How AI sensors can help guide lab redesigns
The sensors, which combine AI and body heat-sensing technology to detect human presence and movement without having to capture data about people’s identities, can help laboratory operators allocate space better, improve maintenance, use energy more efficiently and help with compliance issues that regulate who can be where and when, the company says.
“A lot of space is duplicated” in corporate laboratories, whether the work involves research and development, quality control, engineering or product testing, according to Butlr CEO Honghao Deng.
At many research and development companies, workers have space both in and outside the lab, creating an opportunity for efficiency when data is collected on how the space is used, Deng said.
Researchers “stay in the lab, but they also have [desk space] in the lab and separate offices,” Deng said in an interview.
The money spent on these duplicated spaces and equipment, including million-dollar lab tools that might only be operated once a week, could be used more efficiently, Deng said. Aware of these inefficiencies, life sciences companies have been looking for ways to optimize their space through the use of AI, he said.
Rent growth for lab and best-in-class manufacturing space, known as Current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, continues to slow down, with asking rents rising an average of 0.7% from the end of 2024 across 16 major markets examined by Cushman & Wakefield in September. Rents remain 4.7% higher than at the end of 2023, the firm says.
Even with the softening, rents in the sector “still command a premium over office rents,” Cushman & Wakefield said, noting that life sciences rents were 31% higher than office rents in the 12 U.S. markets it tracks. This premium is even more pronounced in Boston (75%) and San Diego (70%).
Butlr’s sensors can help research companies identify underused equipment and work areas, understand foot traffic and occupancy around hazardous materials, and when to adjust airflows, lighting and HVAC systems to ensure compliance with lab safety standards, the company said.
“The cost and time required to set up or reconfigure a lab space goes beyond fit out expenses and includes additional costs due to underutilized equipment and space,” Deng said in a statement. “This is driving medical technology and life sciences firms to rely on Butlr data to make more strategic decisions about commercial real estate investments.”
One global medical technology developer and manufacturer installed sensors to gain better insight into lab use to determine if it needed to invest in a new building, Butler said. By using the sensors, the company determined that 30% of its space was underused.
The data also helped the company determine which pieces of equipment were most or least frequently used, enabling the company to take a granular approach to a lab redesign. The company saved on life sciences facility fit-out costs, Butler said. Those costs average $846 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
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