Prop Tech: Unlocking Smart Building Value with IoT Connectivity

The real estate industry is undergoing a profound digital transformation. For decades, property management relied on manual processes and fragmented systems. Today, the rise of ProTechs is redefining how we interact with, manage, and optimise the built environment. This evolution is driven by a single, powerful resource: data.

In the modern landscape, a building is no longer just a physical structure; it is a digital asset. To unlock the full potential of these assets, property owners and managers are turning to ProptTech solutions to centralise operations and improve building performance. However, the success of any digital strategy depends on one critical factor, reliable IoT connectivity.

Interoperability is a constant challenge for PropTechs when deploying their Smart Building services. How do different equipment and brands connect, communicate and exchange data without restriction? How to deploy your app when there's no BMS access, or even worse, no BMS at all?

Interoperability becomes more intricate when devices from various manufacturers and protocols have to be coordinated with technical standards such as Modbus, KNX, or BACnet.

What is a PropTech? Definition and Market Impact

Understanding PropTechs requires looking at the intersection of real estate and the digital age. Short for "property technology," it encompasses all the technological tools used by real estate professionals to buy, sell, lease, or manage assets more efficiently. While it began with simple listing websites, it has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem of software and hardware.

The impact of this sector is immense. It isn't just about making things digital; it’s about creating value through transparency and automation. For stakeholders, this means better decision-making, reduced environmental impact, and a significant improvement in the bottom line through reduced operational costs.

At its core, the PropTech meaning refers to the application of information technology and platform economics to real estate markets. It seeks to solve the inefficiencies inherent in the physical world of buildings. By creating a digital "twin" of a property, managers can simulate scenarios, track energy use, and respond to occupant needs in real time.

This bridge between the physical and digital worlds is made possible by the Internet of Things (IoT). Without sensors and gateways to feed data into PropTech software, the "tech" part of the equation remains an empty shell. Connectivity is the vital nervous system that allows software to "see" and "feel" what is happening inside a building’s plant room or tenant spaces.

Buildings connectivity is essential for all PropTechs

The greatest hurdle for any proptech software provider is not the user interface or the database logic—it is getting the data out of the building. Most commercial properties are a "patchwork" of different eras, containing a mix of hardware from various manufacturers that were never designed to talk to the cloud.

This "data gap" is the primary reason many smart building projects fail or exceed their budgets. When software cannot access the building’s vitals, it cannot provide the insights promised to the owner. Overcoming this requires a sophisticated understanding of building protocols and the physical challenges of hardware integration.

Many operators and technicians working for FM companies or property owners still use manual methods to collect and confirm the data they rely on to manage a building's temperature, energy, layout, and maintenance schedules.

Buildings account for approximately 40% of global energy consumption. PropTechs that focus on energy efficiency, predictive maintenance, and Smart Buildings play an essential role in improving our cities and how our buildings operate.

But the trick is that when PropTechs deploy their Smart Building applications, they encounter incompatible technology, proprietary protocols, and messy BMS networks that can take a lot of hours and money to untangle.

The long hours of development needed to create an interoperable connector just for the deployment of Smart Building products would increase prices and take the focus away from PropTech's core offering.

Overcoming Data Silos in Legacy Buildings

In many existing buildings, data is trapped in silos. The building management system (BMS) might control the HVAC, but it doesn't share data with the lighting system or the smart meters. These silos prevent a holistic view of building performance, making it impossible to implement cross-system optimizations.

Furthermore, legacy systems are often "closed." They use proprietary languages that require expensive, specialized engineers to translate. For a PropTech startup, trying to integrate with hundreds of different legacy systems is a technical nightmare that drains resources and slows down deployment. Centralizing this data into a single, clean stream is the first step toward true building intelligence.

IoT solutions for buildings connectivity

IoT connectivity solutions help PropTechs transform traditional buildings into Smart ones by serving as an abstraction layer between the building's complex IT structure and the PropTechs services. This allows communication between all types of equipment, centralizing data, enabling analysis, making buildings more efficient, and reducing pollution.

