In her doctoral thesis, Katarina Bäcklund has investigated four main areas: users, smarter college and university buildings, smart building systems, and commercial real estate organizations undergoing digital transformation. The aim has been to show that the areas are interconnected and that they need equal focus to be able to draw conclusions about how digital transformation in the real estate industry can lead to a climate-neutral built environment, while ensuring a good indoor climate.
The Teaching Building on KTH Campus has been used as a case study, where information from 300 users has contributed to important insights.
"One of the conclusions is that smart buildings are not yet smart enough and that buildings need to have more user-friendly displays to fully support all sustainability efforts," says Katarina Bäcklund.
The results from her doctoral thesis have given Katarina Bäcklund inspiration for a model for digital transformation with people-centricity. The thesis thus helps to create more understanding of how buildings should be designed to be smart and contribute to a sustainable environment, but also how they should be operated with as little impact on the environment as possible and with the users in focus.
Read the doctoral thesis here