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Developing Smart Building Solutions

Braemac Americas Team in Blogs on July 14, 2025

About Braemac Americas Team

Braemac Americas experts detail how to develop smart building solutions.

It is 7:45 AM, and you’re driving to work. You pull into the office parking lot, where the gate automatically opens after a license plate recognition system reads your plate. You get out of your vehicle and make your way to the building. As you approach the door, an access system recognizes your face and opens it. Your entry is confirmed by a soft chime. After greeting a coworker, you settle into your desk chair. The lighting adjusts to a comfortable brightness and the HVAC system lowers the temperature slightly, having learned your preferences.

This is just the start of a day’s work for a smart building – sensing, adjusting, and communicating in the background, without you being aware of most of it.

For building owners and operators, smart buildings offer numerous benefits, including reduced energy consumption, lower operational costs, and improved occupant comfort and security. Smart buildings can also command a higher market value and attract tenants. Additionally, smart technology can significantly increase a building’s lifespan by allowing for greater functionality, efficiency, and adaptability over time.

What are Smart Buildings?

Smart buildings contain sophisticated connected systems that control building operations. They offer capabilities to lower operational costs, enhance security, and improve building performance. In a world of connected solutions, more buildings are being designed or retrofitted with intelligent infrastructure. The global smart building market was valued at $117.4 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $548.5 billion in 2032. With 70% of the world’s population expected to shift to urban areas by 2050, smart building growth is anticipated to follow this trend.

4 Defining Features of a Smart Building

1. Internet of Things (IoT) Sensor Integration

IoT sensors provide smart buildings with the data needed to make intelligent decisions. Examples of applications within a building that can benefit from sensors include:

  • Air quality sensors that detect smoke and vapors
  • Smart lighting sensors that turn lights on or off based on occupancy
  • Smart HVAC to control temperature and humidity, adjusting for occupancy levels, prevailing temperatures, and weather forecasts
  • Smart windows that automatically lighten or darken, reducing energy load and glare
  • Preventative maintenance – analytics and AI to detect abnormal patterns
  • Security – access control, motion detection, smart cameras, and smart elevators
  • Fire detection and suppression

2. Data Analytics

Data analytics provide smart buildings with actionable insights from data gathered from the sensors. Without proper data analytics, the information gathered from sensor technology cannot drive informed decisions. Data analytics help smart buildings discern the correct response to fluctuations within their systems.

Examples of connected systems in smart buildings.

Smart Building Applications
Source:
SpringerOpen

3. A User Interface

A smart building’s user interface allows users to interact directly with smart systems throughout the building. A user interface can include computer screens, touch displays, voice commands, or any item that provides connection between the building and its users.

4. Connectivity

Connectivity is the basis for all smart ecosystems and allows devices within intelligent systems to communicate with each other. Some of the top networking methods for smart building environments include:
  • Wi-Fi 6/6E, Wi-Fi 7, and Ethernet/PoE provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity for environments with a high density of devices
  • 5G, NB-IoT, and LTE-M enable scalable wireless communication and remote monitoring
  • LoRaWAN®, Zigbee, and Thread support low-power, long-range communication for sensors, automation, and building management

Performance Starts at Design

Building designers often use both passive and smart strategies. Both focus on improving performance, occupant comfort, and sustainability, but they approach these goals in different ways. Passive strategies are architectural solutions that require no mechanical or digital systems. They often include shading, orientation to the sun, natural ventilation, and daylighting (using sunlight to illuminate the building interior).

Passive and smart strategies designed together from the start can enhance each other’s strengths. For example, a building using large south-facing windows to maximize natural daylight can use smart lighting systems to dim artificial lights when daylighting is sufficient, resulting in energy savings and occupant comfort.

Passive and smart strategies implemented in isolation can lead to inefficiencies or conflict. For example, if automated blinds block large windows that provide daylight and warmth in the winter, the HVAC system and artificial lights may activate unnecessarily, increasing energy costs.

The best outcomes happen when passive and smart technologies work together. When incorporating smart tech into an existing building, it is important to understand the building’s natural behavior. In the planning and budgeting stage, identify and prioritize the smart building solutions that can add the greatest value. This includes determining the number and location of sensors needed, as well as connectivity and power sources.

Connected Ecosystems for Greater Sustainability

Smart buildings can be part of smart cities, along with smart grids, intelligent transportation, and e-governance platforms. The demand for smart building solutions also stems from an environmental perspective. Urbanization and the need for more efficient resource management is driving sustainable technological solutions in cities.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, cities consume 75% of the world’s natural resources, including 80% of the global energy supply, and produce approximately 75% of global carbon emissions.

Smart buildings offer a key environmentally friendly component to sustainable smart cities. Increased smart building integration can offer cities the following benefits:
  • Improved safety
  • Reduced energy consumption
  • Cost reduction
  • Increased wellbeing

Smart Building Solutions Available at Braemac Americas


At Braemac Americas | Symmetry Electronics, we support developers with innovative solutions designed to meet the intelligence and connectivity that smart buildings require. As trusted industry experts, we are uniquely positioned to help designers overcome technical hurdles and ensure optimal performance in smart building designs.

Our curated portfolio includes in-stock, available components purpose-built to support secure connectivity and seamless integration. From air quality sensors to IoT modules and switches, our solutions help accelerate development and ensure long-term reliability of smart building solutions.
Sensirion SEN6x Air Quality Sensor Node

The Sensirion SEN6x series of air quality sensing modules measure key environmental parameters, including particulate matter, humidity, temperature, VOC, NOx and either CO2 or formaldehyde – in a single, compact package. With Sensirion’s extensive experience in environmental sensing, these modules deliver exceptional performance and superior longevity. With all relevant algorithms in one device, the SEN6x simplifies integration and streamlines the supply chain to accelerate time to market.

Ezurio Veda SL917 MCU Module

The Veda SL917 from Ezurio is an ultra-low power connectivity solution for next-gen wireless IoT. Designed for ultra-low power industrial IoT connectivity, the Veda SL917 series supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, Matter, and IP networking for secure cloud connectivity. The SL917 is well suited for devices needing extended operating and battery life, such as building access control sensors, HVAC controllers, and wireless security cameras.

Lantronix LS Series

The Lantronix LS series is a managed layer 2+ Gigabit PoE++ Ethernet switch offering a small footprint, hardened temperature rating, and cloud-based management. It is ideal for IoT and IP devices throughout smart buildings. The product comes integrated with Lantronix’s cloud-based Percepxion™ software platform to optimize device life cycle management, enterprise application integration, and data analytics. Easy to employ and manage, the LS Series helps lower maintenance costs, improving building efficiency and enhancing the occupant experience.

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