Building automation engineers must also see and serve the great importance

Building automation does not stand alone. The buildings and the technology used in them must interact with the outside world. Bart Kruijssen of PwC therefore sees larger interests that need to be served. During the day Bits, Bricks & Behavior 2018 at the Jaarbeurs he will explain how all stakeholders in a project can serve the greater interest.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Kruijssen and van Agt, both working at PwC, are not directly involved in building automation themselves, but their organization, one of the big 4 multidisciplinary accounting firms that, in addition to providing services in the field of accountancy, tax, legal, deals and real estate, also provides change management advice. does focus on Urban Planning initiatives. And Kruijssen sees that it is important for all parties to realize that a greater interest must be served: “Many parties already see that, such as the energy transition, the quality of life in our cities, mobility and digitalization. These topics are all central to Urban Planning. The question is of course, how exactly do you approach that?”

“PwC helps various governments and institutions as well as private parties with Urban Planning initiatives. We often see many individual plans for technical (partial) solutions, without a view of the total picture. That's a big one struggle. What we add to this is, among other things, that our approach aims to integrate the interests of all players and stakeholders, so that together we arrive at a much more complete business case and roadmap. In addition, we contribute knowledge and expertise with regard to financial planning, the feasibility of sustainability, the application of data, integration of systems and the actual realization of a project.”

Focus on one area

Kruijssen and van Agt again emphasize the importance of the broader picture: “We don't just look at it bricks, but also to behaviour. Our role is to help players adopt a slightly different attitude and look at possibilities differently. Do not focus on an object, but also include the area where that object will be located. Don't just bet on smart, which is just technology, but first understand what the desired experience is for all stakeholders.”

According to the PwC employee, this focus is not always effective: “When specialists work together, the pitfall is almost always that they limit themselves to their own field. That's just human. You forget to get a broad picture of who you are dealing with and what interests are involved. Experience shows that if you do this, better business cases will emerge, the completeness of the proposition will be better and the delivered project will be more sustainable.”

Kruijssen and van Agt give a practical example of an overly closed attitude during the design phase: In this age of digitalization, you can design a building too rigidly without taking future developments and requirements for use into account. In an average apartment building, extending a pipe becomes an impossible exercise with a lot of investment pressure, instead of having thought about it in the design.”

Kruijssen will outline PwC's vision during Bits, Bricks, Behavior on November 22 at the Jaarbeurs Utrecht. You can register for this event for free. More information can be found at https://fhi.nl/digitaalgebouwvandetoekomst/