44 landlords commit 70 buildings to SmartScore, WiredScore’s new certification for smart buildings

• 70 buildings sign up to SmartScore certification from 44 landlords across 7 countries, including Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, Hines, Carttera, The John Buck Company, Columbia Property Trust.
• SmartScore has been developed in conjunction with the WiredScore Smart Council – 90 tenants, landlords and property professionals from all over the world.
• New certification has been created to define what smart buildings are and how to build them, allowing the most advanced landlords in the world to understand, improve and communicate the user functionality and technological foundations of their buildings.

New York, NY – April 20th, 2021 – Today, the company behind the internationally recognized digital connectivity rating scheme for real estate, WiredScore, is announcing the launch of a new certification for smart buildings aimed at providing clarity, definition and measurement for the growing smart building industry.

SmartScore certification was developed in response to increasing demand for guidance around what ‘smart’ really means in relation to commercial buildings, and how it can and should be implemented. The certification provides credibility and certainty to an industry rapidly pursuing digital transformation. By establishing a common standard for smart buildings, SmartScore provides a shared vision for the growing smart building market, which is forecast to be worth USD 180.9 billion by 2025.

The SmartScore certification intends to be as complementary as possible, and WiredScore has been working with BREEAM, LEED, RESET and the WELL building standard to create alignment with their certifications.

For the past year, WiredScore has been conducting extensive work with the WiredScore Smart Council, comprising over 90 tenants, landlords and property professionals from around the world, to develop an intellectual framework for smart buildings. Together, they have helped define what a smart building is in relation to its outcomes – delivering cost efficiency, enabling sustainability, creating an inspiring experience and staying future-proof.

Globally, 70 buildings in 7 countries from 44 landlords are already committed to the SmartScore certification. These pioneering landlords include Allianz Real Estate, Art-Invest Real Estate, AXA Investment Managers and Sefri-Cime, Battersea Power Station Development Company, Benson Elliot, Boston Global Investors, British Land, CA Immo, Carttera, CEG, Columbia Property Trust, Commerz Real, Covivio, Derwent London, Dream Office REIT, EDGE, Gecina, Great Portland Estates, Greystar Real Estate Partners, HFD Property Group, Immovalor Gestion, Ivanhoe Cambridge and Hines, KingSett Capital, Legal & General, M&G Real Estate & Nuveen Real Estate, McLaren, MOMENI Gruppe, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, JLL and Anchor Line Partners, Ponte Gadea, Quadrant, Quadrum Global, RedTree Capital, Royal London Asset Management, Rudin Management Company, SIGNA Real Estate, Skanska, Standard Life Aberdeen, The John Buck Company, U+I.

North American buildings committed to SmartScore certification include 10 World Trade, 151 North Franklin, 17xM, 2 Bloor Street West, 3 Times Square, 345 Park Avenue, 700 University Avenue, 74M, 799 Broadway, 80 Pine Street, Atrium, B6, CIBC SQUARE, One Post Office Square, Portland Commons, Scotia Plaza, Texas Tower, The Eight, Victory Building.

SmartScore certification launches at a critical time for the market when building owners and tenants need to work together to entice employees back into the office. Smart buildings will play a key role in creating more attractive, efficient and sustainable workplaces that allow individual productivity to flourish and where people can meet and collaborate.

Indeed, a new report from WiredScore – Smart buildings. Our future is smart. – explores how smart building technologies can support owners and tenants in creating workspaces that offer experiences that home working environments can’t match. The importance of incorporating digital technology to exceed evolving expectations is affirmed by the four-fifths of office workers (79%) who say they would like to work within a technologically advanced office and three-fifths (63%) who state that the ability to work in an office that is environmentally sustainable is very important to them.

Arie Barendrecht, CEO, WiredScore, comments: “For too long, the industry has suffered from a lack of joined up thinking and a knowledge gap around how to implement smart buildings that can demonstrate ROI. One of the biggest issues has been a focus on smart as technology not as outcomes, but this focus has now shifted and significantly so since the start of the pandemic. It’s this human-centred outcome focus that we wanted the certification to support and help define. Through definition and measurement, we hope to offer the industry a lifeline to building a smarter future.”

Nelson Mills, CEO, Columbia Property Trust, comments: “We are pleased to be among the industry leaders launching WiredScore’s smart building certification program, SmartScore. With health and wellness, sustainability, and technology at the forefront of the innovative design of 799 Broadway in Greenwich Village, Columbia is pursuing SmartScore certification as part of its ongoing commitment to providing creative and collaborative tenants with highly efficient and well-connected workspace experiences that will continue to meet the evolving demands of tomorrow’s leading companies.”

Jon Love, CEO, KingSett Capital: “We see the value of SmartScore as a benchmarking platform to communicate the features and benefits of our Smart Building Technology Strategy. Through this strategy we maximize efficiencies and cost savings, attain our ESG goals and provide unique tenant offerings.”

Ron Zimmer, President & CEO of CABA, comments: It has never been more important than today for the buildings we work and live in to be more sustainable, efficient, and livable. That’s why we at CABA are delighted about the launch of WiredScore’s latest certification for smart buildings, SmartScore. This certification will help set a standard framework for technology in real estate, encouraging landlords and developers to pursue connectivity among people, spaces and technology for a better tomorrow.”

About WiredScore:

WiredScore is the organization behind the WiredScore and SmartScore certifications: the internationally recognized digital connectivity and smart building rating systems for real estate, helping landlords design and promote buildings with powerful digital connectivity and smart capabilities.
WiredScore was founded in New York in 2013 by leaders in real estate, technology and telecommunications, with an endorsement from Mayor Bloomberg, to improve the city’s technology infrastructure, and support its entrepreneurs who are driving technological advances and creating jobs.

Following success in the US, WiredScore launched in the United Kingdom in October 2015 after winning the Greater London Authority’s tender to be the official Mayor of London Digital Connectivity Rating Scheme. International demand for the digital connectivity rating system has since seen the company expand operations to France, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Italy. Since then, over 650 million square feet of commercial and residential space has been committed to WiredScore certification, impacting 6 million people across 10 countries.