Lagging In Tech Among Key Concerns Of Office Landlords
SINGAPORE – WiredScore revealed that among the chief concern of commercial property owners is that their buildings would become technologically obsolete in the next 5 to 10 years, in turn making these properties less attractive to tenants and would-be buyers, reported The Edge on Friday morning (15 September, SGT).
Nowadays, the top challenge faced by office landlords or builders is the rising risk of obsolescence of their new developments or existing commercial properties. “If you ask me, the one thing that everyone in the market is concerned about now is the risk of obsolescence,” said WiredScore’s Global Director for Asia Pacific, Thomasin Crowley.
“A growing number of stakeholders across the real estate industry worry about providing an excellent user experience for their tenants, meeting sustainability targets, operating their assets more efficiently, plus demonstrating future readiness.”
She noted that market expectations in the past several years have changed to the point where every building needs to show its smart capabilities to end-users and investors to remain relevant.
In particular, investors and property managers are very worried that it will become harder for older buildings in their portfolio to attain benchmark ratings such as the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Mark Certification Scheme.
“When it comes to the retrofitting of smart systems, it broadly comes back to assessing what you have today to create a baseline — this is what our SmartScore certifications can help asset owners with to kick-start the journey,” Crowley explained.
She pointed out that many older commercial properties in Singapore need to establish this baseline in order for their landlords or property managers to understand the limitations and requirements to upgrade their assets.
“You’re going to struggle a bit if you haven’t got the core infrastructure in place, but there is still much you can do in terms of retrofitting.”
An example of an excellent retrofit in Singapore is Keppel Bay Tower, which received the SmartScore Gold and WiredScore Platinum certifications in June 2022. “These are fantastic outcomes for an existing asset and retrofit technologies,” she noted.
Since 2013, WiredScore has earned a reputation for its property certifications in major North American and European cities, such as New York and London. Its eponymous WiredScore certification is a globally-recognized digital connectivity rating scheme, while its SmartScore certification promotes the best practices in constructing smart buildings.
In April 2022, WiredScore established its 1st regional headquarters in Asia Pacific, with the organization selecting Singapore as its base of operations in the region.
“Our ambition for the first couple of years was to establish awareness and presence in key international hubs in Apac, which is why we started in Singapore, followed closely with another office in Hong Kong,” Crowley elucidated.
“Our first year in Singapore and Hong Kong was all about bringing education to the market around digital connectivity, building momentum among developers and landlords, followed by extending that education to tenants,” she added.
