Conquering the Digital Divide in Multifamily

Boston is like many other communities in the US - there’s been a lot of gentrification where new luxury housing displaces older buildings that served communities with less fortunate residents.

And while there are lots of societal inequities between the types of residents, one glaring example is in digital equity. Digital equity is a lot of things. In its purest sense, it occurs when people can’t access and effectively use the technology necessary to participate in society -- things like high speed internet -- which can put lower income residents and seniors at a disadvantage.

As intelligent buildings become more pervasive, the digital equity gap will broaden as gentrification continues its march into our cities. Architects, developers and property managers should consider the digital divide as they spec both retrofit and new construction to ensure that buildings meet the needs of residents of all shapes and sizes.

We often talk about the benefits of Embue for owners and property managers because, well, they’re the ones who buy our products and things like return on investment mean a lot to them. We don’t often talk about the benefits to residents, and in this case, residents for whom digital equity is a real issue.

Intelligent buildings can deliver a wide range of benefits for residents beyond just keeping them warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Through technology, these buildings can warn of dangerous building conditions like too much moisture and humidity that can cause real health issues, the ability to keep units at a consistent temperature and provide early warnings and alerts to property management staff to avert potential issues like water leaks that can cascade through apartment floors and ceilings.

It’s exciting to be working in this space and to be making a difference in people’s lives. Schochet Companies, a forward-thinking company we’ve partnered with before to enable intelligent buildings, worked in conjunction with Fenway CDC, a Boston based nonprofit organization to retrofit Newcastle Saranac Apartments, a 97-unit development in the South End/Lower Roxbury neighborhood in Boston. Fenway CDC works to preserve Boston’s Fenway area as a vibrant and diverse neighborhood by developing affordable housing, providing programs that enrich lives, and strengthening community voices, and together they are installing Embue’s whole building intelligence platform as part of a rehab and preservation effort.

In the Newcastle Saranac Apartments, low income residents will have access to smart thermostats that will keep their units warm in the winter and cool in the summer, while Schochet’s property management and maintenance staff will have up to the minute access to critical building and apartment-level data to ensure comfort and health. It’s a small step toward closing the digital divide.