Re-envisioning the Post-COVID Workplace

    BOSTON, MA, January 11, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The COVID-19 pandemic shook the commercial real estate (CRE) marketplace to its core — and the reverberations continue. Many workers are slow to return to the office. Companies are downsizing their physical footprints. And once-thriving buildings and neighborhoods can look like ghost towns. The good news? Property technology (or PropTech) innovators — including Digital Lumens, Inc. — deliver next-gen solutions that meet the current challenges and position CRE for a brighter future.

During this period of seismic change in the marketplace, building owners face two intertwined needs: enhancing the tenant experience and increasing the value of their properties. One can't happen without the other. As a result, updating office buildings with innovative PropTech is a front-of-mind topic for CRE professionals who want to survive and thrive in a disrupted market.

Creating a great tenant experience
Digital Lumens and Encelium, the core brands of Digital Lumens, Inc., are helping property owners and managers make critical changes to their buildings that significantly improve the tenant experience, including implementing advanced, automated lighting and other comfort-enhancing capabilities. The goal is to retain current occupants and attract new tenants. At the same time, these innovations make buildings more intelligent, more efficient — and more valuable. They are helping address some of the top challenges in today's commercial real estate market.

"In unsettled times, it's important to stay flexible and be ready to make changes, fast," says Brian Bernstein, CEO of Digital Lumens, Inc. "Digital Lumens and Encelium enable our customers to make meaningful improvements and critical upgrades to a wide range of commercial buildings, quickly and easily. Thanks to our advanced, proven PropTech solutions, our customers can attract and retain tenants, take advantage of new opportunities, and build the value of their property portfolio."

Luring tenants back to the workplace
The stats vary, but a high-profile survey by the New York Times found that 45% of workers want to be in the office full-time, compared with 31% who want to be remote full-time and 24% who want a hybrid work arrangement.¹ Reluctant workers need to be lured back to offices, factories, warehouses, and other places of work. Meanwhile, workers who want to come back expect a more comfortable environment. When employees notice a significant improvement in light quality (and quantity) and a better overall working environment, it sends a strong message that their employer cares and invests in their comfort, security, and safety.

Encelium X, Encelium's complete light management system, gives tenants a high level of control, who can adjust lights in their workspaces, conference rooms, and other areas — quickly and easily — creating a great experience. The workplace may not have all the comforts of home, but now it can have most of them.

With its SiteWorx portfolio of applications, Digital Lumens optimizes workplaces for comfort, safety, and efficiency. SiteWorx monitors factors that contribute to Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS), including temperature, humidity, air quality, airborne particles, gas sensors, and much more. Conditions out of the norm trigger alerts, allowing for immediate remediation, while long-term data can be used for company reporting and trendspotting. And when safety requires social distancing, SiteWorx can observe occupancy and activity, alerting building managers to overcrowding.

Meeting the needs of a younger workforce
Millennials already make up 50% of the workforce, and by 2025 they're projected to reach a staggering 75% of the global workforce.² These younger workers (particularly tech workers) aren't going to be satisfied by beige cubicles, harsh lighting, stale air, or other discomforts that employees may have tolerated in the past. They want to control their work environment with mobile phone-like speed and simplicity.

Encelium X balances automation with control. For example, occupancy sensors and time-scheduled events turn on lights automatically, while easy-to-use touchscreens provide one-touch manual control. Accurate color temperature control keeps lighting in sync with tenants' circadian rhythm. Comfort dimming keeps all areas lit appropriately at all times. These sophisticated capabilities and more are all designed to be exceptionally easy to use, helping retain and attract tech-savvy tenants.

Increasing the efficiency of office buildings
Facing high volatility and high vacancy rates, building owners need to do more with less. They need to cut costs where they can, without cutting corners that affect the all-important tenant experience. And by bringing new automation to commercial buildings, fewer managers can oversee more properties.

Digital Lumens' SiteWorx solution identifies opportunities for energy savings, including intelligent lighting control strategies, such as task tuning, progressive dimming, and daylight harvesting. It also monitors how electricity, water, and other utilities are being consumed so that these costs can be contained and reduced. These capabilities and more ensure that commercial spaces are smarter, more efficient, and easier to manage.

Encelium X light controls boost energy efficiency while simplifying building maintenance. And the Encelium system is BTL-certified to ensure seamless integration with building management systems (BMS). Sharing occupancy data enables HVAC systems to optimize performance during regular operation and perform variable load shedding to save energy during peak periods — all automatically and while ensuring tenant comfort.

Making buildings more flexible
Building owners and managers need to be able to reconfigure offices, floors, and entire buildings — quickly and efficiently — to meet the needs of tenants with rapidly evolving workforces.

Encelium X is exceptionally flexible, enabling quick changes to commercial spaces — from sub-dividing areas or expanding floorplans — so new tenants can move in quickly. In an era of rapid evolution, Encelium X enables significant changes in lighting that take minutes, not days or weeks.

Digital Lumens' SiteWorx solution is equally flexible, so owners and managers can reconfigure areas or entire buildings to meet evolving needs, simply, easily, and quickly. Wireless sensors, intelligent luminaires, and other advanced components keep even larger buildings nimble and ready for change.

Enhancing the tenant experience while increasing value
Meeting the challenges of a post-COVID CRE marketplace comes down to one core capability — control. Tenants want more control over their workplace environment and day-to-day experience. And building owners need to gain tighter control of their buildings to be more efficient, flexible, sustainable, and valuable. Recognizing these pressing needs, advanced PropTech solutions from Digital Lumens and Encelium deliver new control, automation, and value to building owners and managers — and an exceptional experience to even the most demanding tenants.

Learn more about the latest PropTech solutions offered by Digital Lumens, Inc. at digitallumensinc.com. Digital Lumens, Inc. is a portfolio company of Skyview Capital.

¹ "It's 'Back to That Isolation Bubble' for Workers Pining for the Office, New York Times, August 23, 2021.
² "The (Millennial) Workplace of the Future Is Almost Here—These Three Things Are About to Change Bigtime," Inc., January 15, 2019.

At Digital Lumens, Inc., our sole focus is on helping people by improving the facilities where they work, learn, and heal. We use our proven technology and deep expertise to transform how our customers illuminate, monitor, and manage key facilities — including industrial facilities, offices, and other commercial buildings, healthcare centers, and educational campuses.

Our two brands — Digital Lumens and Encelium — bring advanced but easy-to-use Lighting, Lighting Controls, and Beyond Illumination solutions to our diverse customers, so they can achieve new efficiency, comfort, and control.

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