The construction of Birmingham’s first smart-enabled building, Enterprise Wharf, is now underway at the Innovation Birmingham Campus in what is a major boost to the city’s economic recovery. The development of Enterprise Wharf by Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General, marks the expansion of the region’s leading digital and tech campus, which is already home to an established cluster of more than 150 businesses working in high growth areas such as fintech, proptech, edtech, 5G and VR and will provide much needed grow-on space for tech businesses looking to expand or relocate to the city.  Located next to Aston University and Birmingham City University, in the heart of the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, the 10 storey, 120,000 sq ft Enterprise Wharf will feature a large, open plan reception and collaboration space, cycle storage with kit drying room, space for electric vehicle charging, showers and a roof garden with stunning views over the city.  New external landscaping will create a new green space for the campus, providing direct, much improved access to the adjacent Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. Embedded with smart, Internet of Things (IoT) technology, Enterprise Wharf will collect and have the ability to monitor data from the Building Management System, HVAC, lighting and CCTV. Data from a range of sensors will be displayed in a purpose-built dashboard; allowing air quality, lighting and energy consumption to be managed and optimised, creating a healthy, productive and sustainable workplace.   Enterprise Wharf will be the first new development at the Innovation Birmingham Campus to incorporate measures towards the achievement of Net Zero Carbon; including an A-rated EPC together with 100 m2 of PV solar power, and a combined air source heat pump and chiller system enabling highly efficient heating, heat recovery, and cooling. The building’s  facade has also been optimised to provide high thermal efficiency, minimising internal artificial lighting requirements. David Hardman, Managing Director, Bruntwood SciTech – Birmingham, said: “Enterprise Wharf will be a valuable and important addition to Birmingham’s already thriving tech ecosystem.  Birmingham boasts world-class universities, a skilled talent pool and fantastic transport links making it the UK’s top city for startups. The Innovation Birmingham Campus has long held a reputation as a dynamic innovation community for SMEs. This expansion now opens up the Campus’ innovation capabilities to larger companies looking for opportunities to access innovation and talent in the region. “Birmingham’s first smart-enabled building offers a unique and unrivalled opportunity for tech businesses to benefit from super-fast and reliable connectivity, smart access control and visitor management as well as the ability to control temperature and lighting to reduce CO2 emissions and improve wellbeing and sustainability.” Part of the Bruntwood SciTech network, the Innovation Birmingham Campus is part of the West Midlands 5G testbed and home to ‘5PRING’, the UK’s first 5G commercial applications accelerator programme which provides offices and demonstration spaces alongside access to 5G technology, allowing businesses to experiment with features that aren’t yet commercially available to test solutions to major problems.   Planning permission for Enterprise Wharf was granted in April 2020. GRAHAM has been appointed as the main contractor and agents include Avison Young, CBRE and Savills. On GRAHAM’s appointment, David Hardman commented: “We’re very much looking forward to working with GRAHAM. Their commitment to the local supply chain and the development of future industry talent is more important now than ever. The development of Enterprise Wharf will help to support six work experience placements and three existing apprenticeships as well as create opportunities for two new apprentices and 65 full time positions in a boost to local employment.” Commenting on the project GRAHAM Regional Director, Ronan Hughes, said: “Enterprise Wharf is a unique development for Birmingham’s Knowledge Quarter, and we are looking forward to making the ambitious plans a reality through the implementation of our intelligent construction methodology and programme. “At GRAHAM, we pride ourselves on being ‘digital by default’, and we will apply our innovative digital construction and BIM Level 2 processes to add value to this smart-enabled building project. Equally, we are committed to making a lasting impact within the communities where we operate. That’s why we’ve developed a robust Employment Plan specifically for Enterprise Wharf that will generate a considerable social value impact, particularly in the creation of employment opportunities.” Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership has invested £5m from its Local Growth Fund to support the development of Enterprise Wharf, in line with its strategic aims to support the region’s digital and innovation sector.  Enterprise Wharf is due to complete in late 2022. 

