more and more sophisticated,\u201d she says, \u201cand information is being gathered to allow for a certain amount of intelligence to build up about our buildings. We can easily work together to come up with some solutions, once we know exactly what the problem is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking To The Future<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We are at a moment of significant change in the building safety sector<\/strong>. For O\u2019Flaherty, there\u2019s been a sense of \u201cland grab\u201d about the marketplace over recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of players from adjacent sectors, like lighting companies, fire companies or data supply companies, see an opportunity to be a first mover,\u201d he says, \u201cand in general technology terms, we see with Google and Facebook that the first mover tends to be able to create advantages, and they can\u2019t be competed with. Tech firms are trying to keep as many people as possible on their platforms and on their tech, which means limiting access to other companies and technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, the people that are paying for a product will drive change and they will demand open and interoperable long-term vendor-agnostic solutions. Once they start doing that, you\u2019re going to see an incredible and exponential uptick in what\u2019s available and what\u2019s achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world has moved very quickly to the point where just making things is not enough to sustain a business. You need very high volumes and to be able to tolerate very low margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Flaherty comments: \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is that, when you\u2019re manufacturing lighting, it\u2019s a single product. Emergency lighting is actually governed by regulation and law. So, from a business perspective, when you put in emergency lights, there is a service attached to it. Our system helps people do all of the legally obligated tasks automatically. So the only event that they have to start every quarter is issuing a job instruction to their contractor to repair what\u2019s defective. All of the testing, all of the results, all of the compliance are managed wirelessly through the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c86% of the buildings that we\u2019ll live and work in in 2050 are already built and rewiring them is a huge cost burden. Our technology gets rid of the cost burden \u2013 we make it easy to test and stream reports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a tough operating year, Crittall is optimistic for the future. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to adopt things that we\u2019ve been doing as temporary measures. Hopefully, we will see a faster adoption of new technology and a shift to modernise in our sector. I think the main thing will be that an employer\u2019s way of working will have some fundamental changes. I think we\u2019ll see a lot more home and remote working. I see the future being more around how the employees engage with the business. Now that people have been pushed to try different ways of working, I\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll be a bit braver so that the world of innovation will get less resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cian O\u2019Flaherty envisages a future in which buildings are going to report on themselves. \u201cWhat we do now with visual monitoring and self-reporting is going to change over the next five to ten years. We\u2019ll see a decreasing cost of hardware and pervasive connectivity almost vanishing. The cost of cloud storage will mean that it\u2019s going to be cost-effective to deploy an army of sensors and actuators to obtain data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe incentive is with regulators to make it more onerous, not less, and to force you to publicly share data. Vital metadata will probably be mandated to be made public as well. I think that\u2019s healthy; it\u2019s going to mean that you\u2019ll need to position your thinking around buying things that work together so you\u2019re not exposed to a substantial cost of refitting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click Here to Read Building Safety Sector Spotlight Part One: Industry Evolution, Regulations and New Systems<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Follow us on Twitter & Linkedin for more insights<\/p>\n\n\n\n