When IoT technology was not very mature, Delphis, an HVAC efficiency PropTech, decided to build a whole building management stack on their own as they couldn't find a trustworthy and affordable 3rd party platform.

"We learned that a Building Management technology stack involves at least three layers (Equipment connectivity, Semantics, and Analytics), and it is very hard to excel in all of them. Having a connectivity solution focusing only on Equipment Connectivity took a big burden out of our backs and helped us accelerate the core features of our offering." Explains Thanos Daskalopoulos, Chief Innovation Officer at Delphis.

Delphis managed to accelerate its offering by using the Wattsense IoT connectivity solution.

Current IoT solutions looking to bring new technologies into buildings should offer interoperability, Plug and Play installations, user-friendly consoles with no programming skills required, and lower operational costs.

How to deploy a Smart Building app with no BMS access

The main obstacle to deploying a Smart Building app in a building with no BMS or no access to the BMS is the lack of interoperability between the building equipment and the application. The Internet of Things (IoT) enables connectivity between devices.  

Using remotely managed interoperable IoT devices that serve as gateways, PropTechs can easily access a BMS or create a BMS-like network to collect data, visualize graphs, set up alarms, control equipment through the Cloud, and deploy Smart Building Integrations that will modernize the building.

Explore the Wattsense Tower, a remotely managed IoT device that collects data and controls equipment through the Cloud.

IoT solutions can easily integrate energy monitoring solutions and quickly share data on-site, on the Cloud, or on a hyper-vision system to ensure data analysis. These features allow properties to be modernized cost-effectively, saving weeks of deployment and reducing operating costs.

Some solutions, such as Wattsense, can communicate with all types of building equipment by unifying field communication protocols.

IoT solutions open the door to many Smart Building applications with intuitive platforms that improve everything from day-to-day building management to implementing long-term energy and comfort strategies.

Looking for a Plug and Play solution with a user-friendly console that reduces operational costs? Give the Wattsense IoT solution a try. Get a demo.

How Wattsense Acts as the Infrastructure for PropTechs

Wattsense provides the technology to simplify building management. We remove the technical barriers that traditionally prevented proptech companies uk from accessing building data. By acting as a universal "translator" and connectivity hub, Wattsense allows software providers to focus on their core value, data analysis, while we handle the hardware complexity.

Our mission is to help you collect and centralize data, improve building performance, and cut operational costs. We provide a bridge between the physical equipment on-site and the digital platforms in the cloud, ensuring that data flows securely and reliably.

Tower Lift: The Ultimate Cloud Connectivity for Data-Driven PropTechs

For those who want to leverage building data without needing to manage local automation, Tower Lift is the premier IoT solution. It is specifically designed for PropTechs and large-scale asset managers who need efficient and secure data retrieval across a vast portfolio of properties.

Tower Lift provides:

• Massive Data Collection: Retrieve data from thousands of points across multiple sites simultaneously.
• Data Historisation: Store and access historical data to identify long-term trends and anomalies.
• PropTech Ready: Ideal for residential portfolios or commercial estates where the primary need is data for billing, predictive maintenance, or energy performance apps.
• Reliability: Ensure that your proptech software always has the most up-to-date information to show your clients.

Future-Proofing Assets with Open IoT Solutions

The era of closed, proprietary building systems is coming to an end. Property owners no longer want to be "locked in" to a single vendor's ecosystem for the life of their building. The future of prop tech lies in open, interoperable standards that give the owner total control over their data.

By adopting open IoT solutions like Wattsense, asset managers can future-proof their properties. As new sensors are developed or new PropTech companies uk emerge with innovative software, an open infrastructure allows for easy integration without the need for a total system overhaul.

In conclusion, PropTechs technology is the key to managing the complex demands of the modern real estate market. By centralizing data and simplifying IoT connectivity, Wattsense helps you turn your buildings into high-performing, sustainable, and intelligent assets. Whether you are a software developer, an integrator, or a property owner, the journey to a smarter building starts with the right connectivity foundation. Reach out to our team today to discover how we can help you take command of your building data and lead the way in innovation.