Program Overview

The idea of smart buildings and cities has been around for over 70 years. Ironically, the first attempt at creating a futuristic city happened just 20 minutes away from Lake Nona at EPCOT, Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. In addition to EPCOT, Disney was also experimenting with other early visionary ideas such as monorail transportation, prefabricated construction at the Contemporary Hotel as well as other innovative ideas. It is one thing do attempt one smart building and quite another to develop what people are calling a smart district. It is larger than a campus and smaller than a city, but just big enough to try innovative ideas at scale.

Dubbed “A Community of and for the Future,” Lake Nona is an example of one of the most advanced digital districts in the United States if not the world. With over 17 square miles, this community is poised to rethink how we live work and play in the future. Some of the differentiating innovations include a robust and comprehensive telecommunications strategy which includes both fixed and wireless technologies; a world class autonomous vehicle testing lab; the Wave Hotel, one of the most advanced hotels in the world; and the Whit House, a look into tomorrow’s home and much more.

While many would argue that the technology is in place to create a more futuristic live, work, learn and play community, it is not always as easy as one would expect. Apart from defining the correct strategy, engaging the right partners and choosing the appropriate technology, developing an organization that is in sync with an overall vision and aligning all aspects of the company with that vision is critical.

Tavistock is a unique developer that fully understands what is required to bring a project like Lake Nona to reality. Lake Nona’s advanced infrastructure and commitment to collaboration have attracted global visionary companies and startups, such as View, to turn cutting-edge ideas into realities. Senior executives will provide an overview of this groundbreaking project, outlining the vision, describing the features and technology of this forward-thinking community as well as the challenges encountered when delivering innovation at this type of scale.

Technology has had more impact on our lives in the last 50 years than any other factor. Computers, the internet and mobile technology have fundamentally changed our lives. This holds especially true for the built environment. Those called to support the technology required to operate real estate in an efficient, safe and engaging manner are a special breed. Long gone are the days of only managing e-mail and accounting systems! There are a rare few that rise to the top of any profession. Those leaders are visionary, good communicators, open to risk, focus on the business and are accepted as peers by senior leadership. We are fortunate to welcome Jim Whalen, one of our respected technology executives.

The 11th annual Smart Building Best Practice Showcase returns to Realcomm | IBcon. For this super-session, we've assembled some of the world’s most progressive and successful implementations of smart buildings, portfolios and campuses. These projects represent the next generation of open, interoperable, integrated and IP-centric buildings.

In this showcase setting, attendees will have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with representatives for each project who will share their strategies and address topics such as energy conservation, operational efficiency, enhanced occupant experience, sustainability achievement and financial optimization.

There are myriad processes and prodigious amounts of data involved in developing, operating and transacting commercial real estate. Although we have increasingly sophisticated applications and platforms that help us collect, format and report on that data, we often still need to resort to manual data entry and manipulation to get the required results. In our inaugural Realcomm Process Automation Showcase super-session, we’ve assembled some of the world’s most creative and innovative examples of commercial real estate process automation.

The case studies you see here will enable you to learn to shave thousands of hours from existing workflows. In this showcase setting, attendees have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the technology architects for each unique automation project who share what they did, and how they did it.

Join your peers, technology advisors and vendor Partners for a highly interactive session designed to influence the technology selections and operating platforms of a newly-established investment management firm. You’ll be in on the ground floor with full authority to make design decisions that will impact investor returns – and the company’s global reputation! Attendees will work in small groups to explore key investment management functions, identify competitive differentiators to attract capital, establish an achievable data strategy, and more. Put your skills to the test as you focus on the critical partnership between business and technology. Our expert panel will evaluate each design and award valuable prizes! This session is open to all owner, operator and investment management companies.

To operate a healthy building, owners and tenants are evaluating behavioral, spatial, material, and operational strategies to protect the welfare and privacy of building occupants. Over the past two years, the tremendous influx of wellness technologies include individual health screening and reporting, indoor air quality (IAQ) protocols, touchless technologies and surface sanitization. This informative session showcases how best-in-class health and wellness strategies and technologies have been successfully implemented by both landlords and tenants.

Understanding the status of leasing activity is one of the most important functions in a real estate company, as leasing space and building occupancy provide the income stream for the asset. Throughout the years, there have been many approaches to lease process automation. With the advent of COVID-19, forward-thinking real estate organizations have developed newly automated processes for deal management, including lease renegotiations, defaults and downsized renewals. This valuable session brings together thought leaders representing various approaches to lease process automation and addresses integrating these processes into an overall enterprise strategy.

