While it doesn’t always pay to follow the herd, tracking the biggest property management trends is an important part of the job. Understanding what tools different managers are using to streamline their operations, become more effective, and deliver better outcomes to occupiers is critical to ensure that your own property management efforts are kept as efficient as possible.
In this article we will break down the three property management technology trends that are dominating right now in terms of effectiveness, adoption, or simple buzz.
1. Property metrics: Measure everything
The first property management trend we are discussing is the push to collect as much data as possible in order to streamline future operations. There are a few drivers for this.
Increasing attention to ESG
More property firms are carefully tracking ESG than ever before. Consider that CBRE’s 2021 Global Investor Intentions survey found that 60 percent of respondents already adopted ESG criteria for their own investments. This heightened ESG focus requires managers to be diligent in identifying and monitoring a wide range of data points from energy consumption to diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics and beyond.
Increasing power of measurement tools
Property companies have always been focused on reducing expenses, and now that there seems to be a sensor or measurement tool for every conceivable building expense, the sky is the limit for property optimization. Want to track waste generation, the number of people using your rooftop deck, or the average visit to your on-site gym? It’s all possible, and each of these figures could inform a better allocation of resources for the property as well as future investments.
It is also getting easier and easier to actually measure all of these important statistics and metrics. Managers today can choose from occupancy sensors, sensors connected to doors, sensors that recognize body heat, cameras, positional monitoring systems and beyond. This makes it simpler than ever to actually set up the tools that gather data. Conversely, it is getting harder and harder to say that important data is actually impossible to collect.
