Digital Building of the Future 2023: between building and user

Five speakers, ten exhibitors, three sponsors and many visitors came to the AFAS Experience Center on Wednesday, November 15, for the Digital Building of the Future conference. Together we looked for answers to questions about safety, sustainability and digitalization in the built environment. With the recurring theme: how does technology contribute to the user experience?

Herman Zondag, Director of Customer Experience at AFAS, opens the conference. In the interview with industry chairman Richard Daamen, he explains why people are central at AFAS: “Everything starts with love for the employees. If you put the employees first, they will put the customers first.”

Technology is an essential part of the way a building is experienced. Herman says that the AFAS Experience Center is equipped with the latest technological gadgets, including 1,100 solar panels on the roof, its own WKO installation and cleaning robots. That in some cases it is still better to use people instead of robots, we discovered during a lecture later in the day when one of the cleaning robots started mopping around the stage with a loud noise.

With technological development also comes an increased connectedness of devices. According to Bas Labordus, this connection is a possible weak spot in the security of buildings. As an ethical hacker at The S-Unit, it is his job to find these weak spots. During his presentation he mentions a number of examples from the physical and digital domain and shows the audience how easy it is to gain access to a building. His most important tips? Align IT and OT for security and continue testing.

A digital building is equipped with the latest technology to make users as comfortable as possible. But how do you know exactly what the user needs? Booking.com investigated this when developing their new campus in Amsterdam. Stan Ottevanger, senior project manager at Booking.com, takes the audience along in this research. “Our challenge was to design a workspace that caters to the health, happiness and productivity of our employees,” said Stan. The result? A progressive, data-driven campus where the user experience is central.

When it comes to sustainability, we can learn a lot from Joep van der Weijden and Stefan Hoekstra of TU Delft. They show the public which energy-saving measures are being tested at The Green Village. In this low-regulation environment, testing and development can take place with the aim of sustainable innovation in the built environment. Particular attention is paid to smart, predictive control and how it can help save energy.

“Digitalization at ASML goes beyond indoor climate and energy savings,” Richard concludes after Patrick Looijmans' presentation, Smart Solutions Specialist at ASML. At ASML, people are also central and that is why they have mapped out the entire trajectory of their employees with a employee journey. Patrick gives the audience a glimpse into the chip machine manufacturer's smart grid and explains that smart solutions can positively influence the culture within a company.  

Did you miss the conference, but would you like to attend next time? Then subscribe to the newsletter of the Building Automation sector and stay informed of all activities.