Enabling Sufficiency Through Smart Locks: Transforming Office Occupancy and Building Management for Energy Savings

In the aftermath of the global pandemic, the widespread embrace of flexible working models has led to suboptimal occupancy levels in office buildings. Despite this shift, traditional space management practices persist, contributing to increased energy consumption per person. This study investigates how integrating smart lock systems can enhance space utilization within flexible working environments, ultimately reducing energy use. A case study of an office building in Milan, Italy, is used to evaluate the proposed approach. The methodology includes a comprehensive assessment of building design and functionality, coupled with impact analyses using Building Energy Modeling and Life Cycle Assessment. The results indicate that innovative occupancy management strategies can achieve energy savings of from 9% up to 14% compared to baseline operational energy use, leading to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 7.5 to 17.6 kgCO2eq/m2 depending on occupancy scenarios. The life cycle assessment reveals that, while smart locks introduce an initial embodied carbon footprint of approximately 2 tons of CO2, that is recovered through the savings obtained after a few months of installation. The findings demonstrate that this methodology is effective in buildings that allow both functional and temporal flexibility, enabling partial shutdowns and the redirection of certain services when not in use, ultimately improving energy efficiency through lean interventions.