Pelion, the Connected IoT Device service provider, and subsidiary of Arm, jointly announced a partnership with Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings. This partnership will accelerate innovation in connectivity, security and intelligence at the edge for Johnson Controls OpenBlue technology. “This partnership combines Johnson Controls deep domain expertise in healthy buildings with Pelion’s device and edge management capabilities to usher in an era of truly smart, updatable facilities at cloud scale,” said Mike Ellis, chief customer and digital officer for Johnson Controls. “OpenBlue’s AI capabilities at the edge will consolidate diverse points of intelligence distributed across various floors, sites or even continents into insights and actions, creating an updateable building that can self-heal and evolve over its lifespan.” This innovation mirrors the automotive sector, where software, multiple sensors and AI-trained models have transformed the industry by enabling autonomous driving and software updates that blend data to continually improve vehicle capabilities and experience. Johnson Controls is applying the concept to the built environment. They will leverage Pelion’s flexible device management capabilities to unite diverse device types and application layers to feed AI models that respond to dynamic workloads. “Johnson Controls has the strategic foresight to rely on a partner to streamline the complexity of IoT device management security and secure firmware updates over the air,” said Hima Mukkamala, CEO of Pelion. “Pelion’s connected device platform will standardise the onboarding process for all systems, including the edge and endpoint devices that run on them, plus offer world-class public key infrastructure for secure and simple integration with third-parties.” This secure, open and flexible approach to device management will allow OpenBlue to run any device and hardware configuration, from hardware gateways to constrained temperature sensors. In order to provide sustainable, low cost and low power intelligent processing at the edge, the partnership will utilise proven energy-efficient processors from Pelion’s parent company, Arm, which are a key part of Johnson Controls’ distributed hardware deployment.

Companies of all sizes can benefit from cloud-based HR software. From improvements in productivity and employee engagement to greater levels of data security, cloud-based HR software could hold the answers to a more efficient business model that attracts and retains the best talent (click the link for more info). Today, we’re going to look at some of the most compelling reasons to migrate your HR solutions to cloud-based software. Secure Data Storage  Businesses that fail to leverage cloud-based HR software often find that sensitive data is stored in a variety of unsecured locations. For example, employee data may be loosely stored in unprotected onsite databases or spread across a variety of management apps. Standard practices could even involve storing and sharing data in emails. HR software from a cloud-based vendor means that you will benefit from storing all of your data in a single secure location. Remote access to all of your business data is an added benefit of switching to a cloud-based HR model. Increased Productivity – PART I (HR Team) HR team members typically spend more time than employers would prefer on low-level tasks such as transferring data from one system to another. Specialist online software offers interconnectivity between systems, meaning that data pertaining to linked areas such as job applicants, training, and payroll can be stored and viewed in a central location.  By streamlining and reducing the number of necessary HR tasks, decisions can be made over the cost-effective number of HR staff members required to run the business.  Increased Productivity – PART II (Staff) Leveraging a central hub for all of your company’s day to day HR needs means that staff members can access and complete data tasks as needed without taking up HR resources. For example, where staff members can view and update their personal details (address, phone number, etc.) and book annual leave, the role of HR team members is reduced to approving system changes or requests (removing the administration duties).  Automated Performance Reports  Analysing workflow and average output to ascertain individual staff contributions is a time-consuming task. Data such as hours worked, absenteeism, and the training courses that are undertaken and completed can all be viewed at the click of a mouse. This means that your company can see what has been achieved by teams and individuals within set date ranges. Where departments may be lacking in comparison to other departments, decisions can be made that will help to bring output up to optimum levels across the organisation. GDPR Compliance Cloud-based HR software enables greater compliance with GDPR. Tailored dashboards can be preset to include prompts and reminders over specific areas of GDPR that may otherwise be overlooked if left to HR staff members to fulfil. For example, aspects of GDPR compliance include monitoring data retention periods to anonymise or delete data as appropriate, and allowing employees to access relevant data.  Integrated HR software from a cloud-based vendor brings all of the above benefits and much more – moving to an online software model for your HR needs is worth consideration.

