This document summarizes key tech and built environment trends for 2022 as identified by Arcadis experts. The trends include: achieving net zero carbon goals across organizations; adapting workplaces to mixed-mode working; utilizing collected building data more effectively; developing sustainable next-generation data centers; and demonstrating improved ESG metrics to stakeholders. The trends highlight challenges companies face in these areas and recommendations for addressing them through technologies, analytics, partnerships and more.

1. F u l l R e p o r t

2. Introduction.
TRENDS
22//00.
The culmination of the megatrends of urbanization,
climate change, digitalization and societal expectations
in the context of a global pandemic has meant that
organizations have struggled with their capital
investments and knowing how to respond to what’s
coming next.
In tandem, The Big Quit is happening. This exacerbates
the issues - businesses are paralyzed by not being able to
find the people or skills that they need to move forward.
For technology companies, in particular, the focus was
around aligning capacity to the demands of remote
workers and shoppers. Now that these demands have
been met, most are considering what comes next.
Against the backdrop of a seismic shift in societal
expectations, businesses are having to step–up in the
fight against climate change and inequity in a variety of
people-based issues.
Our Tech + Built Environment Trends 22 document was
created lovingly by Arcadians, sharing their experiences
from real project delivery across the globe. This
represents the trends we’ve seen and how we’re
advising our clients to deal with their challenges.
arcadis.com

3. TRENDS 22
01
Net Zero Everywhere
You made a big goal, but don’t really know
where you’ll get the biggest impact.
02
Mixed-Mode Worker
How you work has changed, but maybe the
office isn’t ready for new ways of working.
03
Data Data Everywhere, But
Not A Drop To Drink
You’ve collected lots of data, but are
struggling to know what to do with it.
04
The Next Data Center
You increased your need for data centers, but are
struggling with its place in the community.
05
Green Is The New Black
ESG has become mission critical for you, but
demonstrating what you’ve done is tough.

4. CEOs have set out ambitious targets for
their companies to reach Net Zero
Carbon. Their second line leaders, and
real estate leaders, in particular, are
struggling to know where to begin, how
to measure success and where they'll
get the biggest bang for their buck.
NET ZERO
EVERY-
WHERE
TRENDS
22//01.

5. Fuel-cell Revolution
Across industries, organisations are looking at
how new technologies can support their journey
to Net Carbon Zero.
Data Centers are notoriously hungry for power,
with the largest facilities using over 100
megawatts. Keeping the servers running (and
cool) in the event of a power-cut is a critical
challenge.
Microsoft is launching a demonstration project
in Washington State, which will test the viability
of hydrogen fuel cells for sustainable backup
power, replacing the traditional emissions-heavy
diesel generators.
The project aims to demonstrate that the
hydrogen fuel cell system can provide 1.5MW of
backup power to meet or exceed expectations
set by current diesel engine systems.
TRENDS
22//01.
What’s going on?
DHL Express are trialing cross-border delivery of
Apple products using a hydrogen-powered
truck.
The vehicle, which runs the route between Breda
in the Netherlands and Brussels in Belgium, has
a fuel cell range extender that allows it to travel
around 200km each day. During the pilot, DHL
expects the new technology will save up to 350
tons of CO2 .
The impact of fleet decarbonization on business
operations is starting to become apparent.
Whilst the constrained range and refueling
options of hydrogen and battery electric
vehicles will require operational adjustments for
logistics providers, the greater impact will be the
infrastructure required at depots.
Ensuring the availability of sufficient power to
meet demand of high-capacity rapid chargers
from an already constrained electricity grid is
likely to require a blend of on-site generation,
storage and network upgrades. Similarly, the
space requirement for on-site hydrogen storage
may be significant.

6. TRENDS
22//01.
What’s going on?
Amazon’s Climate
Pledge
In the year of COP 26 and a myriad of corporate
declarations, Amazon has been under the spotlight for the
way that they operate.
To respond to customer, investor and societal demands,
Amazon has developed a robust set of aims:
• Reaching net zero in operations by 2040
• Powering operations with 100% renewable energy by
2025
• Making 50% of all shipments net zero by 2030
• Deploying 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030
• Investing $2Bn to support the development of
decarbonizing technologies and services
• Investing $100m in reforestation projects and climate
mitigation solutions
For one of the world’s largest eCommerce and data center
providers, the built environment challenges to achieve this
are significant.

7. 02
01 03
Get Cozy With
Your Baseline
Use What
You’ve Got
Go For The
Easy Wins
Establish a clear baseline of your
current Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions
against which you can develop your
strategy, implement solutions and
monitor performance improvements
to your asset portfolio and vehicle
fleet.
Use advanced analytics to interrogate
data that already exists in your building
management systems, identifying
opportunities for low or no CapEx
sustainability interventions.
Identify and deliver tangible projects
that will give immediate, incremental
benefits, such as LED lighting, fleet
electrification and on-site solar
power generation.
Arcadis recommends.
TRENDS
22//01.

