Smart Foundations, Smarter Fit-Outs

Bridging the Gap Between Landlord and Tenant

By Jon Hubbard

Introduction

The accelerated development of the Smart Building industry has emphasised the increasingly significant role of Master Systems Integrators (MSI’s). As both landlords and tenants look to meet evolving sustainability, wellbeing, and digital experience expectations, MSI’s serve as the crucial link that brings these aspirations together into a unified and technically viable solution. By bridging the gap between technology and building infrastructure, MSI’s enable secure and efficient communication across multiple systems, while aligning core infrastructure set by landlords with bespoke smart requirements defined by tenants. This article explores the specific responsibilities and benefits of MSI’s in both Landlord Base Build (Smart Ready) and Tenant Fit-Out (Full Smart) contexts, highlighting how collaboration at both stages not only reduces duplication of effort and cost but also improves system interoperability, operational efficiency, and user experience for all building stakeholders.

Landlord Base Build: Establishing Smart-Ready Foundations

Creating a Smart-Ready Environment

Landlord Base Build projects establish the foundational infrastructure necessary for tenants to implement further smart enhancements. Key aims include:

• Deploying a robust, converged network system (CNS), ensuring fundamental monitoring and management capabilities to support basic operations and future integrations.

• Securing seamless integration of core building systems such as Building Management Systems (BMS), lighting controls, and access control, providing a reliable baseline for tenant expansions.

• Implementing standardised naming conventions for assets and data points, promoting consistency and ease of data integration across multiple tenant projects.

• Providing flexible and scalable infrastructure specifically designed to accommodate future tenant-specific smart technology expansions.

Essential MSI Responsibilities

• Network Implementation: Oversight of the delivery and configuration of the converged network, ensuring it meets the performance, availability, and segmentation requirements necessary for future smart integrations, while enabling effective monitoring, diagnostics, and scalability.

• Cybersecurity Compliance: Establishing and maintaining baseline cybersecurity standards, device qualification processes, and adherence to best practices to mitigate potential risks.

• Asset and Point Naming: Consistent management and maintenance of asset and data point naming conventions to streamline future integrations and simplify ongoing maintenance.

• Initial System Integration: Foundational integration of essential building systems, setting a reliable groundwork for future expansions and enhancements by tenants.

Certification Levels Attainable

Typically, Landlord Base Build projects achieve entry level certifications:

• WELL: Core Certification (Bronze or Silver), focusing on basic occupant wellbeing criteria.

• LEED: Core and Shell Certification (Certified or Silver), demonstrating foundational environmental and sustainability standards.

• SmartScore: Certified level, recognising fundamental smart-readiness and infrastructure preparedness.

• NABERS: Fundamental ratings, highlighting baseline energy efficiency and operational effectiveness.

Tenant Fit-Out: Realising the Full Potential of Smart Buildings

Delivering Integrated Smart Solutions

Tenant Fit-Out projects build upon landlord provided infrastructure, delivering customised smart solutions designed around tenant specific requirements. Core objectives include:

• Defining Smart Use Cases at the initial design stage to clearly outline integration requirements, data points needed, and targeted outcomes, ensuring alignment with tenant objectives.

• Implementing advanced Smart Building and Workplace Platforms, ensuring seamless integration and operation tailored to the specific operational needs of tenants.

• Integrating extensive IoT devices and enabling real-time data analytics to optimise building performance, occupant experience, and energy efficiency.

• Utilising advanced semantic modelling and ontology frameworks, facilitating detailed analytics, enhanced decision-making, and streamlined system interoperability.

• Achieving high-level certifications that showcase sustainability leadership and promote occupant health and wellness.

Comprehensive MSI Responsibilities

• Advanced Integration: Detailed integration and deployment of comprehensive smart systems, providing real-time analytics and Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) capabilities, improving maintenance responsiveness and operational efficiency.

• Semantic Modelling: Comprehensive development and consistent maintenance of ontologies, enabling precise data analytics, effective system communication, and efficient management across all tenant systems.

• IoT and Cloud Connectivity: Extensive integration and secure data exchange with IoT devices via MQTT, APIs, and other advanced protocols, ensuring reliable, scalable, and secure data management.

• Predictive Analytics: Application of predictive strategies for optimising energy efficiency, scheduling preventative maintenance, and enhancing occupant comfort and productivity.

• Enhanced Cybersecurity: Implementation of rigorous cybersecurity measures, advanced penetration testing, and comprehensive vulnerability assessments to safeguard tenant data and systems.

• Enhanced User Interface: Designing intuitive, customised user interfaces that significantly enhance the occupant experience, improve engagement, and facilitate ease of use.

Certification Levels Attainable

Tenant Fit-Out projects commonly target and attain premium certification levels:

• WELL: Gold or Platinum, highlighting advanced occupant health and wellbeing standards.

• LEED: Commercial Interiors or New Construction certifications at Gold or Platinum levels, demonstrating exceptional sustainability performance.

• SmartScore: High-level ratings, recognising superior integration, automation, and occupant experience.

• NABERS: Enhanced ratings, signifying outstanding energy efficiency performance and sustainable operation.

  
  

Summary Of Key Differences

Landlord-Led Full Smart Building Delivery

Some landlords choose to deliver a full Smart Building as part of the base build rather than just Smart Ready foundations. In these cases, the landlord provides the major integrations, platforms and applications. Premium certification levels that are usually only achievable during the Tenant Fit-Out projects, can be achieved with this approach. It allows landlords to retain operational control, monitor energy and sustainability performance, and offer a fully enabled smart environment to future tenants, reducing fit-out effort while ensuring consistency and performance from day one.

Shared Benefits of Landlord/Tenant Smart Integration

When landlord and tenant aspirations are aligned through a unified MSI led approach, both parties benefit significantly:

• Optimised Infrastructure Investment: Landlords can deliver a future-proofed base build, while tenants avoid costly retrofits by building upon an already smart-ready environment.

• Data Consistency Across Systems: A unified naming convention and asset register from landlord through to tenant systems reduces duplication, simplifies integration, and improves ongoing operations and maintenance.

• Certification Synergy: Coordinated delivery increases the likelihood of achieving higher WELL, SmartScore, LEED and NABERS ratings across both shell and fit-out stages.

• Streamlined Commissioning and Handover: An integrated approach enables smoother commissioning, with fewer discrepancies between landlord and tenant systems, ensuring better reliability from day one.

• Improved User and Occupant Experience: Tenants benefit from a seamless digital experience, and landlords gain long-term asset value from smarter, more sustainable buildings that attract quality tenants.

Conclusion

Clearly understanding MSI roles and responsibilities within Landlord Base Build and Tenant Fit-Out projects allows stakeholders to strategically align their objectives, optimise building performance, and achieve higher certification standards. Effective collaboration between landlords and tenants can significantly enhance operational efficiencies, occupant experiences, sustainability outcomes, and overall asset value, ultimately unlocking the full potential and benefits offered by Smart Buildings.