Adding smart technology to an older structure can make the building more efficient and boost worker productivity, but new construction may be a better option, according to Chris Teale of SmartCities Dive magazine.

As cities and private property owners look to make more of their buildings smarter, they are often faced with a choice — modernize existing properties or start fresh.

For many companies, the high financial cost typically stands in the way of them simply demolishing their current buildings and redeveloping them with smart technology built in. Perhaps the easiest way for companies to make their older buildings smarter is to use sensors. But older buildings retrofitted with newer technology may not work as well as they could. Buildings must be designed to be “smart around the user and not around the system,” which can be challenging in decades-old buildings that weren’t constructed with such innovations in mind.

The process of designing and constructing a new building has gotten smarter in recent years too, as construction companies take advantage of new technology and make it easier for themselves, contractors, architects and the building’s owners to make changes on the fly.

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