Buildings are living, breathing things. Or at least, that’s the theory of Niko Kavakiotis, Head of Building Performance and Sustainability at Siemens UK. Like a coach training high-performing athletes, Niko nurtures high-rise buildings — and he knows a thing or two about what makes them tick.
Have a listen to our chat with Niko below — or if you only have a few minutes spare, scroll down for the highlights.
“When most people talk about optimizing a building, they’re referring to getting rid of waste and carbon emissions. My response to that is: “Okay, switch everything off. Switch off the air conditioning and the heating.” But no one wants to do that, because the human beings inside are going to be unhappy. So, you see as a result the whole story is a bit more complicated.”
“Imagine the conclusions we could draw if we combined the information we get from buildings with information about how humans react. Do we become more alert, less alert, more productive, less productive? Do we feel better, more hyped or more gloomy? It would allow me, for example, to link sleep disruption at home to something that’s happening or not happening at work.”
“So far, it’s kind of unilateral — human beings instructing machines to do things — through cumbersome ways. But imagine a situation where your car is talking to you and you talk back to your car.”
“We get so excited with technology that we might forget the main reason why we have buildings: human beings. It’s more than just about storing equipment and stuff.”
“I have a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and soon she’s going to ask me, “Dad, what is your job?” I want to be able to tell her that I’m a superhero and my job is to save the planet.”
Illustrations: John Hitchcox and Harry Tennant
