Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Johnson Controls seeks more building management deals
Bradley Buckwalter, president and general manager of Jonson Controls Korea, speaks during a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Johnson Controls Korea
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Johnson Controls, a U.S.-based building management company, is seeking to expand its presence in emerging smart building system business, said the chief of its Korean branch Tuesday.
“Buildings are operated by very complicated and sensitive equipment so they are not easy to manage. Johnson Controls Korea has offered its customers smarter and energy efficient building management products and services,” Bradely Buckwalter, president and general manager of Johnson Controls Korea, told reporters in fluent Korean during a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul.
Established in 1885, Johnson Controls is a building management giant, providing its systems to more than 150 countries in the world.
The firm began operating businesses here in 1999. The Korean unit has been providing its building management products and services at various places here including Lotte World Tower and LG Science Park. “Our mission is to provide safe, comfortable and sustainable business management products and services,” said Buckwalter.
After the firm took over a fire safety company Tyco in 2016, Johnson Controls has a business portfolio of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), industrial refrigeration, building automation systems, fire protection and the security sector in building management. With the merger, the firm generated revenue of $30 billion in its 2017 fiscal year.
With the advancement of technology, more building management firms are combining IT technologies to provide more integrated management products and services. In Korea, there has been increasing awareness of the smart building systems which refer to a highly efficient and eco-friendly buildings equipped with security systems based on ICT and automation.
Clay Nesler, vice president of Global Sustainability and Industry Initiatives at Johnson Controls said Building Technologies, said the firm recognized growing needs of adopting smart building technology among Korean facility and management executives.
“In our annual energy and facility indicator survey, 61 percent of Korean facility and management executives answered they would invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart building technology,” said Nesler. The firm conducted a survey of 1,901 executives of building management facilities in 20 countries.
Companies are teaming up to develop their smart building systems to apply emerging technologies such as internet of things (IoT), big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to smart city development projects. Nesler said Johnson Controls has partnered with Microsoft to develop Microsoft's AI assistant Cortana-powered smart thermostat, which can control not only home or building temperatures but also monitor air quality.