Facilities Management Technology

Adapting to new technologies and maintaining security and compliance across locations are among the top workplace challenges U.S. business leaders say they face, according to a survey by workplace platform Envoy and Hanover Research.

Even though one-third of organizations said they currently manage most workplace operations manually, 51% of participants said advancements in artificial intelligence will have the greatest influence in shaping the workplace over the next decade, the survey found. The research polled more than 400 facilities management, physical security, IT and human resources executives and managers in the U.S.

With 78% of surveyed companies consolidating their tech stacks or exploring consolidation options, business leaders are experiencing “a clear disconnect between a desire for a high-tech future workplace and the reality of outdated processes,” as well as the “ongoing challenge of balancing innovation with economic realities,” an Envoy spokesperson said.

Hybrid schemes and the return-to-office wave have exposed workplace management inefficiencies to a new degree, Envoy said. For example, prior to the pandemic, facilities managers knew how many employees would be at an office on any given day, making it easier for them to manage resources to match employees’ needs through manual processes, the spokesperson said. 

“Today, however, there are more factors at play. Leaders are trying to measure the efficacy of return-to-office policies, optimize their workplaces to increase employee experience and maximize space utilization. This just isn’t possible without clear, unified data,” the spokesperson said. 

Consequences associated with this lack of modernized processes include gaps in data and physical security and sub-par resource planning, the report states. Limited visibility into space usage, for example, makes it difficult to see “a clear, big-picture view of what’s working well within these spaces and what needs to be improved,” it states. Budget constraints, cumbersome tech consolidation efforts and internal barriers, such as a lack of IT infrastructure, governance structures and change management programs, are among the factors impeding technology upgrades, the survey found. 

Despite wanting the “latest and greatest tech features,” many of the organizations surveyed are exploring or actively consolidating their technology, which the report says highlights “the tough balance companies face between providing cutting-edge capabilities to employees and reducing operational expenses during economic uncertainty.” 

Despite those constraints, 66% of survey participants said they want to use workplace data to improve employee experience, with two-thirds of that group saying they want to use this data to establish work policies such as an on-site schedule and 42% saying data could help them to repurpose unused workspaces. 

To overcome these challenges, the report recommends that business leaders streamline workflows by automating certain steps, including data-sharing across the different tools employees already use. Envoy also urged operators to calculate how long manual workplace processes take, eliminate extra tools that employees aren’t using and ensure that current platforms can effectively manage and document compliance-related data to mitigate risks and streamline operations. 

Due to uncertainty related to the true costs of upgrading technologies, the report also said that leaders should add up the costs of using multiple-point solutions and compare this total with the cost of a single platform. 

Some tools on the market already use AI for space utilization, day-to-day building operations and more. Adopting such tools comes with its own challenges, according to Envoy’s report, such as infrastructure, governance and change management. 

“Companies need to balance their goals around enhancing workplace experience and data collection with the challenges of implementing new technologies,” the report said.

Technological innovations are driving rapid change in facilities managers’ work, underscoring the need for cross-functional collaboration, data analytics and effective risk management, speakers said at the NMFT Remix conference in Orlando in late October. 

Generative AI

ChatGPT holds promise for facilities managers, said Rafi Dowla, co-founder and CEO of PremiseHQ, a Toronto-based maker of systems for analyzing numerous facility management functions. The generative artificial intelligence tool can help enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, boost tenant satisfaction and provide other competitive advantages, Dowla said. His team has collaborated with clients to strategically introduce ChatGPT to their internal teams, with a focus on striking a balance between minimizing risk and garnering a sizable return on investment, he said. 

“Thinking about a data pipeline strategy is critical before deploying ChatGPT directly in your system,” Dowla said. “How you process your data and integrate with ChatGPT is … the most important part of the strategy. Behind the user interface, you need to work with an [AI] expert who can help you architect that in a way that is scalable and portable.”

One example Dowla gave is the potential for ChatGPT to offer insights into indoor air quality improvements. His team is conducting a study in concert with a Canadian university to deploy sensors for identifying hot and cold spots in buildings. “We’re using ChatGPT to analyze that data and give feedback to the buildings in terms of where we need to put systems in place to address these hot and cold spots,” he said.