Dubbed the next generation of the internet, the Metaverse can include virtual and augmented reality technologies but do not exclusively have to be accessed via VR or AR devices. A virtual world accessed through digital walls, teleportation units, PCs, game consoles, and phones could also be metaversal. Extending beyond the obvious gaming applications, the Metaverse also translates to a digital economy where users can create, buy and sell goods. Ideally, it's interoperable, allowing you to take virtual consumer items (like cars) from one platform to another. This exciting session assesses the Metaverse in-depth: the hype, the promise and the possible dark side as we explore how it could potentially impact our industry.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has long been at the forefront of higher energy efficiency in buildings and engaging in various groundbreaking research projects focused on smart building technologies. These include energy management information systems, solar PV, HVAC and mechanical system innovation, fault detection and diagnostics, indoor air quality and a growing focus on moving buildings to low- and zero-carbon. In this extensive session, DOE representatives share various smart building programs that can help the private sector. Additionally, they present their most recent group of best practice case studies of next generation, highly efficient, innovative smart buildings.

Wireless technologies are poised to transform the wireless landscape inside buildings, as 5G promises to deliver significantly better network performance. Vastly increased speeds and very low latency capabilities offer the promise of more impactful wireless strategies. 5G presents incredible potential for the vast amount of interconnected devices (IoT), have strong implications for virtual and augmented reality, and will enable deeper data analysis. This informative session features industry experts who will review 5G technology, timing, financial issues, and the overall impact to buildings as they present use cases for building owners and operators.

Advancements in wireless technology in recent decades have fundamentally changed the way societies communicate and engage. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is an emerging wireless technology making its way into the built environment, offering efficient additional capacity for overburdened networks as well as a channel for private, secure communications. CBRS access points deliver wide indoor/outdoor coverage for many in-building applications and it is one part of a robust 5G spectrum strategy. This session presents the current state of the technology and potential opportunities for building owners and operators.

Digital electricity promises the safe transmission of electricity at high levels for long distances using data cables, with the ability to digitally control high-tech electronic devices. It takes Power over Ethernet (PoE) to an entirely new level. Although AC is currently the standard, low voltage DC is gaining momentum, and a number of innovative projects including hotels and casinos have successfully employed state-of-the-art infrastructure using digital electricity. This exciting session provides an overview of this emerging form of electricity and highlights some of the best performing case studies.

Every Investment Management (IM) company has their own business objectives, investment goals, portfolio mix, application sets, data structures, and experiences. Learning from another company’s software selection and implementation experience can provide key insights on plotting a technology roadmap around known landmines. This session is designed for those companies that are evaluating any of the major vendor IM applications or are looking for proven techniques to enhance the one(s) they are using today. Join us as we explore the case studies describing how several companies upgraded their IM software, integrated multiple data sources, and enhanced their business reporting options to delight investors, business leaders, and the investment accounting team.

With the pandemic impacting office density and traffic patterns, building owners and tenants are looking for comprehensive digital solutions - IoT and sensors, in particular - to efficiently operate a healthy, safe, sustainable building that is well positioned to thrive in the current environment. This session examines the traditional way sensors have been used and discusses future valuable benefits. In addition, we’ll evaluate the pros and cons of specific sensor technologies and take a critical look at potential liabilities of a fully sensored work environment. Different approaches to occupancy analytics will be presented.

In an attempt to stay relevant in the ever-changing real estate industry, corporate innovation programs are finding their way into the digital transformation fabric of commercial real estate. Beyond hiring a chief digital, transformation or innovation officer solely responsible for driving digital disruption within their organizations, other internal approaches have proven to be very effective. While some companies established cross-departmental teams to foster new ideas, others merely changed the name of existing committees - or turned over the leadership of a previously IT-driven task force to someone on the business side. This extensive session presents organizations who have implemented various innovation programs to discuss their successes and challenges.

Innovation in the HVAC Market has dramatically accelerated as the world suddenly became much more aware of indoor air quality and building automation systems. The most common industry requests have been for innovation in interoperability, ease of use, cybersecurity, and standards. There are several technologies and practices that are finding their way into HVAC including BACnet Secure Connect, Node Red, ASHREA Guideline 36, embedded web, MQTT, NFC and much more. This session will explore the factors driving innovation in the HVAC marketplace by looking at enabling technologies, market factors, the customer perspective as well as some of the potentially disruptive technologies on the horizon.

An enterprise no-code development platform makes flexibility a reality and puts the control of your business in your hands. It raises the bar for business solutions that pave the way toward desired outcomes. No-code takes on new challenges swiftly, propelling your mission. Under IT governance, leading real estate companies are building communities of no-code developer business experts to customize existing enterprise applications. Additionally, they are building all-new enterprise applications to seize new business opportunities and fill that elusive 'last mile' of real estate management functionality. This session demonstrates how a no-code development platform and a community of no-code developers can differentiate your business without stranding yourself into a single point in time.