Making your website better visible in the search results is one of the top tasks of all business owners, and backlinks building is one of the effective strategies to achieve this goal. There are a lot of approaches to backlinks building, and some of them are neither legal nor effective. However, in this article, we are going to talk about the life-proven way of obtaining high-quality do-follow backlinks. Yes, we are talking about guest posting, and in this article, you will find out everything you need to know about this SEO tactic. Your Backlinks Matter Google is quite famous for changing its ranking algorithms every year, or even more frequently. With the aim of delivering top-notch content, it is always looking for ways to match the users’ requests with the information delivered even more accurately. However, there is a thing that remains unchanged, and this is the presence of high-quality do-follow backlinks to your website. This is one of the indicators of your content quality. Also, Google is well aware of illegal link-building practices. It states that the backlinks profile should be built organically, that is, you have to create valuable and meaningful content, and somebody has to cite it on their blog or website. Despite this approach is quite right, there is a high probability of waiting for too long while the competition is strengthening. So, there is a way out – you may post links with the help of guest posts or guest posting services. Your Backlinks From the Websites with High DA Matter Even Most What’s more, the domain authority of the website that links back to your publication matters as well. The higher the domain authority of the third-party website, the more weight your backlink will have, and the better your website will be ranked in search results. That is, if you intentionally collaborate with reputable websites, you may get better chances of being promoted by Google. The only way to do it is to submit guest posts, i.e, publications that are specifically created to be published on third-party quality sites. However, how to find guest posting sites and how to collaborate with them? This is one more challenge you have to discover and deal with. But before proceeding with this issue, let’s find out one more benefit of guest posting as one of the leading building backlinks to your website strategies in 2021. You May Attract New Audience By Publishing Guest Posts In addition to the fact that guest posting allows for getting organic backlinks to your website, it also allows you to increase your organic traffic by attracting a live and interested audience. The only thing you have to do to achieve this goal is to find a website with high domain authority and a similar target audience that may be potentially interested in your product or services. You also have to place your backlink organically in the content published by the third-party website. It shouldn’t look like an ad but should look like an organic and useful mention beneficial for the readers. Thus, you also need skills to create such content pieces that will match the third-party website requirements, fit the expectations of their audience and look like a natural mention in the eyes of users and Google. Getting in Touch With The Websites Accepting Guest Posts May Be Challenging How to submit blogs posts on guest sites? Many business owners find it quite challenging to find suitable publishers, get in touch with them, agree on content placement and finally get their post published and backed up by a backlink. What’s more, placing your guest posts on a website with high domain authority may be quite costly, and creating an article that will match their content requirements even more difficult. Also, you should always keep the target audience specifics in mind – there is almost no point in creating top-notch content for the audience that isn’t interested in your products or services. Thus, when looking for platforms accepting guest posts manually, you can be at risk of wasting your time and money. Also, there is a risk of getting in touch with scammers and never seeing your post published, even despite the high domain authority. So, some business owners are looking for the most reliable guest posting opportunities. There Is a Way to Streamline Your Guest Posting Strategy Fortunately, there are a lot of guest posting services that may help you with your backlinks building strategy. As a rule, they have already collected a database of proven publishers who are ready to accept guest posts and place your link in exchange for a reasonable fee. There is also an opportunity to filter the websites according to their age, DA, and target audience specifics so that you may be sure that you are publishing your post on a promising platform. Such an approach allows for avoiding the main pitfalls of manual guest posting. What’s more. some of the guest posting services may also help you with creating valuable content for third-party sources, and thereby, you can fully automate and outsource your guest posting strategy. Conclusion Submitting guest posts is one of the winning and reliable backlinks building strategies. There are also advanced opportunities for complete automatization of your guest posting efforts so make sure to take your benefit. Also, don’t underestimate the value of backlinks. The practical experiment in search engine optimization suggests that this is the point that isn’t going to lose its relevance.

