C4SB is a coalition of passionate leaders in the smart building industry, bringing deep experience and enthusiasm to implementing interoperable smart information systems in commercial buildings worldwide.
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We believe there is significant operational value in the implementation of smarter building technologies on the 97% of buildings that lack digitization.
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We believe that smarter buildings provide a solid foundation for the emerging digital-centric workforce of the 21st century.
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We believe that smarter buildings are a critical part of addressing the climate emergency facing the U.S. and globally.
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We believe that smarter buildings provide for a healthier, safer, and more productive environment to live, learn, work, and play.
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We are seeking participation from those who share these views. With your support and action, we can make a difference by making all buildings smarter, one building at a time.
WHO WE ARE
HOW WE TAKE ACTION
Addressing this challenge is daunting for any one person or company, but achievable if we work together to create a revolution in how we view buildings. The coalition is focused on educating numerous stakeholders on what it takes to make buildings smarter​
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Private building and facility owners/operators, aiming to maximize the value of their assets by making them smarter.
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Fellow industry colleagues who are motivated to build their businesses collaboratively and build the industry into an effective agent for change.
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Those currently and prospectively working in the industry, who want to build their own careers while contributing to a smarter, more sustainable built environment.
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U.S. Federal administration and agencies, to lead by example on Federal buildings and motivate the public and private sectors to make their buildings smarter.
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U.S. Congress, to codify regulation ensuring that Federal and private resources are used effectively by mandating and stimulating smarter building practices.
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U.S. State Governments, to lead by example with state and local government facilities; making them smarter and motivating the private sector to follow suit.
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Local Governments, tasked with building and operating facilities, to do so efficiently and in accordance with proven technologies and practices.
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A common, consistent, and practical understanding of how to make buildings smarter is our strategy to improve the quality and efficiency of the over six million commercial buildings in the U.S. and Canada.
FIVE PILLARS OF ACTION
Coalition members focus their collective efforts on five pillars of action, each unleashing significant improvement in the performance of buildings, and collectively creating a transformative change in the ownership, construction, operation, and use of indoor environments:
INTEROPERABILITY
Like enterprise and personal technologies, complex building information systems work best in concert with other systems to create a holistic system. The key enabler for this is to ensure that all systems can interoperate with others seamlessly while ensuring security and information stewardship and responsible data governance. The coalition advocates that all information systems in buildings must adhere to a common set of interoperability principles.
ANALYTICS
Modern-day analytics form the core of information systems in data-rich and dynamic environments in many industries and disciplines across the globe. Commercial buildings today generate massive amounts of data that can benefit from analytics, performed on the smallest device all the way to scalable cloud-centric platforms. The coalition advocates for “analytics everywhere” as a mantra to gaining actionable information from the constantly changing data in buildings.
SPECIFICATIONS
The construction and refurbishment of complex commercial buildings must be driven by specifications to ensure predictable results and conformance to requirements and code. The need for a standardized specification for interoperable information systems in buildings is critical to maximizing the value of those systems in buildings. The coalition is embarking on the creation of an open-source “Division 25” specification that can be openly used by all to specify smarter buildings.
ACQUISITIONS
The acquisition of building technologies and the buildings themselves is currently guided by rather cumbersome, one-shot design, construction, and commissioning processes, be it new builds or renovations. The reality is that the decades of ongoing operation make up the bulk of the use, cost, and thus the value derived from information systems. The coalition is advocating a shift in the acquisition processes, to consider the benefit to be gained from smarter operation over the life of the building rather than just the initial construction.
WORKFORCE
The implementation of smarter technologies in buildings at the scale needed for the 21st century, needs a well-educated workforce, specifically skilled at digital information systems as well as the mechanics of building systems. The coalition is working with government, educational, labor, and industry partners on the development of curricula, mentorship, and hands-on education programs that would enable the delivery of smarter buildings by creating thousands of high-paying jobs.
The Coalition for Smarter Buildings is a 501c3 non-profit trade association formed in 2021 by thought leaders from the smart buildings industry to advocate for the broad and rapid deployment of smarter buildings in the USA.