Automated buildings proliferate

Swiss research group Berg Insight estimates that 3.23 million connected building automation systems were shipping in Europe and North America in 2019, bringing to a total some 20.5 million installed systems. They further forecast an annual growth rate of 11 percent through 2024, when 33.6 million buildings will be online. This corresponds to a doubling every 6-7 years, a rapid rate, but rather slow compared to the adoption curves of consumer electronics or vehicle technologies. This is a reminder that the built environment digitalization process will continue to govern the rollout of urban tech platforms and services.