Data is the new green building material
Grøn Deadline – Michael Ambjørn with podcast hosts Michael H. Nielsen og Flemming Kehr
Data is the new green building material – but only if we use it
In episode 6, season 2 of the podcast Grøn Deadline, Michael Ambjørn, CEO at PropTech Denmark, makes a clear case: the next major leap in sustainable real estate will not only come from new materials, but from better use of technology, data and digital infrastructure in the buildings we already have.
The core message is pragmatic: technology is no longer a side project for the property sector. It is becoming as fundamental to a building’s long-term value as concrete, steel and timber.
Key takeaways for the busy reader
The next major leap in sustainable real estate will come as much from data and operational intelligence as from new physical materials
Most buildings still waste energy, water and resources because decisions are based on static or incomplete data
The technology already exists – implementation is now the real bottleneck
Digitalisation can no longer sit beside business strategy; it must become part of core operations and asset management
Better building data is becoming critical for financing, compliance, tenant expectations and long-term asset value
The organisations that succeed will combine technology, operational insight and cross-sector collaboration
The real estate sector is entering a new phase of the green transition
Not because buildings suddenly became more important – but because expectations around how they perform are changing. Rapidly.
Buildings are no longer evaluated solely on location, materials or energy labels. Increasingly, they are judged on how intelligently they operate over time: how efficiently they use energy, how well they support occupants, how adaptable they are and how transparently they can document performance.
Technology is no longer a support function for the property sector. It is becoming part of the building itself.
Buildings already contain enormous untapped potential
Across the built environment, buildings continue to waste energy, heat, water and operational resources because too many decisions are still based on outdated or fragmented information. That creates a major opportunity. With sensors, machine learning, live operational monitoring and stronger data structures, building owners can move from periodic adjustments to continuous optimisation.
The value is immediate:
Lower operating costs
Reduced emissions
Better indoor climate
More resilient assets
Improved long-term property value
A growing ecosystem of proptech companies is already proving what this looks like in practice. Examples mentioned in the conversation included:
Ento, using AI-supported electricity optimisation
ClimaID and Wisehome, improving indoor climate and occupant comfort
Tector, monitoring moisture and structural conditions
Birdsview, helping preserve and reuse existing concrete structures
Findable, structuring fragmented building documentation into usable operational knowledge
Together, these technologies point toward a future where buildings become more adaptive, measurable and resource-aware.
The sector does not lack solutions. It lacks implementation
One of the most important insights from the conversation was that the technology challenge is no longer primarily about innovation. It is about execution.
With too few solutions becoming fully embedded into operational workflows and investment priorities, this forces a difficult – but necessary – shift in mindset. Instead of asking whether technology is “interesting,” the questions should be:
Does this improve operational performance?
Does it strengthen NOI (Net Operating Income) and long-term value?
Does it reduce climate risk and future brown discounts?
Does it help extend building lifetimes or enable reuse?
Because the goal is not more technology. The goal is better-performing buildings.
Digital strategy IS business strategy
Digitisation can no longer operate as a parallel track inside property organisations. The leading companies don’t have a “digital department” separated from operations, sustainability and finance. They integrate data and technology directly into how buildings are operated, financed, maintained and developed. That shift is already accelerated by:
New reporting requirements
Investor focus on stranded assets
Growing tenant expectations
Demand for operational transparency
Increasing pressure to document actual performance rather than theoretical efficiency
Static PDFs and annual reporting cycles will not be enough in the future, where building performance is becoming increasingly live, dynamic and operational.
The human challenge may matter even more than the technology
Despite growing awareness, many organisations still struggle to translate digital ambitions into day-to-day practice. And software alone will not solve that.
The real transition happens when building owners, operators, advisors and technology providers work together around shared operational challenges.
That is also where PropTech Denmark sees its role: creating practical spaces for collaboration across the ecosystem. Because transformation rarely happens through abstract innovation narratives. It happens when practitioners solve real problems together.
The bottom line
The green transition of real estate will not be delivered by technology alone. But without better use of technology and data, the sector will not move fast enough.
The opportunity now is to make digital tools practical, commercially relevant and operationally useful – helping buildings perform better, last longer and consume fewer resources.
In that sense, data is starting to look less like software infrastructure, and more like a new building material.
The question is whether the sector is ready to build with it?
Next steps
The technologies already exist. The need is increasingly urgent. And the business case is becoming harder to ignore.
What the sector needs now is stronger collaboration between property owners, operators, investors, technology companies and decision-makers.
At PropTech Denmark, we believe the green transition accelerates when the ecosystem learns together: through implementation, shared experiences and practical partnerships.
If you are working with digitisation, operational optimisation or sustainable real estate, now is the time to move from ambition to action.
Grøn Deadline is a podcast series from Energiforum Danmark and Kjær & Nielsen for leaders and decision-makers working to accelerate the sustainable transformation of the built environment. The series explores the ideas, technologies and practical choices needed to move the building sector from ambition to action.
