ESD establishes Intelligent Building Group

Chicago — Environmental Systems Design, Inc. (ESD), an international designer of high-performance buildings, mission critical facilities, workplaces, and health, science and education environments, created a new Intelligent Building Group dedicated to helping clients navigate the maze of intelligent building options and solutions. ESD offers services such as conceptual planning, building and workplace optimization strategies, and master integration services. The new team, which brings decades of experience to the task, is led by ESD President Kurt Karnatz.

“Intelligent buildings are central to any complex real-estate strategy, and they create outcomes that benefit all stakeholders,” Mr. Karnatz noted. “Owners, operators, occupants and visitors are all seeing the positive effects of intelligent buildings today and will enjoy them even more in the future.”

ESD’s intelligent building work has already touched major companies, and as more stakeholders embrace the business case for intelligent buildings’ economic, environmental and experiential outcomes, this number will quickly rise. Operating and maintenance costs drop. Energy expenses fall while building sustainability increases. Occupant satisfaction, comfort and control jumps. Overall, these outcomes spur tenant demand, heighten competitive advantage and enhance assets.

Examples of intelligent buildings are increasing all around. In the retail space, rentals are becoming dynamic. Thanks to sensor technology, mall owners can now charge tenants based on how many visitors they drive in front of stores rather than by a square-foot contract. In the hospitality industry, customers check in to hotels via their mobile devices, and their “key” resides on their screen – they never need to go to the front desk.

According to David Clute, a leader in the field of intelligent buildings who joined ESD in February as a Vice President, “The idea of intelligent buildings has been around since the 1980s, but it’s taken off in the last five years because of the ubiquity of Wi-Fi, the Internet of Things, secure networks and the availability of cost-effective building sensors. We’re literally at the threshold of the long-term potential of intelligent buildings.”