Sustainability has been at the top of the building agenda for many years, with an emphasis on its environmental and economic impact. Such outcomes are of major importance, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that buildings are created for people, and their health and wellbeing should be of the highest priority when it comes to the interior design and workings of offices and other workplaces. Stacey Lucas, Commercial and Marketing Director at Sontay, a market-leader in the manufacture of sensors specifically developed to improve the indoor environment and create healthier, more energy-efficient buildings, looks at how smart sensor technology is being employed for beneficial effect in the places we inhabit most. Pre-pandemic we reportedly spent more than 90% of our lives indoors whether at home, school or in the workplace. Ventilation, temperature and pressure regulation contribute to maintaining an atmospheric happy medium, which in a work environment helps increase employee contentment, leading to increased productivity and fewer sick days. Building sensors installed as part of an efficient building management system, offer an ingeniously smart and effective way of remotely monitoring indoor conditions, as well as giving property owners more control over energy usage; a benefit that not only helps reduce heating and lighting costs, it facilitates a significant reduction in a building’s carbon footprint. Monitoring key criteria such as relative humidity, CO2 and air quality can also offer vital information on the likelihood of viral transmission in the indoor environment and instruct the BMS to increase ventilation to improve conditions. Their usage could therefore be a factor in driving environmental-initiatives, such as the UK government’s pledge for carbon-neutral status by 2050 as well as building confidence in us returning to office buildings in the future. Sensor solutions Sensors can control a myriad of elements that affect our indoor climate including temperature, which in relation to an office environment is found to be around 22°C. However, relative humidity, if not managed correctly can make a room feel hotter or colder than the actual temperature reading. It can increase the likelihood of bacterial spread at lower levels. A sensor can help overcome these issues by monitoring humidity levels, to ensure an ideal 50% reading is maintained. In terms of air quality, airborne volatile organic compounds (VOC), pollutants which are found in paints and other building materials, are known to have a detrimental effect. The same harmful chemicals are also present in hand sanitisers, aggressive cleaning products and detergents; the demand for which has been unprecedented since the onset of the coronavirus crisis. Air quality sensors are able to measure VOC levels and provide data for when ventilation is needed to maintain occupancy comfort, or the need to take action when a potentially hazardous reading is recorded. Crisis management The COVID-19 pandemic has also focused a lot of attention on the amount of indoor space people should be allowed to share in order to maintain distance and prevent viral spread. A CO2 sensor provides a clear visual indication of when a workplace requires ventilation due to deterioration in the indoor air quality. When we exhale we emit CO2, which if left unchecked in a busy office environment for example, can lead to headaches due to increased discomfort levels. A CO2 sensor with an LED traffic light-style display can help alleviate this issue. When showing green, for instance, the sensor is indicating that a room isn’t over-occupied and the risk to air quality is low. Should the sensor show amber, it’s a sign that windows require opening or fewer people need to be in the room to maintain the same healthy indoors environment. When the sensor turns red it is a call to action, as it indicates there is not enough ventilation in the room. At these last two stages, if a sensor is connected to a building management system, it will activate relevant ventilation. Light level and occupancy sensors offer further relevance to the ongoing pandemic. In relation to the nationwide lockdown, many offices in towns and cities remain empty whilst lights and other energy sources continue to burn unmonitored within the buildings themselves. An estimated 40% of a building’s energy costs are attributed to light usage; therefore, installing a sensor which operates lighting based on a building’s occupancy and interior light levels has financial and environmental benefits. Though relatively small in size, building sensors can have a huge part to play in ensuring properties, particularly workspaces, are managed safely, sustainably and profitably. Like a friend we never knew we had, these smart little devices look out for us when we’re in the office, and look out for the office when we’re at home. They are becoming evermore vital to the way we work today, and in the future.

