Commercial buildings could save as much as $60 billion if energy efficiency investments were increased by just 1-4%, according to a study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). However, the average cost of using a Building Management System (BMS) to smart retrofit a building is around $2.30 per square foot, or $250,000 for 100,000 square feet, according to Buildings. Meaning return on investment (ROI) is not so straightforward. On the other hand, the internet of things (IoT) with its low-powered networks and increasingly cheap sensors, is helping reduce the cost of smart buildings. Buildings suggests that by implementing IoT-based controls and monitoring to a building can cost from just $5,000 to $50,000, a small figure compared to the traditional cost of BMS. So is it worth waking up your old dumb building with smart retrofitting strategies? “For a quarter of a century the building automation industry has been working hard at […]