Kardham Digital, the first Digital Services Company dedicated to the real estate industry and a subsidiary of the Kardham professional real estate group, and Schneider Electric, leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, have joined forces to offer an innovative and comprehensive smart building and smart workplace solution. The partnership, which includes Planon, a leading provider of sustainable smart building management solutions, aims to provide a unique offering that will rapidly meet the strategic and operational challenges of office property owners and users, in terms of both decarbonisation and quality of life at work.

The energy emergency and quality of life at work, major issues for the property industry

Having first accelerated down the digital road in the wake of the health crisis, businesses are now entering a second phase of their digital transformation in the wake of the energy emergency, and see smart buildings and smart offices as an opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of their buildings. This is a major challenge, given that the tertiary sector still accounts for 44% of the country’s energy expenditure. The growth of connected infrastructures capable of converging usage and building data bears witness to this dynamic. In particular, these are helping to make buildings more autonomous and rational in their operation, and therefore a source of energy savings.

This mastery of data was also seen as an opportunity for owners and users to improve the economic performance of their property assets and, above all, visibility of their profitability. This is an essential asset at a time when property continues to be the second largest item of expenditure for companies.

Finally, as the hybridisation of work progresses, the tertiary sector has become the driving force behind a new value proposition for employees: comfort, security and quality of life at work. With all that this implies in terms of IT infrastructure: offering seamless interaction, ensuring data security in increasingly open systems, facilitating the use of services rendered to the user, and so on.

Three players, a single offering to cover all building issues

Today’s structures must be able to simplify the user’s journey in an increasingly hybrid environment and meet ever higher expectations in terms of quality of life at work, all while contributing to the continuous improvement of their economic and environmental performance. To meet this demand in a coordinated and comprehensive way, Kardham Digital and Schneider Electric are launching a partnership involving Planon.

The partnership, designed as a general contractor for building IT, draws on the expertise of each of the three partners to launch the first integrated smart building and smart office offering. Kardham Digital brings its customised, real-time development capabilities for user service solutions and active building equipment. Schneider Electric brings its world-renowned expertise in energy management and control and digital solutions for efficient, sustainable and resilient buildings. Planon brings its worldwide know-how in real estate and facility management software.

The partnership is involved in :

• Consultancy and qualification: definition of smart building and smart office strategies.
• Energy efficiency: unified architecture for infrastructure control and monitoring (building management systems, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, energy monitoring, etc.); energy flexibility; operational support.
• Data governance: real-time management, building middleware, multi-site repository.
• User services: integrated workplace management services, cyber security, predictive maintenance, IoT and analytical data, customised digital services, electric vehicle fleet management.

“This collaboration with Kardham Digital and our strategic partner Planon will enable us to respond quickly and jointly to the needs of our target groups through a unique and disruptive approach. This customer-focused commercial cooperation will strengthen the ability of organisations to improve the value of their assets throughout their lifecycle, based on greater efficiency, sustainability of their buildings and a suitable working environment for their occupants,” Olivier Delepine, Vice-President Buildings & Channels, Schneider Electric France.

“This partnership brings a new vision to the market: harnessing the synergy between three leading buildtech players to offer a unique and innovative solution capable of providing a coordinated and comprehensive response to the challenges faced by both owners and users of real estate in the tertiary sector, and standardising an asset management approach with building-based agility,” says Johan van Nimmen, General Manager Planon EMEA South.

“The smart building and smart office markets are highly fragmented, and the various solutions on offer lack interoperability, while companies need simple, seamless solutions more than ever to improve the sustainability and efficiency of buildings and the working experience of their employees. Today, we finally have a 360° solution that covers all building IT issues”, Pascal Zératès, Managing Director of Kardham Digital.