8. Companies don't know if they have the
right amount of space to support hybrid-
working. Even if they do, they are not
equipped to effectively manage their
space when they don't know who will be
in the office; when they will be there; or
how they will work together – do they
have the right work-settings for some to
be present in-person and some to be
remote?
MIXED-
MODE
WORKER
TRENDS
22//02.

9. At our new London HQ, Arcadis has created an intelligent
building using a range of sensors and our software product
Building Intelligence, enabling our teams to be flexible in
when, where and how they work. Through our mobile app,
teams can match their collaboration needs to the sorts of
spaces they need. Our back-end analytics, built from the 1.85
million data points we collect every day, allows us to keep the
office healthy, productive and engaging for all.
With our air quality sensors, we’ve proven that the careful
sourcing of materials has made a tangible impact. We’ve kept
our air quality scores above 90% due to the lack of off-gassing.
By optimizing for occupancy and personal preferences, we’re
keeping it green: we’re be looking at an energy bill that’s 21%
lower.
Intelligence Baked-In
TRENDS
22//02.
What’s going on?

10. TRENDS
22//02.
What’s going on?
Back to the office
Google’s return to the office program
has focused on technology front and
center, to allow remote participants to
have an immersive, in-the-room-like
experience.
With the increased number of 1-2-1
video interactions, they’ve also
employed inflatable acoustic barriers to
help zone the office.
Google
has
new
meeting
room
concepts
like
Campfire
to
put
virtual
attendees
on
the
same
footing
as
in-person
attendees.
Copyright
NY
Times
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/technology/google-back-to-office-workers.html)
Inflatable wall at Google to help with sound from video calls
Copyright NY Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/technology/google-back-to-office-workers.html)

11. 02
01 03
Get
Smart
Shape Your
Personality
Listen to
Your People
Invest in some intelligent
buildings sensors and
software to operate the
spaces you already have and
create the analytics to help
predict better usage for
tomorrow.
Define the work-settings
most appropriate for the
future by understanding the
personality of your
departments and the spaces
that they need.
Conduct assessments of your
soundscape to ensure a
focused office with the right
buzz.
TRENDS
22//02.
Arcadis recommends.

12. Organizations have invested heavily in
data acquisition to improve their
operations. Once they have that data,
many still lack the time and skills to turn
it into something that is trustworthy for
impactful change. Furthermore, there is
a lack of insight to know if the
organization is performing well or not.
DATA DATA
EVERYWHERE
BUT NOT A
DROP TO
DRINK
TRENDS
22//03.

13. TRENDS
22//03.
What’s going on?
What’s Your
Ontology?
Organizations collect increasing volumes of data from
buildings systems but fail to collate it in a structured
manner. This prevents inter-operability and limits
scalability.
Researchers from the academic community recently
initiated Brick – an open-source ontology for representing
metadata in buildings.
The Brick Schema is extendable and flexible, allowing
data to be consistently structured across buildings,
objects and data sources.
It provides a comprehensive, flexible and expressive way
to understand and manage building data, enabling
advanced data analytics to provide tangible insight and
identify effective interventions.

14. TRENDS
22//03.
What’s going on?
Safety in Cyber
According to the 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report,
the tech sector was the most attacked industry in 2019,
accounting for 25% of all attacks, compared to 17% the
previous year.
It’s estimated that the WannaCry ransomware attack in
May 2017 affected more than 200,000 computers across
150 countries. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Company (TSMC)—the world's largest makers of
semiconductors and processors — was forced to shut
down several of its chip-fabrication factories after being
hit by a variant of the virus.
We’ve even seen worrying cases of Building Management
Systems being hacked to degrade server farm
performance, jeopardizing core business processes.

15. 02
01 03
Orchestrate
Your Data
Use Your
Data
Validate The
Benefits
Define your building ontology and
create a data lake to allow large
volumes of diverse data from
different sources to be stored for
multi-level analysis.
Use advanced analytics and visualization
tools, in conjunction with insights from
technical experts, to identify opportunities
to improve your asset operations across
energy, space, health, productivity and
waste.
Validate the business case by
deploying engineering and
commercially led assessment tools
to prove the business case and
prioritize investments.
TRENDS
22//03.
Arcadis recommends.

16. With the ubiquity of digital services, the
demand for data centers has exploded.
Many regions are worried about them
ruining their landscapes, sapping all
their power and creating ghost towns
that are only for machines.
TRENDS
22//04.
THE
NEXT
DATA
CENTER

17. Using the wasted heat from a data center is increasingly under
scrutiny. NorthC, a CoLocation provider in the Netherlands,
has delivered a district heating system that supplies warm
water to a school, plant nursery and swimming pool.
Developing the Aalsmeer Energy Hub was an important way
to demonstrate value to the municipality more widely.
In fact, to get planning permission, cities are now asking data
center providers ”what can you do for me?”. In Switzerland,
GIB-Services have also heated a swimming pool from the
wasted heat of their underground facility, and in Finland, a
similar system will provide heating for up to 4,000 homes.
Warm + Welcoming
TRENDS
22//04.
What’s going on?