Billions of dollars, numerous capital sources, thousands of companies, dozens of reports, conferences everywhere, some fact, some fiction and a fair amount of confusion define the times. Friends and family, angel, VC, investment banks, private equity, sovereign funds and real estate companies have all made investments in PropTech looking to disrupt how we design, build, lease, manage, transact and use buildings. Real estate companies are not only bringing financial support to the deal but also their domain experience and the ability to test new solutions in their own environments. This important session includes the real estate Operators, VCs and successful PropTech vendors each weighing in on the status of PropTech for our industry and presents some of the most interesting, new and little-known solutions they’ve come across recently.

A new generation of automated tools are hitting the market. From printing full scale drawings on floors to printing full scale buildings on slabs, this new wave of tech development and adoption is driven by labor shortages, advances in robotics and venture capital – allowing robotic tools to be brought out of laboratories and directly onto jobsites. These robotic tools are extending careers, attracting new talent and taking people out of harm’s way. As with all new technologies, there is risk associated with early adoption. This session shares insights on how to vet and take advantage of these revolutionary tools.

A successful hybrid workplace environment faces a unique set of challenges: How do we provide effective collaboration? What type of security measures are necessary? What does the information management process look like? How do we map out the device infrastructure? Technology plays an integral part in creating secure, healthy workplaces and experiences for onsite and offsite workers. This session examines how the pandemic has fast-tracked digital transformation and explores new hybrid workplace models, strategies and amenities that provide an all-encompassing, secure onsite and mobile work experience.

The complexity of an intelligent building is increased substantially when multiple projects are combined to create an integrated network of building systems. A portfolio of such buildings requires an even greater level of technical coordination and strategy. The value proposition of a smart portfolio is high as at-scale operations typically result in reduced expenses, higher revenues, and elevated tenant satisfaction. This session highlights the best smart building portfolios, presenting the technical, financial and organizational alignment requirements to achieve the most successful at-scale implementation.

We traditionally evaluated smart buildings simply from the perspective of having the data, analytics and controls to monitor, measure and manage energy and work orders. Now we can instrument IoT devices and sensors that yield structural, environmental and human-centric information. We now have data that can be applied to not only keeping our workplaces safe, healthy and comfortable, but also maximizing the utility of our spaces while optimizing seamless efficiency of our building systems. The industry’s top minds on the subject discuss and debate what happens when the "back of the house" building automation is integrated into the "front of the house" occupant experience.

Once the basic communications layer in a building is established, it's time to address plans pertaining to the BAS and IoT platform. Does the data reside in local closed environments? Is it sent to the cloud? Can it be shared or integrated into other applications? Should it be a single stack or part of an open, integrated point solution ecosystem? Who owns the data? Is it cyber secure? Can we safely and securely affect command and control? As we move to the next generation of smart, connected, high-performance buildings, the capability and type of Building Operating System (BOS) becomes even more critical. This comprehensive session addresses all relevant issues on the topic.

Most professionals have learned to work remotely and many are not going back to commuting to the office five days a week. Technology now plays a central role in keeping employees connected and creating a company culture that supports both in-office and mobile workers. Seamless experiences and access to information from anywhere are key for successful collaboration models. But how do you create an equitable, enjoyable and valuable collaborative experience for both the in-office and remote meeting participants? This valuable session showcases the most innovative solutions to create compelling experiences and collaboration opportunities for everyone.

The war for talent is real, global and has never been more competitive. As a result, recruiters and placement services in the smart building and CRE space have needed to adapt to this changing paradigm. Although the market is exploding, top talent is still difficult to find and place. This fast paced session will offer a crash course in how to win the war for talent and ensure that you and your business are at the top of the list for exceptional candidates. You’ll learn strategies, hacks and best practices from a veteran recruiter in the space and will leave this session with a head full of ideas along with a fresh vision on how to compete and win the critical war for talent.

Networks, IoT, operating systems, applications and data are the PropTech tools we use to develop the automated processes that carry our businesses forward. Past and emerging tech combined with disruptive external forces will continue to radically alter almost every business process over time. With all these forces converging, how do organizations quickly change and adapt at scale? Experts conjecture that organizational culture and personal habits that have developed over years are the biggest inhibitors of change and innovation. In this session, James addresses these obstacles and presents a future leadership roadmap in five key steps with practical advice gleaned from researching over 200 global real estate innovators.