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Some have interpreted not normal as a negative in my last chapter COVID-19 New Normal is Not Normal  Deeming back to normal as a positive goal.

That was not my cognition, I see many positive sides to Not Normal. I myself am not normal as you have likely observed and I chose the word Renaissance in this  title to delineate the significant positive break with the marking of a new era separated from the normality problems of our past with very positive hopes of Reinvention and Rebirth to create a better future world, that is our next social Renaissance.

I am amazed by the number of things that simply work better as a result being forced online. Zooming everywhere rather than the senseless travel has changed our perspective while greatly increasing our efficiency. Online learning for all has become the new norm. We all are thinking 10 years younger than we were before COVID-19 of how to solve problems remotely using available resources. Connected and born connected people are our greatest resource and us unconnected folks are all working towards a not normal future.

We have grown up in a time where density has driven economics and bigger is better, urbanization and globalization are a solution. Mega cities now rule the world, not sure that we are ready to move back to farm but this virus and the thoughts of more to come has us questioning how dense is dense. Are we evolving to the second meaning of dense? Unintelligent & foolish? Yikes.

Our global remote working experiment was an amazing success showing folks could be actually more productive and safer working remotely while ignoring the attraction of Mega Cities and Urbanization as an end game. Questions were raised as to our global food chain as a potential problem with a celebration of local foods and local sustainability. The value of safe and trusted close community "the between" work place and our homes/families became obvious.

The success of working remote was outlined in this article COVID-19 the World's Biggest Remote Working Experiment

Many things that were broken or lost in a senseless procedure and distant bureaucracies were quickly jumped over. Most things actually worked much better and folks discovered they do not need to commute daily to be effective at their job. In fact focused Zoom calls are much more effective.

Global Work-from-Home Experience Survey Report (2020)
Nearly 3,000 employees responded to the Global Work-from-Home Experience Survey between March 30th and April 24th, 2020 making it the largest global post-COVID employee survey to date. It has revealed: - Who was working from home before COVID, who's doing it now, who wants to in the future, and how often they want to do it - What's worked and what hasn't - Success enablers…

The Office is Over is a collection of Post stories looking at the how the pandemic has changed the view of the office. OTTAWA – As the federal government wrestles with how to bring employees back to the office after the COVID-19 pandemic, Transport Canada’s default policy for the foreseeable future is to work from home, a decision in line with tech giants such as Twitter and Shopify.

Why am I so fascinated by the home office concept?  We now have the technologies we originally envisioned at the turn of the century pre-2000 to create a successful home office interface.

Since 1975 Jane and I have worked from a home office providing Building Automations & Energy Services, then using a PET computer & 300 baud modem.  In 1997 we create a company call Enviromation Services Inc to capture the integration of the home office connected to large building and business mostly by modems and phone lines. "We floated concepts like the home office replacing second car and the garage space becoming new home office." It was still early days but when we started using email and were introduced to the internet and new era began.

Our ESI brick and mortar company failed.  We were very much too early to market under funded and unprepared for the task as much of what we envisioned had not yet been invented, but folks were interested in our concepts of an automated homes integrated with their work space and a software commute using remote computer.

The success of the failure of ESI introduce us to the internet and the first online version of the store was created which led later to the creation and launching of AutomatedBuildings.com Here is our introduction 1999   So I am very excited to see what we tried to make happen pre-2000 now becoming a reality.  If you live long enough your prediction and ideas will come true...big smile

This article Beyond Buildings and "Rurality" –  Is Rural the new Reality?

Location, location, location, in the big cities will matter some, but they probably will not drive innovation. The big player HQs might, but not the city as a whole. It might be different in the US, but still, more people will move domestically from silicon-valley type settings to more suburbs, rural areas, keeping most of the salary if not all, but still working from wherever.

"The In Between", (Localizing) your community between Home and Head Office

Just across my desk is this not normal extraordinary newsletter,

For this issue of Dumbo Feather, we've been in dialogue with some remarkable humans who have looked at their dependence on the global economic system head on, and pivoted dramatically to form local, decentralised structures that build resilience, and put the wellbeing of people and planet first.