But the use of generative AI faces adoption barriers such as testing and optimization, Dowla said, as well as issues related to system compatibility, data security, privacy, employee training and tenant education.

Sensors and the Internet of Things

Applications of the Internet of Things in facilities management include integrated workplace management systems that use sensors to measure occupancy, air quality and the efficiency of HVAC systems, speakers said. Sensors can detect motion; sensors placed under office desks can determine occupancy based on how much body temperature is generated by the person seated there; and sensors deployed in air quality monitoring devices can monitor indoor and ambient environments, said Peter Costanzo, director of workplace technology solutions firm ROI Consulting Group. 

The proliferation of air quality sensors needs to be matched with better hardware that can go into air filtration systems as well as more staff training on servicing those filtration systems, according to Kevin Delahunt, senior technical advisor at BGE Indoor Air Quality Solutions. “We shouldn’t have to put [in] a gas casket and such. But we do, as we’re trying to make the best of a bad situation. We need to look at the hardware as we go up in efficiency,” Delahunt said.

Costanzo emphasized the evolving role of thermal sensors and digital twins — virtual representations of a facility — in smart building functions amid a shift from wired to wireless technologies. “There’s also the concept of a gateway or a hive or hub, which I would call a proprietary network. What’s nice about some of the gateways … is that they’ll work at different frequencies [which means] you can cut down battery usage [and thus] cut down the amount of battery that’s needed,” Costanzo explained. Additional technologies like lidar and indoor positioning systems are effective in addressing challenges of efficient space utilization, wayfinding, managing and tracking assets in large facilities, and occupancy monitoring, Costanzo said. 

Data insights and cybersecurity

Data insights are crucial for gaining access to capital and maximizing the service life of equipment, said Sergio Pages, client relations manager at StructureTec Group, a consulting and construction services firm that specializes in restoring building envelopes, roofs, pavement and concrete structures.“Data drives our decisions. We want to have a plan of attack, and we need data that helps us make those decisions [in terms of] where to deploy funding when it comes,” Pages said during a session on creating better buildings. 

Pages advises facilities managers to tap into those data insights to optimize the efficiency of newer equipment. “If I put in $100,000 for a new asset, I can get 10 years out of it. Or I can put in $150,000 and get 20 years out of it. When you get the funding, take into consideration the service life costs of what you’re going to be investing that money on,” Pages said. 

Facilities managers can harness technologies like real-time energy optimization and monitoring platforms — based on fault detection and diagnostics — to monitor and reduce energy consumption, said Ronak Shah, energy analyst at InSite. 

Stephen Stalnaker, vice president and general manager at the Florida division of Albireo Energy,  said he has been receiving questions about how buildings are measuring their carbon footprint, waste output, water output and energy usage for government reporting purposes. “So we’re working with facilities managers to produce that data,” Stalnaker said at a session on the role of data analytics in facilities management. 

The increased technological functionality of buildings has also spawned a host of issues related to cybersecurity, Stalnaker pointed out. Although outsourcing cybersecurity has become the norm, particularly in multi-acre facilities spanning thousands of buildings, in-house technology experts are important for security, Stalnaker said. “Cybersecurity and IT support are people you would want to have in your staff. In data centers, it’s very critical. So, IT support and cybersecurity are typically almost always in-house, and you’re going to have to have someone onsite,” Stalnaker said.

In a survey conducted by ASIS International, only 8% of professionals reported that they had not experienced any access control failures in the past six months.

Serious access control incidents are few, however, respondents said, with 71% reporting no more than five per year. The most prevalent problem was tailgating or piggybacking, mentioned by 61% of respondents. Tailgating is when an unauthorized person follows an unaware user into a restricted area; piggybacking can refer to such access being provided with the authorized user’s knowledge.  

Despite those findings, access control systems — the combination of technology and security policies used to permit or deny access to a location — are highly effective in preventing unauthorized physical incidents, the report states.

The report by the global association of security professionals surveyed over 1,000 frontline security, management, director and C-suite level professionals, from those operating at a single facility or campus to those managing security at multinational organizations with a variety of facilities in multiple countries. It found that 93% of organizations believe access control is an essential piece of their risk management or security plan. 