Cadline has launched a new platform called DynamicAIM, to address a major crisis for building and asset owners, providing the “golden thread” required within the construction and housing industry. DynamicAIM is a first of its kind, all-in-one solution for digitising build details including all BIM, survey and asset information, enabling property owners and managers to securely preserve and access vital information when needed. Local authorities, housing developers, and manufacturing sites are among the first to adopt DynamicAIM, including associations such as Peabody and Wolverhampton Council. “As our go-to 3D survey and BIM supplier, Cadline’s DynamicAIM helps us digitise our stock and centralise data whilst working towards conforming to the Hackitt report and new government guideline,” said a spokesperson from Peabody. Asset owners are facing a critical point for building safety as The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has this week revealed new guidance on which types of properties require additional inspections. This means asset owners need to be prepared to hand over vital information at any time, as outlined in the Hackitt report. Where build details, drawings, measurements, certifications and manuals would traditionally be produced manually and stored separately, the ability to digitally store and view all details in one platform means asset managers are able to more effectively and safely maintain buildings and facilities. DynamicAIM is enabling firms to comply with the Building Safety Bill – which is likely to require a digital version of residential buildings above 18 metres. “It is a building owner’s responsibility to preserve asset information in order to have the means to appropriately maintain the building and its contents. The failings in this regard are well documented throughout the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry and while property managers struggle to search for historical data that is either outdated, inaccurate, or no longer exists,” added Matt Lees, Head of Engineering at Cadline. “Now, all asset details from specific measurements right through to large-scale plans can be shared among architects, stakeholders, fire engineers and safety managers in one platform. This has been critical for those addressing immediate safety requirements, and to provide better transparency for stakeholders, tenants and staff.” DynamicAIM is built on Cadline’s existing, robust DynamicMaps functionality. It has been created as one solution to address demand from existing Cadline clients. DynamicAIM handles big data and enables asset owners and managers to view any element of the building virtually, via 3D model or 360 HD virtual tours. It also has the ability to obtain measurements, making future adjustments, repairs or maintenance much easier and quicker to carry out. As an Autodesk partner, Cadline specialises in supporting customers in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing industries.

Priva – one of the world’s leading building controls manufacturers – has launched a new innovation lab to accelerate the development and deployment of technology and software solutions that enable better, healthier buildings and smarter approaches to energy use. From its base in De Lier, Holland, Priva Lab for Innovation (Lin) has been developed in response to the major energy challenges faced within the built environment supply chain. Together, building and construction are responsible for 39% of all carbon emissions in the world[1], with operational emissions (from energy used to heat, cool and light buildings) accounting for 28%.  The Lab’s growing suite of smart building technologies will also help organisations to participate in the ‘energy transition’. This will make it easier for carbon-conscious businesses and the public sector to take advantage of smarter, more flexible approaches to energy consumption. It will also enable more efficient balancing of demand from green, renewable sources.  Technology suite The Lin Lab capitalises on sophisticated digital twin technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to bring new, data driven solutions to the smart buildings / smart energy market. The launch portfolio is focused on two technologies: ecoBuilding – an already proven technology which is an intelligent layer of cloud-based software that sits on top of an existing building management system. Already deployed in sites across Europe, ecoBuilding uses digital twin and AI technology to learns how to balance indoor climate control against external factors such as fluctuations in energy tariffs and make continuous operational improvements to a buildings.  ecoGrid – a cloud-based smart microgrid solution which enables fully-automated balancing of energy consumption, demand and storage by optimising the flows between the connected energy elements. It makes buildings with renewable energy sources even more self-sufficient and ready to connect to energy grids at a local level.   Commenting on the launch of Priva’s Lab for Innovation Peter Vandendriessche, VP Strategy & Commerce, said: “We are extremely excited to share Priva’s Lab for Innovation with the world. We are a business that never stands still; we always look to the future. The Lin Lab will act as an important accelerator for cutting-edge technologies that will re-shape the way our customers and partners use – and resource – energy. In doing so, it will be possible to embrace the smart energy revolution and accelerate the journey to Net Zero emissions. We very much look forward to inviting you all to the Lab as soon as we are able.” Online profile To support the launch of Priva’s Lab for Innovation a comprehensive website has been developed which includes case studies and references of ecoGrid and ecoBuilding as well as regularly updated content on topics around energy in the built environment. To explore the Priva Lab for Innovation, click here: www.privalabforinnovation.com