18. TRENDS
22//04.
What’s going on?
A Growing Trend
Glulam/timber construction is growing
in popularity, particularly in places with
tough environments or mission critical
uses. The material is much better for the
environment, being a good store of
embodied carbon that’s replenishable.
It reduces materials waiting time by
being readily available in most places.
For data centers, it offers a much-
needed natural aesthetic.
The University of British Columbia (UBC) Campus Energy Centre
The University of British Columbia (UBC) Campus Energy Centre / DIALOG. Image © Ema Peter Photography
The
UK
Pavilion
at
Expo
2020
Dubai
©
Alin
Constantin
Photography

19. 02
01 03
Rinse &
Repeat
Swoop to
Sustain
Better, Faster,
Stronger
Create and implement a
template to standardize your
design. Go modular to scale.
Use architectural design to
humanize in the community.
Embed sustainable onsite
power generation with links
to a green grid. Use HVAC
analytics to optimize current
operations and reduce
carbon expenditure.
Reduce your time to market
with deep delivery
experience, digital PM tools
and a blended global
workforce for round-the-
clock delivery. Use robust and
varied cost benchmarks to
ensure value.
TRENDS
22//04.
Arcadis recommends.

20. Consumers are expecting that
companies do less evil. To prove it,
companies are now reporting their ESG
metrics. ”Approved" ESG companies are
seen to be more valuable on the stock
market and therefore more likely to
attract investment.
TRENDS
22//05.
GREEN
IS THE
NEW
BLACK

21. Derwent London were the first UK Real Estate Investment
Trust (REIT) to release a Net Zero Carbon Pathway in July
2020 – the document sets out the ways in which their buildings
and their business operations will lower the carbon burden of
their business. Their annual Responsibility Report clearly sets
out the sustainability credentials of each of their buildings.
This gives investors confidence in the good that they are doing
for the London building stock.
Net Zero = Net Value
TRENDS
22//05.
What’s going on?
Derwent
London’s
How
To
Make
Buildings
Net
Zero
©
Derwent
Plc

22. TRENDS
22//05.
What’s going on?
Social in Spaces
Increasingly, Internet of Things (IoT)
technologies are being used to prove
the health and accessibility metrics of a
space. This has ramifications on how
demonstrably healthy or comfortable a
space might be for those with
disabilities or temporary changes to
their health, such as a pregnancy.
The Salesforce Ohana floors are freely available to non-profits during weeknights
and weekends for events
Image © Salesforce
Awair
sensor
at
80Fen
reporting
the
air
quality
score
©
Arcadis
Often, public bodies are now asking
their designers to declare what social
value they will bring through their
design tactics.

23. 02
01 03
Get The
Badge
Real +
Real-Time
At Peace With
Your Green
Obtain BREEAM, NABRS and
more to demonstrate your
embodied and operating
carbon. Seek WELL, FitWell
or AirRated to be more
human in your metrics.
Use energy analytics to
capture a continuous stream
of auditable data and use
automated suggestions to
bring your operational carbon
down.
Use specialists to perform
some ESG due diligence on
your sites and help you
interpret your portfolio and
the alterations you can make.
TRENDS
22//05.
Arcadis recommends.

24. Paul Needler is UK Technology Growth Director at Arcadis, having
spent over 20 years delivering results through the innovative
application of traditional skills across a range of market sectors.
Paul was selected as an MCA awards finalist for Commercial
Excellence and shortlisted in the 2020 Parcel & Post Technology
International Awards for Final Mile Innovation of the Year (The Final
Delivery).
Paul is particularly known for bringing together his entrepreneurial
approach with a proven track record of using innovation and best
practice to create tailored solutions for clients which increase speed
to market, maximise return on investment and improve quality of life.
paul.needler@arcadis.com
linkedin.com/in/paulneedler
TRENDS
22//00.
No single organization can hope to respond to the
trends we’ve highlighted in this report, with perfect
success, alone. That’s why we invite you to reach out and
collaborate with us on how we can bring our built
environment knowledge and expertise to improve
quality of life.
Change is difficult. Bringing your employees on the
journey is key to achieving the required organizational
step-change essential to out-perform the market.
Creating a successful change strategy with elegant
delivery helps businesses to storm the weather of the
Big Quit.
Our experience in this means we have the aptitude to
understand the theory and deliver the reality. We hope
to be your partner through navigating what comes next.
Matthew Marson is the Global Technology Sector Director at Arcadis,
working at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and the
built environment. Having founded WSP’s Smart Places practice and
grown Accenture’s offering in this field, Matthew now leads our
global technology sector across a range of asset types and
geographies.
Marson was named as the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Young
Visionary for his work in creating The World’s Most Connected
Building. He is now a Fellow and leader of the Institution.
As a recognised thought leader, Matthew is a keynote speaker at
international industry events related to emerging technology, net
zero design and places at the building and city scales. He was an
author in the Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Technologies and a
published writer in a variety of journals, earning a doctorate in Smart
Buildings.
matthew.marson@arcadis.com
linkedin.com/in/matthewmarson
arcadis.com
Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering
sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy
solutions for natural and built assets. We are more
than 28,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to
improving quality of life.
Conclusion.