When security consultants were asked which access control concerns or failures are most common, 34% said that problems arose from poor implementation of technology or from choosing technology that is not correct for the situation; 24% said failure resulted from over-prioritizing employee convenience; and 13% attributed failures to technology that is insecure or can be easily hacked. 

The report identifies a trend toward adoption of more secure technologies. Low-frequency proximity cards, while previously widespread, have been phased out due to their vulnerability to replication or spoofing, and more secure technologies have taken their place, it states. Whereas 51% of respondents reported using low-proximity cards in 2019, only 22% said they use them in this year’s survey. Instead, 50% of organizations now employ what the report calls highly secure credentials, such as mobile devices, biometrics and multifactor authentication, with 35% using medium-level security measures such as RFID proximity cards and smart RFID cards. Professionals who deploy higher-level security systems expressed more confidence in their overall access control systems: 70% of those with highly secure technology agree that their system is effective, compared with 58% of those with less secure technology. 

The report also highlighted the crucial role of access control in visitor management, with 39% of respondents still using manual systems, such as spreadsheets or pen and paper, to keep track of temporary credentials issued to visitors. 

Organizations also commonly turn to video cameras to complement access control systems with surveillance, with 85% and 84% of respondents using inside and outside surveillance, respectively. When asked how they ensure access control systems have not been breached, 76% of security professionals said they actively monitor the video surveillance.

Building portfolio owners can identify building decarbonization opportunities more quickly by applying machine learning, artificial intelligence and physics-based modeling, according to a Nov. 29 report released by McKinsey.

By using data from satellites, geospatial analytics, regulations, labor and equipment costs, and assessing heating and cooling systems, insulation levels and the feasibility of solar or geothermal power, algorithms can analyze and propose solutions for building portfolios to reach net-zero emissions. 

With this new approach, financially optimized plans, which account for the regulatory environment and the building’s unique characteristics and leasing structure, can be developed for an entire portfolio within weeks, experts said in the report. 

Given that buildings are responsible for 40% of global combustion-related emissions, it is essential to cut 50% of direct building emissions and 60% of indirect emissions by 2030 to achieve net-zero carbon building stock by 2050, the McKinsey experts said. Traditional methods of decarbonization, involving physical energy audits and building-by-building net-zero strategies, are considered laborious and expensive, McKinsey said. Additionally, a lack of centralized inventory and standardization contributes to the perception that decarbonizing buildings is unprofitable.

Compared to traditional energy audits and net-zero studies, AI-driven approaches provide a more than 100-fold increase in the pace and scale of decarbonization planning, eliminating the need to rely on vague building archetypes, the report stated. 

The authors highlighted the potential for an AI-based approach to generate neutral to positive returns on investment for real estate portfolios, assuming the absence of factors like incremental future regulations, carbon pricing and green premiums on rent or property valuation.Implementing energy efficiency and electrification measures for each building, while optimizing renewable energy procurement at the portfolio level, enables building owners and occupants to recoup their investment by realizing energy savings, optimizing their capital costs and avoiding regulatory penalties, the paper emphasized. 

Features of an optimal building decarbonization plan

McKinsey emphasized that achieving the most effective building decarbonization plans involves seven components that can be optimized through the use of AI and machine learning methods:

1. Efficient net-zero planning: Owners can ensure coordinated, comprehensive plans for their entire portfolio through joint procurement and strategic sequencing, unlike traditional decarbonization plans that often target select buildings based on emissions or existing regulations. 
2. Asset-specific plans: Tailored plans that consider aspects like building layout and type of insulation are needed for cost-effective decarbonization. Each building requires a unique strategy that considers its starting point, local conditions and asset specifics like tenant composition and lease structures.
3. Complete pathways to net-zero: This involves avoiding partial plans that compromise long-term outcomes. Companies must take comprehensive, forward-looking decisions as short-term strategies risk increased costs and overlook synergies like insulation measures that affect future HVAC requirements.  
4. Integrated Scope 1 and Scope 2 plans: Disjointed approaches toward energy efficiency and electrification hinder efficiency, the report said. The failure to exploit interdependencies can lead to slower and costlier renewable power procurement.
5. Actionable steps: Building plans must provide precise instructions for facilities managers and enable easy communication between vendors and facilities management teams to ensure swift execution.
6. Quantification: Plans must be specific enough to offer detailed insights for financial planning, encompassing net-zero goals, capital investment challenges, operating costs, potential debt and the allocation of costs and benefits between building owners and tenants, so that leaders can understand the exact costs of achieving net-zero emissions.
7. Net-zero-oriented decision-making: Owners and operators can integrate decarbonization plans into organizational operations by adjusting processes, incentives and governance structures. This involves updating capital plans, budgeting for low-emission systems and incorporating decarbonization analyses into new asset acquisitions. 

