Leading AI-driven property operations platform Facilio Inc has been selected by ICD Brookfield (ICDB) to deliver real-time operational intelligence and optimise building performance for their luxury lifestyle project ICD Brookfield Place, at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
Progressive developers and owners of new construction projects have begun provisioning for operations technology right at the design-build stage. Projects have begun implementing cloud software platforms and taking the path towards data-driven operations to optimise efficiency, sustainability, and tenant experience.
As one of Dubai’s premier lifestyle and business destinations, ICD Brookfield Place is leading this shift, by implementing Facilio’s modern solution – to embed a digital O&M foundation into the project.
As it welcomes tenants and turns fully operational, the project serves as a showcase of Dubai’s transition to connected, sustainable, and intelligence-led real estate operations.
Construction Week sat down with the property operations manager of ICD Brookfield Place, Haithem Ibraheem, and the founder and CEO of Facilio Inc, Prabhu Ramachandran, to get their take on how the ICD Brookfield Place project is pushing the envelope in real estate operations by leveraging data-driven intelligence.
Haithem, ICD Brookfield Place is being spoken of as setting a global benchmark for future workspaces. What was the primary driver for ICD Brookfield to evolve to this occupant-centric vision? What are the key outcomes you are hoping to address, from a wellness and end-user experience perspective?
Haithem Ibraheem: Contemporary tenants have needs and expectations that legacy commercial real estate models are unable to address. A new generation of employees expect the same responsive and personalised services from their workplaces, which they experience in other aspects of their lives.
At the same time, the commercial real estate industry is faced with having to adapt to more specific and demanding regulations. The ICD Brookfield Place property will adhere to these evolving guidelines, while delivering on the paramount need to create productive work environments, with optimal sustainability and a focus on occupant health.
In my opinion, such holistic capabilities, which address the needs of all stakeholders, make this project unique. ICD Brookfield is driven by a technology enabled, progressive and future-ready approach to deliver exceptional end-user experiences.
Our vision was to harness technology, to empower system-wide transparency, and utilise a data-driven model of operations. We believe this will be the preferred model of operations going forward.
How do you see real estate owners and operators proactively including these solutions to achieve efficiency and deliver seamless experiences?
Haithem Ibraheem: Well, automation itself is nothing new to real estate operations, but in traditional real estate these solutions tended to be deployed in isolation from each other. However, disconnected and soiled systems are just not agile enough to create the responsive and optimal end-user experiences that contemporary tenants seek.
As emerging technologies and customer expectations reset the industry, cloud-based centralised management software, which integrates all building systems – such as HVAC, fire response, security and more – are the most effective means to achieve these outcomes.
By leveraging the power of modern technology elements – such as IoT, AI, and cloud technology – real estate portfolio owners and operators can access operational intelligence, to optimise asset performance in real-time.
In addition, this solution is wholly compatible with any emerging innovations and future generations of technology. In fact, such a platform driven approach is well-suited for scalability, and is totally agnostic to any current or future addition of automation, sensors, or devices.
For instance, cloud-based centralised management software can integrate HVAC, fire response, security, sanitisation and much more, while enabling access to real-time data and system-wide granular transparency. The scalability of the approach, as well as its ability to be vendor and technology agnostic in incorporating future innovations, is what makes it most compelling.
Prabhu, what role do you see for technology partners such as Facilio in enabling this transition to a connected, data-driven model of operations?
Prabhu Ramachandran: Data is the key resource that the new generation of digital technologies are using to add value to operations, as well as end-user experiences. Buildings have always produced huge volumes of data, but it hasn’t been possible to use this to optimise operations.
The key capability, which technology providers such as Facilio are unlocking, is the ability to aggregate all building data, optimise performance in real-time, and control operations from a single place.
Technology makes it possible for commercial real estate businesses to gain a unified view of operations and make informed decisions, using a centralised platform.
New construction, which incorporates tech-enabled and data-driven smart operations, can help building owners acquire and retain tenants, through the highest level of service quality, sustainability, and experience.
Building owners and operators can use data to automate maintenance, optimise experiences, and improve sustainability, concurrently and in an integrated manner.
Facilio enables real-time and granular visibility into operations, empowering all stakeholders to evolve, from siloed and reactive, to unified and pro-active operations.
This allows real estate owners and operators to create exceptional occupant experiences, seamlessly anticipate inefficiencies, and address their customer’s needs. We believe ICD Brookfield Place will emerge as a standard bearer for future projects in this regard, both within the region and globally.
Could you elaborate on how the ability to leverage operational intelligence sets the ICD Brookfield Place apart, and how Facilio has contributed to these capabilities?
Prabhu Ramachandran: ICD Brookfield Place is implementing a discreet new generation in real estate operations. Facilio’s property operations cloud platform will allow ICD Brookfield Place to centrally monitor, control, and operate every operational aspect of their buildings.
This includes gaining granular real-time insights into building performance, as well as the ability to manage spaces, equipment, and multiple building systems remotely, using a single-window view of operations.
The shift is not just from siloed operations to total system-wide transparency. AI analytics and machine learning harness building data to enable a predictive model of operations and maintenance, which helps commercial office spaces enrich the occupant experience and exceed sustainability goals.
Facilio is able to help building owners unlock value from day-to-day operations by optimising asset performance on an on-going basis – leading to a drastic reduction in downtime and better ROI over the life cycle of a component.
A data-driven and proactive approach optimises sustainability, enables cost effective operations, and empowers property operations teams through mobility and collaboration.
This, ultimately, translates into personalised and exceptional tenant experiences, as a result of significantly lower downtime, and the ability to deliver a consistently optimal, safe, and comfortable environment.
In years to come, this business model will simply be the default standard, which tenants will demand and expect.
