Community Engagement

So much energy technology is focussed on delivering the hardware, software and systems that often the “soft” requirements (those which address the human occupants) aren't given enough attention. VRT recognise that an important part of any complete energy strategy involves considering how the people living or working in that environment form part of the solution.

Visitor Information Systems

Modern buildings are increasingly taking advantage of digital signage to inform and engage with visitors to the facility. This can range from fully interactive kiosks, through to passive lift & foyer displays and video walls, providing a range of information to building visitors and occupants:

• Surrounding facilities and attractions

• Route/path finding (locating internal points of interest, emergency egress)

• Public travel information & timetables

• News, weather & social media feeds

• Entertainment, advertising

• Sustainability information – energy consumption, waste, building performance

While some of this is related to general information, entertainment and corporate image building, the energy and sustainability implications are not insignificant. Provision of pertinent travel information to assist in route planning and journey timing (with public transit information feeds) can encourage increased use of public transport. Some regulatory frameworks actually consider the environmental footprint of a building with travel impacts included, and so in some cases this can lead to the acquisition of additional credits. Studies suggest that people that feel they are being measured or observed actually change their behaviour (the Hawthorne Effect), and this can be taken further with the concept of “gamification” – introducing competitive elements between regions, offices, floors or tenancies to actively minimise inefficiency and waste.

VRT is able to offer a range of visitor engagement solutions, depending on your requirements:

• Clean, simple, elegant web dashboards to communicate building performance. These are the most cost effective to implement, and can be tailored to suit your corporate image. They generally consist of a slideshow type display that includes a mix of images, energy performance dashboards and basic information feeds (weather, travel, news etc.)

• Engaging 3D visualisations that can overlay live building performance and other information on 3D renderings of the building and its environment. These are ideally suited to situations where the owner wants a rich and often interactive display. These are highly customised and suitable for deployment on touch kiosks.

• Engaging with first-time or occasional visitors is one thing. How do you stop people from “switching off” to displays once they realise there's a fixed set of content? Having content that is always changing is the answer, but maintaining that manually is usually prohibitively expensive. Companies are increasingly recognising the value in social media, not just as a stream of user-driven dynamic content, but a way to engage more meaningfully with their customers. VRT is pleased to be able to deliver rich, dynamic digital signage from Enplug. We are also able to integrate sustainability-related content into the Enplug stream to help drive your sustainability initiatives.

Tenant Information Displays

An increasing requirement in commercial and residential property developments (particularly multi-dwelling unit complexes where Green Star credits are available) is the delivery of individual tenant information displays. These provide tenants with their own tenancy energy performance information, allowing them to better manage their consumption. These displays can be delivered as fixed (wall-mounted) touch consoles or as “bring your own device” solutions delivered to the tenant's own smart phone, tablet, PC or smart TV:

• Touch panel displays: While these may be seen as an additional cost item, if integrated properly with other control and information systems (such as HVAC, lighting, intercom, access control etc.) then the integrated solution may (particularly when viewed with the cost of cabling and termination in mind) may actually better lower cost than simply installing dedicated panels for each system. As well as providing an integration point for a number of systems (particularly in MDU applications), fixed wall panels remain with the facility for life and carry very low ongoing operating costs.

• Bring your own device (BYOD): As people increasingly expect to interact with systems on their own terms (from their desk, on the couch, in bed, or remotely: gym, office, car), facility owners are increasingly requesting systems that deliver tenant information onto the tenants own devices (e.g. the Lend Lease Barangaroo R8/R9 project).

WideSky® TenantView delivers insight to your utility usage to any device. Real-time data feeds from current utility usage enable users to learn how their behaviour impacts costs.  Simple changes of habits lead to $$ in savings!

The TenantView application is simple in its presentation, but incredibly powerful in its ability to take complex data and present it to the Tenant in a way that can be understood and actioned in a meaningful way.

VRT's tenant information display solutions can be delivered in either (or both) fixed panel and BYOD variants. Our fixed panel solution supports a range of hardware options from compact and economical wallplates to high-end multi-touch displays. WideSky® TenantView delivers responsive HTML5 content that works equally well on Mac or PC, iPhone or Android, Phone, Tablet or TV.

Community Portals

Community portals are increasingly being implemented in planned residential and mixed use (resort, holiday apartments, hotel) projects to provide a primary point of interaction between all community members, including the developer, facility operator, dwelling owners, residents and guests. The experience is tailored for each, and provides a space where members of the community can:

1. Interact with each other socially: Interest groups & clubs, newsletters, media gallery, classified ads

2. Find out the latest information relating to their community: Local area information, business directory, news, weather, events management

3. Book communal facilities: sporting and facilities, work spaces, loading docks etc.

4. Access important documents: Dwelling manuals, agreements, body corporate proceedings (all stored electronically)

Portals can present a great opportunity to facilitate efficient operation and sustainability outcomes:

Tenant interface: Integrating energy performance data into private tenant spaces gives tenants access to the energy performance information in a convenient place, secured from access by others (if you are providing energy data via BYOD, this removes the need to separately manage access to meter data by tenants).

• Support tickets: Make it easier to report issues to the facility manager – leaking taps, faulty lights or other equipment.

• Sustainability initiatives: communicate sustainability initiatives with tenants via newsletters; drive behaviour change through competitions energy and sustainability - “top 10” etc.

VRT is able to integrate energy and sustainability content into a community portal through our relationship with the leading community portal provider, Keyvision. We are also able to integrate and unify the experience across the community portal and tenant information displays, providing access to information, interaction with facility operators, and control functionality in either environment.  Read more >