Decarbonization challenges related to scaling supply chains to meet new demand and training skilled workers to deploy retrofits and undertake other electrification efforts also impact the industry, the report said. 

Fortunately, adopting an AI-backed, full-life-cycle approach to decarbonization simplifies planning, accelerates processes, and reduces costs, enabling significant progress in addressing building-related emissions, McKinsey said.

Johnson Controls has launched a commercial service aimed at helping its North American customers respond efficiently to critical security events, while boosting their operational resilience, staff efficiency and disaster recovery capabilities.

The firm’s Security Operations Centers offering provides facility operators with a bundle service package, including standardized protocol procedures, organizational assessments and best practice recommendations, staffing support and a quality assurance program, through a “predictable as-a-service fee,” the company said in an April 10 news release. 

“Our extensive network of highly skilled engineers and state-of-the-art monitoring centers ensures our North American customers have the necessary resources and expertise to effectively and efficiently protect their facilities and assets,” Julie Brandt, president of Building Solutions North America at Johnson Controls, said in the release.

While many users rely on building insights to inform their decisions and meet security, sustainability and operational optimization goals, only 10% of smart building leaders believe their building systems are fully integrated, according to a 2023 report by Forrester Consulting. This lack of integration is costing operators “time, people, and money,” according to the report, which surveyed 3,445 leaders and was conducted in collaboration with Johnson Controls.

Poor integration across systems, alongside a lack of technical expertise needed to optimize and leverage building systems, is leading operators to seek smart building partners with deep integration abilities that can provide leaders with easy-to-access insights, Forrester says. 

To help operators navigate these challenges, Johnson Controls’ Security Operations Centers service, or SOC, provides access to the firm’s central monitoring and response services experience and a network of engineers. “Ultimately, our goal is to empower business leaders in creating safer and more productive environments and this new service offering helps reach those goals through a scalable and proven offering,” Brandt said. 

The SOC includes services that Johnson Controls says meets “every facility’s specific needs, delivered with complete on-site support or hybrid models.” These features span assessments of organizational processes, technologies and staff to implement uniform protocols that help mitigate risks; a quality assurance program to ensure consistency and provide visibility into the accuracy of the work being performed; direct support to help develop standardized operating procedures; and “guaranteed 24/7/365 support,” the company said. 

In addition, Johnson Controls launched a new security lifecycle management offering within its OpenBlue connected buildings platform, combining the firm’s connected solutions suite with remote support services, insights from skilled engineers and its ability to monitor and manage security devices across vendors, it said in an April 9 news release. 

The company also renewed its partnership with Everbridge, a firm that assists companies and government organizations respond to and recover from “critical events,” such as public safety events, cyber infrastructure threats and extreme weather. Johnson Controls said data collected through the OpenBlue and Everbridge 360 platforms will provide security professionals with information to assess risk and initiate automated security workflow and emergency operating procedures.

“Our collaboration with Johnson Controls improves the ability of customers to ensure business continuity, life safety, and security across a wider range of scenarios and be better prepared for the unexpected,” Dominic Jones, senior vice president of business development, partnerships and alliances at Everbridge, said in a statement.

The Houston Airport System has introduced sensor-enabled period product dispensers from Aunt Flow, integrated with Trax Analytics’ software that enables live data monitoring, at its George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport.

Each product dispenser has roughly two battery-operated and laser-based sensors that can send data through a palm-sized gateway inside the restroom closet, enabling custodial employees to remotely monitor fill levels on organic cotton pads and tampons in real time, Trax Analytics Founder and CEO Tracy Davis said in an interview. This connected smart restroom system has been installed in over 60 restrooms across both airports as part of a pilot phase, she noted. 

This system “puts custodial employees in the driver’s seat,” providing predictive analytics that can be used to determine when these dispensers need to be refilled, rather than monitoring those supplies manually and walking to an inventory closet that is far away to refill the dispensers, Liliana Rambo, chief terminal officer for the Houston Airport System, said in an interview.

