By Aldo Sciacca, R&D and Portfolio Manager at ABB Electrification’s Smart Buildings Division
When an office building is designed, the structure is given a design life. Sixty years for the frame, sometimes longer. Everyone involved knows the number and plans accordingly.
The technology inside the building is different. A building management system, metering system or room controller may be commissioned when the building opens, but it is unlikely to stay unchanged for anything close to the life of the structure. Technology moves faster, software changes, and new devices come along.
That changes how we should think about resilience. As buildings become more connected, electrified and software-enabled, resilience increasingly depends on how easily they can adapt. The systems that manage them need to be open, interoperable and practical to update, rather than tied to a technology that may become outdated.
Design for performance over time
Heating and cooling are a good example. A building can have efficient equipment and still perform poorly over time. Usually nothing has broken. The system is still running as it was originally set up.
Control settings made at setup may never be looked at again. Sensors might not be added as the building’s needs change. Heating and cooling can end up running in empty spaces, showing how efficiency is something that needs to be maintained.
Automation can help building owners respond to these changes. In some cases, better controls and better use of the information already available can improve performance without replacing the underlying equipment.
That makes existing buildings particularly important. We often talk about how to make new buildings more efficient, but most of the buildings that will be in use decades from now already exist. Improving those buildings will require solutions that can work with what is already there and respond as requirements evolve.
Design for the technology that comes next
If a technology layer is likely to be replaced several times during a building's life, we should think about that from the start.
The first question should be whether the system can work with what comes next.
Open standards such as KNX make it easier to connect products and systems from different manufacturers. Building owners should not have to replace an entire system just because one part of it needs replacing.
Modularity matters for the same reason. A building does not always need to change everything at once. A project might start with energy monitoring or HVAC controls, then expand as the value becomes clear. This can make upgrades easier to manage and easier to fit within budgets.
There is another part of adaptability that is easy to overlook: the people who operate the building. If every change requires a specialist to come on site, changes are less likely to happen. Over time, systems can be overridden or left with their original settings simply because maintaining them has become too difficult.
Technology needs to be practical for the people using it. If it is not, even a sophisticated system can end up providing very little value.
Think beyond day one
A building does not stay the same. Tenants come and go. The way people use a building shifts. Energy prices and regulations move on too. New technologies emerge, while existing equipment eventually needs replacing.
We cannot predict all those developments. We can, however, design buildings with them in mind. That means looking beyond what a system can do when it is first installed and asking a more useful question: what can it become?
For building owners and operators, that can make a significant difference over the life of a building. An open and adaptable system gives them more options when requirements evolve. It allows them to adopt new technology without having to start again from the foundations.
That is what building resilience should mean today. Not simply making a building last longer but making sure it can adapt as needs change.
About the author
Aldo Sciacca
Aldo Sciacca is the R&D and Portfolio Manager at ABB Electrification’s Smart Buildings Division. In this role, he oversees innovation and strategy across a global portfolio of energy distribution and smart building technologies. With almost three decades at ABB, Aldo has held senior global leadership roles across product groups, portfolio management, R&D and corporate research. He has contributed to the development of advanced smart building solutions that improve energy efficiency, enhance sustainability and support the transition to net-zero.
As a strong advocate for industry collaboration, Aldo believes technology and teamwork are key to accelerating sustainability and smart building transformation. He served as a judge for the 2022 edition of ABB’s Startup Challenge, an annual competition supporting early-stage climate tech startups developing innovative solutions for smart buildings, smart power, distribution, and sustainability. Prior to his current position, Aldo was Global Head of Energy Distribution for ABB’s Smart Buildings, where he played a key role in shaping energy distribution strategies and advancing product development. Based in Italy, Aldo holds a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Milano and has received industry recognition for his contributions to technical innovation.
