Smart buildings: occupancy, wayfinding and asset data you can act on.
For workplace, facilities and corporate real estate teams running offices, campuses and mixed-use buildings. We design occupancy sensing, wayfinding and asset tracking so space decisions rest on measured use, with privacy built in from the start.
Vendor-neutral, with no sensors, beacons or platform of our own to sell.
Workplace data is easy to collect and hard to trust.
Booked is not used
Desk and room bookings describe intent. Real use differs, and decisions made on booking data alone keep the wrong space.
Too many sensor options
Area sensors, desk sensors, people counters, BLE, Wi-Fi and badge data each answer different questions at different costs and privacy levels.
Privacy decides adoption
Staff and works councils reject anything that looks like individual monitoring. Programmes that skip consultation stall.
Smart-building use cases we design for.
Occupancy & space utilisation
Anonymous counts and utilisation by floor, zone and room type to support consolidation and hybrid-work planning. See space & occupancy.
Desk-booking data
Booked versus actual use, no-shows and peak days, so booking policy and floor plans follow real demand.
Indoor wayfinding
Routing for staff and visitors across large buildings and campuses. See indoor wayfinding.
Asset tracking
AV and IT kit, loan pools, furniture and FM equipment located without manual audits. See asset tracking.
Visitor & contractor zones
Presence in restricted areas such as plant rooms and labs, reconciled with access control. See restricted-zone access.
Services on demand
Cleaning and servicing driven by measured use rather than fixed rounds.
Privacy by design, not as an afterthought.
- Start with anonymous counting where it answers the question; identify individuals only when there is a clear, documented need.
- Support for the DPIA, purpose statement and retention rules before any pilot.
- Early consultation with employee representatives, including works councils where they exist.
- Aggregation thresholds and access controls written into the vendor requirements.
More detail: GDPR and RTLS and for data protection officers.
What you gain
Space decisions on measured use
Consolidation, re-planning and lease decisions based on how space is actually used. Measured as utilisation by floor, zone and room type against capacity.
Booking policy that fits demand
Booked-versus-used data shows no-shows and peak days. Measured as no-show rate and peak-day occupancy.
Visitors who find their way
Wayfinding reduces time lost looking for rooms and reception calls. Measured as route completion and help-desk queries.
Assets without manual audits
Shared equipment is located and returned. Measured as time to locate, loss rate and audit effort.
A programme staff accept
Privacy designed in from the start. Measured as consultation sign-off before pilot and complaints after go-live.
How an engagement works in smart buildings
Gate-governed: no work below the line until the gate above is signed off, and you can stop at any gate and keep the artefacts from that stage.
| Stage | What you get | Typical duration | Indicative fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Discovery & scoping sprint | Use cases, constraints, systems of record, baseline and a go/no-go view | 1–5 days on site | Fixed fee, £3k–£9.5k |
| 2 · Vendor selection & RFP support | Requirements, shortlist, RFP pack, scoring matrix and TCO | 3–6 weeks | Fixed fee, £6k–£19k |
| 3 · Pilot design & oversight | Pilot scope, written pass/fail criteria, acceptance tests and the gate review | 4–10 weeks | Fixed fee + day-rate, £9.5k–£30k |
| 4 · Rollout | Implementation oversight or full programme delivery, if you want it | Per project | SOW, from £30k |
Indicative ranges from How we work & fees. Fees are confirmed in writing after scoping, and exclude hardware, software licences, third-party costs and travel & expenses, which we never mark up because we do not resell them. Calls and engagements are run in English.
What we need from you
- A sponsor in workplace, facilities or real estate, and an owner for the data once it is live.
- Floor plans and any existing occupancy, booking or badge data.
- Early involvement from your DPO and, where they exist, employee representatives or the works council.
- Access to buildings for walkthroughs and, where needed, an RF survey.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to measure office occupancy?
It depends on the question. Area sensors and people counters give anonymous counts and utilisation; BLE or Wi-Fi location can show movement between spaces; badge and desk-booking data show intent rather than actual use. We match the method to the decision and to your privacy position, and often combine two.
Why do desk-booking data and real occupancy disagree?
Bookings record intent. No-shows, unbooked use and meeting rooms booked for two people but used by one all make booking data differ from what sensors measure. Comparing the two is often the fastest way to find space you can release.
How do you handle privacy and works councils?
We start with the least intrusive method that answers the question, usually anonymous counting. Where individuals could be identified, we support the DPIA and early consultation with employee representatives, including works councils. See GDPR and RTLS.
Can indoor wayfinding and occupancy use the same infrastructure?
Sometimes. BLE beacons or Wi-Fi can serve both, but accuracy, battery and maintenance needs differ. We check whether a shared layer genuinely works for both use cases before recommending it; see indoor wayfinding.
Do you track assets in office and campus buildings too?
Yes: AV and IT equipment, loan pools, furniture moves and FM equipment. Asset tracking often shares infrastructure with occupancy, so we design both together where it makes sense.
How long does a smart-buildings engagement take and what does it cost?
A discovery sprint is typically 1–5 days on site, vendor selection 3–6 weeks and pilot design and oversight 4–10 weeks. Indicative fixed-fee ranges are on How we work & fees.
Do you sell sensors or a workplace analytics platform?
No. TRACIO sells no sensors, beacons or software and takes no vendor commission. We define what you need to measure, then shortlist vendors against it.
Solutions for this industry
Related: for facilities teams, GDPR and RTLS, data centres and vendor selection.
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