In recent years, airports have been investing heavily in upgrading their restrooms to integrate technology and create more inclusive facilities. Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Punta Gorda Airport in Florida and Hector International Airport in Fargo, North Dakota will use a portion of funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law for their restroom projects, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Oakland International Airport in Northern California was recently granted $10 million for a restroom renovation program that would involve installing high-efficiency low water-use fixtures, creating gender-neutral facilities and adding a lactation suite. 

The Houston Airport System, which is Aunt Flow’s first client in the airport vertical, is helping to pave the way for more inclusive facilities through its fully connected washrooms, which now includes period products, Aunt Flow Founder and CEO Claire Coder told Facilities Dive. 

Other restroom improvement measures the Houston Airport System is undertaking include its search for contractors to upgrade existing restrooms and janitor closets in George Bush Intercontinental Airport’s Terminal A, restrooms near multiple gates at airport’s Terminal D and restrooms along the terminal’s sterile corridor and a janitor’s closet on its mezzanine level.

As part of its partnership with Aunt Flow and Trax Analytics, the airport system is shouldering the cost of the dispensers and refills, so that passengers in need can obtain period products free of charge, Rambo said. Aunt Flow’s dispensers cost between $350 and $400 per unit, while the cost to keep them filled annually is roughly $2,500 per year per bathroom for airports, Coder said. 

“The apparatus itself is very elementary. It has a knob that dispenses sanitary napkins or tampons when you turn it. And [the sensors] inside the machines count how many pads or tampons are in there,” Rambo said. 

The Houston Airport System has been using Trax Analytics’ software to obtain predictive insights for other services, such as bathroom cleaning, since at least early 2018, Rambo said. In the context of the period product pilot program, the real-time data insights Trax Analytics enables predictive analysis that can ensure that the dispensers are promptly and efficiently replenished, eliminating the possibility of passengers and airport guests “encountering empty dispensers and being left without the supplies they need,” according to an April 16 news release. 

The Houston Airport System is also taking proactive steps to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality period products, just as with other bathroom necessities like paper towels and toilet paper, per the release. It noted that the implementation of this system “marks a significant leap forward in enhancing passenger comfort” through “thoughtful and inclusive amenities.” Rambo cited plans of expanding the integration to other restrooms to make this amenity part of a restroom standard for individuals who identify as women.

Other airports that have deployed Trax Analytics’ software include LaGuardia International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to the analytics firm. The company currently has over 5,000 users including public-facing commercial buildings, stadiums, hospitals and universities, Davis said. 

Airports operating Aunt Flow dispensers include Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina, and the Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska, Coder said.

Schneider Electric is incorporating IPConfigure’s video surveillance capabilities into its EcoStruxure Building platform to enhance building security, efficiency and occupant comfort, the company said April 9. 

IPConfigure’s Orchid video management system will be integrated with EcoStruxure’s security technology platforms, Security Expert and Access Expert, according to a news release. Security Expert unifies physical access control and intrusion detection, while Access Expert provides mobile cloud security with video monitoring, alarms, visitor management and building operations, Schneider Electric said. 

The integration of these EcoStruxure systems with Orchid will “allow facility managers in a digital cloud dedicated or cloud-enabled environment to share collected information seamlessly across multiple infrastructures,” including video systems, access control systems, building management systems and power management systems, Andre Marino, senior vice president of digital buildings at Schneider Electric, told Facilities Dive.

The increased availability of public cloud environments has added more complexity to companies’ IT environments, making it difficult to manage and secure them, according to a resource piece from the California Institute of Arts and Technology. Business and employee records are the most common forms of data companies store in the cloud, with more than half of companies storing business records, including finance and accounting data, in the public cloud, according to a 2022 SANS Institute survey involving several hundred respondents.

Orchid is based on hybrid cloud architecture that can reduce the complexity of IT processes like network management and infrastructure, IPConfigure CEO Chris Uiterwyk said in an interview. “So, we take a lot of the behind-the-scenes complexity out of managing the system, which really allows operators to scale out the system,” Uiterwyk said. Orchid is built from “the ground-up to be light-weight,” he said, pointing to the simplicity of its user interface. It can be “an ideal solution” for facility managers, building operators and security personnel who “don’t want to have to sit through a lot of training” to understand how a system like this works, he added.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Building platform, which connects hardware, software and services over an Ethernet internet protocol backbone, aims to maximize building efficiency, enhance comfort and increase building value, according to its website.

