PCL, Microsoft join to develop and implement smart building concepts

PCL Construction and Microsoft are joining forces to fuel joint innovation and development of smart building implementations. Combining PCL's engineering and industry expertise with the technical acumen of Microsoft's engineering and R&D teams, PCL is leveraging advanced Azure capabilities to develop the next generation of Smart Building solutions.

PCL's CIO, Mark Bryant, is looking forward to the venture, "Smart Building solutions are important to our clients, enabling building operators to gain valuable insights, and it's an exciting area to be involved in. PCL Construction is delighted to be partnered with Microsoft to enable leading marketplace solutions."

Supporting these solutions is the full range of Azure services, including Power BI, Azure IoT, and Microsoft's advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence capabilities. Specifically, PCL, backed by Microsoft Azure, will be developing solutions to address the following use cases:

Increase construction efficiency and safety

Track workers, inventory, and environmental conditions during building construction to increase efficiency, improve safety, and provide advanced insight into the construction process.

Improve system efficiencies throughout buildings

Reduce management, maintenance, and utility costs by learning, from the data collected, to create improvements and efficiencies, such as by automatically turning off the heat in an unused room.

Increase occupant satisfaction and productivity

Personalize and automate your building's features—lighting, heating and cooling, room utilization, and more—to create a more comfortable and productive work environment.

Gain actionable insights and greater control

Connect usage information from disparate systems and integrate it into a central view for better visibility of inefficiencies and issues, and to achieve peak optimization.

Make a positive impact on the planet

Drive environmental efficiencies and achieve higher returns by optimizing the use of resources for heating and cooling systems, electricity, water, and other utilities, to reduce energy consumption and costs.