The smart buildings market is experiencing rapid growth, but significant challenges accompany this growth. The industry faces marketing confusion from conflicting voices and a lack of consistent terminology. Furthermore, there’s often a gap between the promised technology and what’s delivered. Demonstrating a clear return on investment remains a hurdle, and practical guidance on effective implementation is lacking. These challenges collectively impede the market’s ability to reach its full potential.

Hereworks, as a full-stack smart solutions provider, and our clients, consistently face these obstacles. This firsthand experience has fuelled a commitment to help establish the Digital Buildings Council (DBC), a not-for-profit industry group launched in April 2024 to address these challenges, enhance best practices, and drive demand for digital buildings.

Driven by a passion for bringing standards and clarity to the market and combating questionable sales tactics, Hereworks recognises the DBC as a vital step in ensuring that smart buildings can deliver on their promise. We believe that this collaborative environment where organisations can follow best practices with consistency is key to addressing the complexities of modern construction and smart building development.

What is the Digital Buildings Council?

The DBC is a member-led group of industry specialists advocating for a more collaborative and interconnected approach to breaking down silos and providing the necessary clarity and assurance to help fulfil the potential of digital buildings.

Established as a not-for-profit social enterprise, the DBC is governed by its constitution and overseen by a steering committee, which Hereworks UK Director Daniel Watson serves on.

The administration of the DBC is overseen by Executive Officers who are voted for by their fellow steering committee members.

Executive Officer Justin Kirby manages the DBC’s day-to-day operations. An author and market engagement specialist, Justin played a pivotal role in founding the DBC by conceiving and co-facilitating a roundtable discussion in early 2024. This discussion brought together many of the founding members and served as a catalyst for the DBC’s establishment.

Aims of the Digital Buildings Council

• Improve professional understanding in the industry through knowledge sharing. The DBC believes that bringing together different industry specialists and encouraging the open exchange of information can help to improve the understanding of intelligent building concepts and technologies.
• Develop a common language and approach to engage key stakeholders across the built environment. The DBC recognises that the industry’s lack of consistent terminology and approaches is a significant barrier to progress. By working to establish a common language and framework for discussion, the DBC aims to facilitate more effective communication and collaboration between different stakeholders, such as architects, engineers, contractors, and building owners.
• Enhance best practices in the industry. The DBC believes that developing and sharing best practices can help improve the quality and consistency of digital building projects.

• Drive demand for digital buildings. The DBC believes that the benefits of digital buildings are not yet widely understood or appreciated. Through its advocacy and outreach efforts, the DBC aims to raise awareness of the potential of digital buildings to improve efficiency, sustainability, and occupant well-being, hopefully increasing demand for digital buildings.

The DBC works in several ways to achieve these goals. It facilitates focused working groups that address specific industry challenges. The working groups are designed to be agile and representative of different industry perspectives. The initial working groups are focused on project scoping and planning, as well as project costing and demonstrating ROI.

The DBC also works to engage members in events and thought leadership. For example, the DBC holds panel discussions, participates in conferences, and publishes articles and reports. By actively participating in industry events, the DBC can share its knowledge and perspectives with a wider audience and help to promote its aims.

Our Role in the Digital Buildings Council

At Hereworks, our ethos is “focus on the human and you will get everything else right.” We bring this perspective, along with our wealth of experience as a full-stack digital contractor, to the DBC.

We specialise in creating user-friendly and efficient buildings through seamless system integration, data utilisation, and a human-centric approach.

As a dedicated founding member of the DBC, our team actively participate in knowledge-sharing activities, such as contributing to best practice guides, working groups and exhibiting or speaking at events. Similarly, Daniel Watson, our UK Director, is a member of the DBC Steering Committee.

Hereworks is proud to be at the forefront of smart building development, working as part of the DBC to promote collaboration and provide a platform for knowledge sharing. Driving these initiatives will aid in creating a more connected and sustainable built environment.

At Hereworks, we go beyond the typical Master Systems Integrator (MSI) role. Our team combines cutting-edge technology, industry expertise, and a deep understanding of the built environment to deliver end-to-end smart solutions tailored to your needs. Contact us today to discover how a smart building can work for you.

Useful Resources from the DBC

• The power of BIM-IoT integration to drive ESG and demonstrate true ROI
• Bridging the gap between digital construction and digital operations
• Digital Transformation Process in the Built Environment: past present future