The real estate industry has spent years talking about smart buildings, but the next shift is already underway. In an interview with Property Forum, Delphine Clément, Global Head of Verticals at Siemens Smart Infrastructure Buildings, explains why autonomy, powered by AI, real-time data and integrated systems, is set to redefine how buildings are operated, valued and experienced.
Smart buildings have been a buzzword for many years now, and they’re still widely talked about in the real estate industry. What do you think should be the next step in this conversation?
You’re right, we’ve been talking about smart buildings for some time. We’ve moved from connected buildings to smart buildings, which is where many are today. At Siemens, our vision is to move beyond that, towards human-centric, autonomous buildings. The difference is that autonomous buildings are able to learn, to predict, and to act continuously and in real time. They bring more intelligence into the building so it can adjust to different user preferences and to external factors affecting the building.
Can you give some examples of how these autonomous buildings can operate?
It helps to think in layers and to understand the difference between a smart building and an autonomous building. This is not just a vision; it already exists today. First, you need an automation layer that connects the different elements of the building: heating, cooling and ventilation, lighting, energy, and comfort assets. Then you add IoT sensors to gather data from these assets, and strong connectivity - whether at a local level or in the cloud. On top of that, you bring an AI-centric data analytics layer, which really delivers the intelligence and autonomy of the ecosystem.
We already have several technologies doing this today. One example I like to use is a transportation company in Sweden, NWT. We worked with them on their portfolio of more than 50 offices, using our Building X Comfort AI application. It helped optimise the level of tenant comfort in their buildings by about 13 percent, while also reducing energy consumption. What’s interesting here is that traditionally, smart buildings have to make trade-offs: if you want better energy efficiency, you often sacrifice comfort, because you adjust the heating and cooling systems. Buildings are usually designed for performance but operated for comfort, and that creates tension between comfort on one side and energy savings or decarbonization on the other. With these combined technologies, you no longer need to choose between those objectives - you can achieve both.
Besides the obvious investment in technology, in what other ways does the operation of an autonomous building differ? How does the owner or operator need to approach it differently?
There are really two aspects. First, autonomy fundamentally changes the way a building is operated. Facility management teams today often spend a lot of time on daily routine operations and long, manual checks. With autonomous capabilities, many of those tasks can be automated, and the role of facility managers shifts towards higher value activities: driving optimisation, supervising the ecosystem, and making strategic decisions.
Second, there are concrete use cases. You can move from reactive maintenance to proactive maintenance, because the system can anticipate issues before they happen. You can optimise energy management by integrating weather forecasts. You can have AI-driven HVAC systems that optimise based on room occupancy. You can manage and optimise space usage based on how people actually use the building. So, there are many different ways in which autonomy transforms building operations.
Technology is changing rapidly, especially with the rise of AI. What would you say to investors and asset managers who are hesitant to invest in new technologies because they fear they’ll quickly become outdated?
I would say their concern is understandable, and it’s exactly why autonomous buildings are so important. Autonomous buildings help investors and developers keep their assets resilient. They support optimisation and business continuity, as I mentioned earlier, but they also provide the digital backbone you need in a world of constant technological change.
It’s crucial to invest now in technologies that create this digital backbone for your building, so you can adapt and integrate new technologies as they emerge. We know that about 85 percent of commercial real estate leaders are willing to invest in AI. Only a few have done so at scale and are already benefiting from it, but those who invest now are seeing better returns, premium rents, and improved asset valuations. The key question is not, “Should I wait for the latest version of AI?” The key question is, “How do I start now and keep benefiting from innovation over time on top of a strong digital backbone?” That’s what keeps your building resilient.
Are you already seeing concrete examples of buildings achieving higher performance or becoming closer to being autonomous?
Yes. For instance, green-certified buildings are already demonstrating higher rental values and better overall valuations. On the other side, we also see the risk of not investing. You can face a “brown discount,” and there’s a clear flight to quality, where tenants seek more performant and resilient buildings. Tenants are also looking for better user experiences, and buildings that can offer that will be more attractive. So, I actually see greater risk in not acting now than in investing and preparing for what comes next.
Data obviously plays a key role in how these buildings operate. Do you see building owners having access to the right data today and using it effectively? And for those who are not, what advice would you give?
Data is probably one of the biggest hurdles for the industry. Buildings are still very siloed, both within a single building and across a portfolio. Data is often not accessible, or it’s highly fragmented. You have different players across the ecosystem, and investors typically lack visibility over the actual state of their portfolios. On top of that, about 85 percent of buildings across Europe don’t even have smart technologies embedded yet.
So, there is a major maturity challenge around the digital backbone of the built environment. My recommendation is to start investing now to get the basics right. Make sure you have a first level of data quality: combine IT and OT data, break down silos, and ensure good data quality. Get visibility into the state and health of your buildings. You can’t optimise what you don’t see or measure, and in many cases today we simply don’t see enough. Once that foundation is in place, you can then discuss more advanced levels of optimisation and autonomy.
Finally, if we were to have this conversation five years from now, what do you think the key themes around autonomous buildings will be?
I think the core themes will remain: improved performance, better decarbonization and sustainability, greater resilience, and an enhanced user experience. But the way we achieve these will evolve. Within five years, I see buildings moving from reactive, daily manual maintenance to much more proactive approaches. I see buildings optimising space based on occupancy and usage patterns, and optimising energy based on asset performance, occupancy, and external conditions.
We’ll see more integration of EV charging, electrified heating, and renewable energy sources, all coordinated in a more autonomous way. And beyond that, AI will bring capabilities we can’t fully foresee yet. In many ways, AI is like electricity was many years ago: There was a world before electricity and after. It was transformative. Think of the world before and after AI – a general-purpose technology that unlocks an entirely new wave of innovation. We don’t yet know everything it will enable, but we know it will be a major driver of the next level of opportunity for human-centric, autonomous buildings.
