What Is a Smart Building? A Guide to Smart Building Technology for Apartments

The short answer: a smart building is a building whose systems, such as access control, smart locks, intercoms, thermostats, lighting, leak sensors, Wi-Fi and parcel lockers, are connected so they share information and act together automatically. In an apartment community, the smartest buildings go one step further: they take their cues from the property management system (PMS), so a new lease, a move-in or a move-out changes the building without anyone entering data twice.

What is meant by "smart building"?

Most buildings already contain plenty of technology. A building becomes smart when that technology stops working in isolation. Four things have to be in place:

• Connected devices: locks, readers, intercoms, thermostats, sensors, cameras and lockers that can report their status and accept commands.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth or cellular networks that let those devices talk, with a plan for what happens when one network path fails.
• A platform: software that brings the systems together, so staff and residents are not juggling a separate app for each one.
• Business context: knowing who lives where, what their lease allows and which units are vacant. In multifamily, that context lives in the PMS.

Devices without the platform are just gadgets. A platform without business context is just a dashboard. A smart building has all four.

What smart building technology does an apartment building use?

Smart building technology for apartments usually falls into eight groups. Few properties need all of them on day one, and most already own some:

1. Access control and smart locks: digital keys for units, entrances, amenities and gates, plus guest and vendor access.
2. Video intercom and building entry: visitors and deliveries handled from a resident's phone.
3. Smart thermostats and HVAC controls: resident comfort, plus automatic setbacks in vacant units.
4. Leak sensors and water shutoff: early warning, and automatic shutoff where a valve is installed.
5. Managed Wi-Fi: connectivity across the property that is ready on move-in day.
6. Package lockers and parcel rooms: delivery notifications and secure pickup.
7. Cameras and sensors: visibility and alerts for common areas, entries and equipment.
8. A platform and resident app: the layer that connects everything above to the PMS, the site team and the resident.

The first seven are hardware categories, and good options exist in each. The eighth decides whether they behave like one building or like seven separate systems.

How does a smart building work?

The easiest way to see it is to follow a move-in. A lease is signed in the PMS. In a smart building, that one event sets everything else in motion: the resident gets a digital key for their unit, the front door and the amenities they are entitled to; their Wi-Fi is ready; the thermostat leaves its vacant unit setting; and the resident app shows their packages, amenity bookings and maintenance requests from day one.

A move-out runs the same way in reverse. Credentials are revoked, services stop, the unit returns to vacant mode and a turnover work order opens. Nobody on site has to remember to update six systems, because the systems update each other.

That is the real test of a smart building: when something changes, do the systems respond together, or does a person have to tell each one?

Can you give me an example of a smart building?

Regius Square is a 124 unit apartment community in Salt Lake City, managed by Asset Living. Before it was connected, the property ran separate systems for access control, smart locks, thermostats, intercoms, packages and amenities, and residents juggled several apps.

Groove Technology Solutions deployed Della OS and connected the property's dormakaba smart locks, Interel thermostats, PDK access control and ButterflyMX intercoms into one platform, with one resident app. When a resident books or changes an amenity reservation, door access updates automatically.

The property reported 43% fewer resident complaints and 35% lower energy costs, and Parks Associates recognized it as Most Innovative Property of the Year. Those are one property's results, and every building is different. Read the Regius Square case study.

What is the difference between a smart building and an intelligent building?

The two terms are often used interchangeably. When people do separate them, a smart building is one whose systems are connected and can be monitored and controlled, often remotely. An intelligent building goes further: it uses data, analytics and increasingly AI to make decisions and act on them, such as setting back HVAC when a unit is vacant, flagging a device that is about to fail, or routing a leak alert to the right technician with the unit, resident and access details attached.

In practice the label matters less than the outcome. A building that only shows you every system on one screen is still asking people to do the work. A building that acts on what it knows is doing the work for them.

Smart building, smart apartment and smart home: what's the difference?

• Smart home: a single household with consumer devices the owner chooses and manages.
• Smart apartment (or smart unit): the technology inside each unit in a rental, such as a smart lock, thermostat, leak sensors and lighting, managed by the property and handed over to each new resident.
• Smart building: the whole property, from units to entrances, amenities, parking, packages and common area systems, plus the people who run it.

For apartment communities, the value comes from connecting all three layers to the lease, so the building knows who should have access to what, and when.

What is a "smart build"?

"Smart build" usually refers to designing technology into a building during construction: the network, conduit, device locations and integrations are planned from day one. That is ideal, but most apartment communities are existing buildings. They can become smart too, usually by connecting the equipment already installed rather than replacing it, and swapping hardware only where it genuinely needs to change.

What are the benefits of a smart building for apartment owners?

• Less manual work: move-ins, move-outs, access changes and amenity bookings happen automatically, so site teams spend their time on residents instead of data entry.
• A better resident experience: one app for doors, guests, packages, amenities, climate and maintenance.
• More control over energy and water: vacant unit setbacks, leak detection and automatic water shutoff. Savings depend on the building, its equipment and how it is run.
• One standard across a portfolio: the same workflows and resident experience across buildings with different hardware, including properties you acquire.
• New services and revenue: resident services such as internet and TV can be offered and managed through the same platform.

Owners are moving quickly. Parks Associates research found that nearly 90% of US apartment owners and operators were planning to deploy, upgrade or replace a smart building solution within 12 months.

What to look for in a smart building platform

1. It works with your PMS as the system of record and acts on lease events.
2. It works with the hardware you already own, and tells you exactly what, if anything, needs replacing.
3. It automates move-in, transfer and move-out across access, Wi-Fi, climate and services.
4. It runs the same standard across different buildings.
5. Local integrators design, install and support it, with a repeatable deployment process.
6. Permissions are built in, so staff, vendors, residents and automations only do what their role allows.

Where Della OS fits

Della OS is a smart building and smart apartment platform for multifamily, student housing and condominium communities. The PMS stays the system of record; Della OS uses its lease and occupancy events to coordinate access, Wi-Fi, climate, amenities, packages, maintenance and resident services across the hardware a property already owns, deployed by certified integrator partners. Your PMS runs the business. Della runs the building.

Book a walkthrough to see it on one of your own properties.