The integration of Orchid and EcoStruxure systems in a cloud-enabled or full-cloud deployment gives facility managers and owners access to “large amounts of data across all their facility systems, allowing for unparalleled scalability and easy decision-making,” Marino said, noting that this integration through the cloud simplifies data access management for video monitoring and security operations.

Adding Orchid to Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Building platform will allow for: support of single or multi-site configurations locally or via the cloud; an open application programming interface for easy integration with third-party systems; the ability to manage and record any number of cameras, locations and users through a single interface; and single sign-on integrations that enable secure access as users’ roles change within the organization, according to the news release. 

Orchid can be installed on Windows or Linux devices and can record from thousands of different camera models, using open standards like the open network video interface forum, the release said. Schneider Electric noted that the Orchid integration will place “leading video security technology” at the forefront of the EcoStruxure’s energy management tools that outfit buildings with smart technologies to help measure energy usage. 

“Security systems are a key technology to accomplish the goal of making buildings more sustainable and efficient, enabled through digitization and integrated systems,” Marino said. “By reducing the complexity of energy management tools and security, the digital future is oriented toward greater sustainability as smart technologies become easier to adapt, install and deploy for building owners and facility managers.” 

In January, Schneider Electric said a ransomware attack had affected its EcoStruxure Resource Advisor platform, which provides companies with building applications like monitoring, visualization and control systems. The 1.5 terabytes of data theft claimed by the Cactus ransomware gang reportedly include sensitive documents like non-disclosure agreements and copies of passports.

Honeywell launched Advance Control for Buildings, a building management system that can use a building’s existing wiring “to give building managers more control over the efficiency of their buildings, ultimately helping improve the occupant experience while advancing energy management goals,” it said in a press release Tuesday. 

The new BMS platform seeks to leverage Honeywell’s recent partnership with NXP Semiconductors to elevate machine learning and autonomous decision-making for energy management and its integration of Analog Devices’ technology for greater digital connectivity and advanced signal conversion across applications, it said. 

“Today, buildings are facing mounting pressures around safety, operational efficiency and energy efficiency. By pushing the boundaries of technological advancement, Advance Control not only helps building managers optimize their building operations to meet these pressures, but also champions innovation,” Steve Kenny, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Building Management Systems, said in the release. 

According to the UN Environment Programme, buildings account for 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions, leading to growing pressures to identify and reduce energy use, Honeywell said. It noted that a lack of skilled labor also makes it challenging for building owners to hire technicians for buildings’ upkeep and modernization. As a result, building owners and operators are turning to digital building and energy management tools. Schneider Electric estimates its products can slash up to 42% of operational carbon emissions in commercial office buildings, for example. 

Automation and machine learning drive the platform’s efficient operating system, which is equipped with integrated cybersecurity and technology, to deliver accelerated network speeds, Honeywell said. Automation is able to break down operational barriers to give building managers more control over the efficiency of their buildings, ultimately helping improve occupant experience and advancing energy management goals, Kenny said in the release. 

Last October, Honeywell announced plans to realign its business segments with megatrends like industrial automation and the energy transition to boost its organic sales growth and deploy more inorganic capital. The company said the implementation would begin in the first quarter of 2024. 

Its new advanced control system aligns with its growing focus on its building technologies segment, which CFO Greg Lewis called “a bright spot for the business” due to its growing profit margin despite soft demand for security products and a challenging operating environment. 

Advance Control joins other building automation and security-focused solutions Honeywell has launched in the past year, including Forge for Buildings, which the company introduced to optimize air quality and reduce energy consumption, and a new integration with Quantinuum that intends to bolster the security of smart utility meters.

Windstream Enterprise will deploy a managed software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN, at eight facilities operated by Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, including Progressive Field and their affiliated minor league team stadiums.

The network will support internal communication as well as “game-day connectivity, radio and press broadcasters, and stadium applications like ticketing, hospitality and scoreboard management” through a simplified connection to Google Cloud that eliminates latency or interruption, Windstream said in an April 9 news release.

