INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE No longer dusty, desolate warehouses, today’s industrial buildings are as high-tech as the industries they house By KYLE BACKER
V
isions of technologically enhanced buildings have stimulated the minds of futurists and creatives for decades. Disney built the House of the Future in 1957 to show awestruck visitors a glimpse of an easy life aided by modern marvels such as microwaves and dishwashers. About 40 years later, the company premiered “Smart House,” a made-for-TV movie in which a family moves into a home run by an artificial intelligence that goes haywire. What seemed like science fiction even 20 years ago is now a reality for the average consumer. Today, homeowners can see live video of whoever rang their doorbell while visiting family across the country using products such as Ring. They can utter a few words and turn on the AC unit of their backyard workshop or shut off every light in the house thanks to smart outlets connected to voice-
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activated speakers. This fusion of technology and physical space is not just limited to the home. Industrial buildings are increasingly incorporating these elements in their construction. “The concept 20 years ago was to create high-efficiency, low-cost construction projects for the purposes of warehousing or manufacturing,” explains Karim Jabal, director of technology services for Grand Canyon Development Partners. “So, you might drive by these buildings and think, ‘What’s inside? They can’t be that sophisticated, right?’” The industrial projects coming to Greater Phoenix — 27.5 million square feet is under construction in Greater Phoenix according to CBRE’s Q4 2021 market report — are not the simple concrete boxes of yore. Today’s industrial buildings are best described
as smart environments. Erik Powell, vice president at Stevens-Leinweber, notes a significant shift in the baseline capabilities of speculative facilities coming to market. “Developers have gotten so savvy that they’re building to the requirements that a company such as Amazon is going to need,” he says. “We’re starting to see the standard specifications of these larger industrial warehouse buildings being set up to handle whoever the end user is, which is new.”
THE INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS Technology, like any tool, must serve a purpose. Developers and users aren’t magpies looking for the next shiny thing for vanity’s sake. Expenditures that stray from the status quo strategy typically focus on efficiency or
