Data collection in the workplace and its impact on designers and end users continues to trend as the next step in understanding the built environment and informing the design process. The methods and types of technology that allow for a seamless collection of data continue to flood the market. Several different methods for data collection were explored tirelessly in the past – visual space observations, online surveys, meeting scheduler data – those methods serve a purpose but do not allow for an accurate, real-time snapshot of space usage.
When SmithGroupJJR designed our new office space in Chicago, we seized an opportunity to exhaustively analyze, critically compare and actionably augment design relative to data feedback. We implemented two different types of data collection systems and area utilization devices into our space. The first system, Enlighted, is a permanently installed advanced lighting control system with a dense array of Bluetooth-enabled sensors distributed across the space. The sensors detect temperature and daylight and allow us to monitor real-time occupancy. Supported by minimal backbone equipment, the sensors and wall controllers transmit data wirelessly. Users can interact with the system through intuitive, floor plan-based software from any networked computer, monitoring energy usage, temperature, trends, and reconfiguration of lighting controls. The system provides its own analysis maps of space utilization and movement, allowing us to capture how employees use the new workspace.
The second system, bluvision, tracks the position of individual employees in near real-time. Using a series of badges assigned to each employee and receivers that plug into standard receptacles, the system uses Bluetooth signals to resolve badge location within a two-meter radius. The signals are collected for each badge every second and stream to cloud storage where they are processed and then stored for later analysis. Unlike Enlighted, bluvision is a highly flexible hardware system that allows for maximum customization of data collection which can be implemented then modified/adjusted as needed. As a part of an Indoor Positioning Study (IPS) to explore how Internet of Things (IoT) technology can augment our ability to monitor workspace activity, the SmithGroupJJR team utilized this flexible system in our space for a period of five months. During that time, we captured more than 300 million data points from over 114 employees. The study was both an exploratory examination of IoT location technology as well as a descriptive analysis of how employees occupy space in the Chicago office.