Compared with the previous setup, the upgrade is expected to lead to a massive increase in performance, especially for voice, video and “any application that requires higher [connection] speeds,” Chris Alberding, senior director for SD-WAN at Windstream Enterprise, said in an interview. 

SD-WANs use software to “create a centrally managed virtual [wide area network] that connects remote branches and locations regardless of the connection type, access point or carrier,” according to Windstream Enterprise.

The software separates the user’s network logic and configurations from physical components, such as fiber connections and modems, allowing the user to “configure, manage, monitor and secure most aspects of the WAN, including edge devices and traffic flows,” Windstream Enterprise says.

In practice, the capabilities of SD-WAN software make for a far more flexible, intelligent and usable system for multi-location users, Alberding said. Windstream’s SD-WAN solution includes a centralized portal, which Alberding calls “a single pane of glass” that allows users to see traffic flows in real time and optimize their networks to support specific needs. These adjustments include improving a critical app’s performance or blocking certain types of traffic, which users can implement with relative ease, Alberding said, noting that the company’s support desk can serve as an extension of the user’s internal IT team. 

Windstream’s SD-WAN “gives us more flexibility in routing traffic and syncing data to and from various locations, and it even enables us to onboard new services without having to adapt one particular site or another,” Whitney Kuszmaul, senior director of infrastructure and operations for the Cleveland Guardians, said in a statement. 

Since all traffic is encrypted, SD-WAN users can use the same network for functions with different security requirements. In a major league ballpark, that might mean running a public WiFi network alongside transactions that are compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, Alberding said. PCI-DSS, which aims to protect payment card information online, applies to organizations that store, process or transmit cardholder data, according to Axonius, a digital infrastructure firm that serves IT and security teams. 

Windstream’s SD-WAN provides a direct, private connection to Google Cloud, reducing latency when hosting applications, Alberding said. A traditional network might send data through a user-operated data center or colocation hub before reaching its destination, which adds an extra step and can result in delays of five or six milliseconds, he said. 

The direct cloud connection represents a 2-3 times performance improvement and “that is the benefit that really stood out for the Guardians,” Alberding said. 

Another benefit of SD-WAN technology is its scalability, Alberding said, noting that Windstream Enterprise serves smaller-scale SD-WAN clients with two locations as well as larger-scale organizations with over 3,000 locations. 

“In the grand scheme of things, the Guardians organization is actually a fairly small customer,” he said.

But SD-WAN is just as compelling for smaller, resource-constrained users without internal IT teams, as it allows these customers to use low-cost, consumer-grade cable broadband with cellular broadband backup “and see the same performance as enterprise ethernet,” Alberding said.

Carrier Global Corp. has agreed to help develop and commercialize AirJoule, a dehumidification and cooling technology for HVAC systems from Montana Technologies that Carrier called “transformational.”

The AirJoule technology provides evaporative cooling by harvesting thermal energy and water from air, in some cases without refrigerants. It has the potential to cut electricity consumption by roughly 75% compared with conventional HVAC systems, Montana Technologies says. 

Carrier has also conditionally pledged a $10 million growth equity investment in the commercialization of AirJoule. The agreement potentially gives Carrier the exclusive right to commercialize AirJoule across HVAC systems in the Americas for three years, according to a separate Jan. 8 news release from Montana. 

Montana Technologies’ partnership with Carrier and the latter’s investment in it demonstrate both companies’ commitment to “reducing energy consumption, cost and carbon footprint,” Montana CEO Matt Jore said in the news releases. The agreement follows Montana’s partnerships with chemical producer BASF and lithium-ion electric battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. 

Last June, Montana announced it will combine with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition II Corp., or XPDB, and list on the NASDAQ pending completion of the merger. That transaction is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of this year. Carrier will receive the right to nominate a member to the board of directors of the merged company, the release said. 

“At Carrier, we are committed to investing in both sustainable and disruptive solutions that will better our planet for generations to come,” Ajay Agrawal, chief strategy officer and senior vice president of business development and global services at Carrier, said in the release. “Our partnership with Montana Technologies, and our future collaboration to commercialize its AIrJoule technology, marks another step forward in this commitment.”