By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
An Estate Surveyor and Valuer ESV Okechukwu Madubuko said Estate Surveyors and valuers play a major role in management of smart buildings.
He made the disclosure in a chat with peoples Daily yesterday in Abuja, saying that it is also the duty of an Estate Surveyor and Valuer to articulate the use of technology to be able to enhance and improve the life cycle of a given facility.
He explained that smart building is a facility in which its energy management is regulated and controlled automatically.
“The use of technology, devices are deployed to full use in order to create a healthy, productive and comfortable living or work place.
It is also the ability to harness and make use of available data being churned out by different systems deployed in the facility is very important and key”.
He cited an example saying that, there are building management systems, weather systems, security access platforms, emergency systems, air quality platforms, utility meters and CCTV networks.
“All these operate independently, producing their own isolated data that when harnessed bring about comfort and beauty to the facility”.
ESV. Madubuko stated that the role of an Estate Surveyor and Valuer includes real time management of energy consumption, Improved servicing and maintenance efficiency among others.
He said that real-time management of energy consumption,
an Estate Surveyor and Valuer has the requisite training and competence to access data deployed in smart buildings which has the power to inform on the over-head lowering decisions whilst at the same time reducing the environmental impact of the building.
“By continuously monitoring the energy and utility usage of the building, smart technology allows the manager instantly identify issues so that a consistent supply is maintained all through.
This way, the property energy usage can be optimized so that energy wastage can be avoided”, he said.
He noted that to
improved servicing and maintenance efficiency, an Estate Surveyor and Valuer has the technical knowhow to monitor data fed from the mechanical and electrical devices
in deployed in the facility in order to ensure that servicing and maintenance programs are adequately and efficiently organised .
He said in order to know the difference between changing an air filter in an air conditioning system when necessary and when to change same out rightly as the data indicates.
“Such proactive working ability can assist in maximizing maintenance and engineering resources, making sure that servicing decisions are fact-based and centred on the actual condition of equipment rather than its age”.
He said to enhance working Enviroment
Smart building technology is well known for its ability to enhance a building’s working environment. “An informed Estate Surveyor and Valuer utilizes his/her know how in using this technology to monitor and manage air quality which in turn has a direct impact on health, wellbeing and productivity.
By constantly monitoring the likes of carbon di-oxide levels, temperature and humidity in real-time and linking the data to air-exchange system control,the smart building can ensure that all its work spaces are comfortable at all times.
Even better, by connecting this data to room booking or space management systems, the conditions of individual rooms can be automatically adjusted in line with the number of occupants and the nature of work being undertaken”, he said.
Speaking on Remote work and flexibility,he said past experience has it that the estate surveyor and valuer spend a lot of time and hours physically monitoring and checking everything happening on every floor in the building several times a day.
“Making sure that siloed typical system like HVACS, security and electrical systems were managed separately, with each system requiring its own monitoring and maintenance”.
He said today technology has changed all that, it is now a lot easier for the estate surveyor and valuer to access all the information on an integrated platform to track multiple systems and share relevant real-time information about what is going on.
All data is collected and displayed centrally, thus simplifying the entire process even further.
He concluded by saying that, It is imperative to know that an Estate Surveyor and Valuer with the right facility management skills, competence and knowledge of technology is the right person to manage your facility no matter the sophistication.
