Growing Demand for Smart Buildings

Trends, Insights and Lessons Learned from the Amsterdam Smart Building Tour

The market for smart office buildings has gained fresh momentum across Europe, and one thing is clear: the demand for digitalized, data-driven and flexible buildings has never been stronger. Today’s building technology solutions go far beyond comfort features—they deliver business value, energy efficiency, improved tenant experience, and significant operational savings.

We experienced this trend firsthand during the Smart Building Tour in Amsterdam on November 18, jointly organized by Dutch technology company bGrid, Smart Edge Solutions and Proptech Zoom. The tour offered behind-the-scenes access to three different, fully operational smart office buildings—showing real examples, real data and real stories of how intelligent buildings work in practice.

What Makes an Office Building “Smart” in 2025?

The latest trends clearly point toward mobile application–centric designs, sensor-based infrastructure, standardized user experiences, and digital twin–driven building management.

Among the solutions demonstrated during the tour, several stood out:

1. Real-time occupancy and utilization measurement

The bGrid sensor network displays real utilization by tenant, by floor or even by workstation. This revolutionizes space planning and supports new business models such as dynamic leasing, optimized cleaning schedules and demand-driven operations.

2. Integrated tenant applications

The Bisner presentation—currently running in locations such as District West—highlighted that tenants increasingly expect a single app to handle:

• access control
• meeting room booking
• parking
• visitor registration
• service access

The fusion of physical and digital space has become a baseline requirement.

3. Energy optimization through data-driven automation

Advanced HVAC, lighting and shading systems all adapt to real usage patterns. Multiple locations showcased how fine-tuned algorithms enabled 15–30% energy savings without major investments.

4. Flexibility and scalability

Across buildings of various sizes and functions, one message was consistent: smart building technology is no longer a “luxury.” It is a modular, scalable system that adapts to project size and organizational needs.

Who Was the Tour Designed For – and What Made It Special?

The Smart Building Tour was organized strictly by invitation for developers, investors, owners and consultants. The goal was to show how smart buildings create tangible value through real operational examples.

The day started at 9:30 at Schiphol Airport, from where a private bus took participants to the three sites. Between visits, presentations and discussions took place, with perspectives shared by developers, operators, technology providers and tenants.

A defining feature of the event was its practical focus: every building showcased real, functioning systems-not prototypes. Participants could therefore understand, through real use cases, what makes an office building competitive in 2025 and beyond.

The Next Milestone: PropTech Hungary Conference – May 14

Smart building technologies will be a highlighted theme at this year’s PropTech Hungary Conference, where we will go deeper into the trends we observed together with our Dutch partners during the Amsterdam tour.

In the “Intelligent Buildings – Offices of the Future” session, experts, developers and technology leaders will discuss:

• the latest sensor and BMS integrations
• energy efficiency solutions
• tenant apps and service platforms
• new models of data-driven operations
• ROI from both investor and operator perspectives

Important note: Early-bird tickets are available for only 15 more days. Registration is recommended as last year’s conference also sold out.

Where Is the Future of Smart Offices Heading?

Amsterdam made it clear: competitive advantage no longer depends on location or design alone, but on intelligent services, data, and the building’s ability to adapt to rapidly changing work patterns.

Smart building technology has reached a maturity level where it truly supports business decisions, increases tenant satisfaction, reduces costs and strengthens sustainability.

And this is only the beginning.

If you would like to join the next spring Smart Office Tour, feel free to contact me.

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