But since the advent of colonialism and globalisation, the fabric of local interdependence has been steadily unravelling. We have been made dependent on distant bureaucracies and vast technological systems for everything from our food to our jobs, from the information we receive to our means of social interaction. To our own detriment, we have been distanced from the complex, interdependent web of life that is not only the real economy, but a perpetual source of wonder and fulfilment.

"The in between" can be anywhere; the beach, the lake. ski hill, surfing you can work where you play. Working remote means they have been set free from there tether and can work anywhere they wish.

This Zoom interview adds more words to the above discussion



Episode 366 ControlTalk NOW Online Interview - Ken Sinclair’s Automated Buildings June Theme: “Researching & Reinventing Not Normal” - In his most recent editorial plus he provides insight into next month's theme Reinvention Rebirth Renaissance.

Ken Sinclair provides incisive clarity into the nature of normal -- that makes his June Automated Buildings' a must read. We all realize, perhaps with some sense of loss, that the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered our lives and lifestyles, and with each return (or non-return) to those places we worked, learned, recreated, and traveled to, there is a reboot of sorts in progress. Ken takes a Reboot and Prosper positive view! He says we must, "Recover quickly while Reinventing ourselves."

We are also discussing transitions at https://www.mondaylive.org/

This is our last zoom room discussion June 1st
 
Our opinions are extremely varied and this is very positive.  These are some of the questions we are discussing;

Will buildings be repurposed post-COVID?

As COVID changes our relationship with buildings, will there be a move to repurpose commercial buildings to suit the needs of a post-COVID world better?

Will we cease suburb>megacity mass commuting?

What happens with all of the office buildings that make up existing city skylines?

Will smaller suburban offices provide a better work-life balance?

Will empty retail and shopping malls be turned into workplaces?

Will schools and colleges be turned into gathering and networking places, leaving learning to be online?

Is the 9-5 workday dead?

Below are some Covid-19 discussions and resources of value I would like to share with you;

The Role of Data and Analytics in Responding to the Covid-19 Challenge - John Petze
Partner, Co-Founder SkyFoundry - Any response to the Covid-19 challenge should first center on identifying and adopting best practices.

Connected Homes and Intelligent Buildings in the COVID-19 Era - Ron Zimmer President, CEO, CABA - The most important point is that in the last 30 years technology for “connected homes and intelligent buildings” is well positioned to help people and businesses survive COVID-19.

Public health policy for buildings will require that all contractors are health risk YOUR COMPANY can provide you with Totem, a health-risk safety solution that directly responds to public health concerns in commercial real estate.

Digital Twins, virtual models of a process, product or service that allow for data analysis and system monitoring via simulations, are playing an increasing role in IoT and digital transformation in buildings. Projects today span multiple building sectors, including commercial real estate, retail, infrastructure, smart cities, smart campuses and healthcare facilities.  Deloitte predicted in 2019 that the digital twin is the next industry-wide disruption in real estate.

Internet-connected lights with enabling technology has always had the ability to monitor employee movements and density, and this has been used by building managers to manage space effectively.  But with the easing of the Covid-19 lockdowns around the world and the return to the office, the same technology can help ensure employees comply with social distancing requirements.

Wireless sensors and service can predict HVAC maintenance needs Subscription model
Very interesting model as I mentioned in Monday alive our new client will be the occupant not the building owner

In the new Renaissance Occupants may arrive and set up their own wireless automation network that they will bring with them which will work anywhere they are; home, between, or head office.

Partnership of Autonomous Vehicles with Autonomous Buildings  What began as a collision of buildings and autonomous vehicles will ease into an equilibrium when the building becomes autonomous and we can have an AI carry the context of users from their vehicles to buildings back to vehicles.

Blast from the past era 2004 If Buildings Were Built Like Cars

While it is true that most new buildings have new technology in the form of new equipment and insulation, there is little new technology for the building occupants to see and use. In contrast, every new automobile - regardless of its price - is filled with new technology

Right Toby Ruckert no matter what technology we still have to be nice 😁 Thanks for reminding us

Back to Normal?  Normal defined. If something conforms to a general pattern, standard, or average, we describe it as normal, but of course that standard can change over time. What's normal today may be "abnormal" in the future.

The new not normal I envision is much better than yesterday's normal, above normal, or even abnormal, anything but normal. This is an opportunity to be anything but normal.

Be Not Normal and get on with Reinvention Rebirth Renaissance.