CBRE delivers better workplace experiences through Host, a comprehensive, scalable product suite, using Azure Digital Twins

A drive to create smarter commercial properties

Managing 6 billion square feet of commercial space from 480 offices worldwide means CBRE gets a lot of insight into what property managers and employees want from their commercial properties. This unique perspective got CBRE thinking about the future of the workplace, and it knew the next phase would be to bring together people and technology. 

Already a leader in facilities management services, CBRE worked with partners Rigado and Yanzi Networks to launch Host, a complete solution for combining people and technology to deliver seamless, next-generation workplace experiences. From conception, it took CBRE just nine months to launch Host by building a strategic relationship with Microsoft and using Microsoft Azure Digital Twins to accelerate time-to-market. 

CBRE Host delivers a modern workplace experience 

The Host platform brings to life a collection of experiences designed to take the hassle out of the workplace—from room booking, wayfinding, and using building amenities to concierge services and access control. Building managers also use CBRE Host for more efficient operations and better space utilization. Using Azure Digital Twins, CBRE creates virtual replicas of the spaces, devices, and people within buildings and uses IoT sensor data to reveal actionable insights into the way spaces are being occupied and used. 

CBRE realized it could develop solutions faster and with less capital investment by working with platform resources in Azure. “Our development strategy is to build, buy, or partner,” says Brennan McReynolds, Senior Vice President and CBRE Host Global Product and Technology Lead at CBRE. “To create the Host platform, we decided to build our own proprietary technology and work with Microsoft to accelerate time-to-market with Azure Digital Twins. In a matter of months, we’d built the initial version of the product.”

CBRE has already rolled out Host to several customers to provide them with more efficient workspaces. As a result, its customers are enjoying better space utilization, easier room booking, and simpler navigation for visitors.

“We use Azure Digital Twins to digitize the space around people, so they can see availability and use wayfinding and indoor location services to find those rooms—and even see who’s occupying them,” says McReynolds.

Data, service, and analytics

CBRE continues to build on the foundation it’s put in place with Azure Digital Twins. “This goes beyond just the employee experience,” says McReynolds. “We’re using Microsoft technologies to understand how to equip our spaces and learn how they’re being used.”

CBRE is currently building temperature and lighting controls into Host to realize even more benefits from the IoT infrastructure and Azure Digital Twins. Real-time data will be displayed directly onto the floorplan in the app, empowering employees to choose how and where they work based on air quality, brightness, and temperature. Occupancy and “room health” data will be available on a single dashboard, enabling teams to assess space quality based on attributes such as usage, average temperature, and related service requests that promote better workplace operations and assist in right-sizing real estate. 

A future in mixed reality

The next step for CBRE is to revolutionize building and workplace management through mixed reality technologies. With a network of IoT sensors and Azure Spatial Anchors—a mixed reality service that pins digital experiences and content to physical objects and locations—building managers will be able to populate and monitor the digital twin from a Microsoft HoloLens device while walking through the building. This use of mixed reality will accelerate the configuration of Azure Digital Twins and IoT device association.   

“Through our close relationship with Microsoft, we expect to continue to expand our use of Azure Digital Twins and layer on value beyond CBRE Host,” says McReynolds.

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