Smart building market to reach new heights

Install base of connected devices will surpass one billion by 2018, Gartner predicts

There will be more than a billion connected "things" in commercial buildings by 2018, Gartner has predicted, with incoming incentives to deploy the Internet of Things (IoT) in the sector fuelling growth in the market.

According to the market watcher, 1.6 billion connected things will be used by smart cities* in 2016, up 39 per cent on this year.

Smart commercial buildings will be responsible for almost a third (32 per cent) of the total market next year on the back of growing sales of commercial security cameras, webcams and indoor LEDs.

By 2018, the smart cities market will have grown to encompass 3.3 billion connected things, while the install base for commercial buildings will have reached 1.06 billion, Gartner added.

"Incentives into the deployment of IoT in commercial real estate will fuel its development," said Bettina Tratz-Ryan, research vice president at Gartner.

"The UK's building information modelling (BIM) mandate, for example, requires that all public sector construction commencing in 2016 complies with BIM (level 2)."

BIM uses data models from various information sources including IoT, which will be used by commercial real estate in the future, Gartner said.

Through the usage of consumer applications such as smart TVs, bulbs and thermostats, smart homes will represent 21 per cent of total IoT use in smart cities in 2016, the market watcher added.

However, by 2018, smart homes will have dethroned smart buildings to lead the market, with an install base of 1.07 billion connected devices.

"The growing maturity of smart home platforms through an ecosystem of home appliances, infotainment and home sensors will mean that smart home investments overtake those of commercial buildings in 2018," said Tratz-Ryan.

* Gartner defines a smart city as an urbanised area where multiple sectors co-operate to achieve sustainable outcomes through the analysis of contextual, real-time information shared among sector-specific information and operational technology systems.