Technology in Commercial Real Estate: From Market Data and Virtual Tours to Smart Buildings
Which property technology owners actually use, from market data and virtual tours to building analytics, what the evidence says it saves, and the risks.
Updated & fact-checked Figures are linked to their sources at the end of the article.
Property technology, or proptech, covers the software and devices used to find, buy, lease and run buildings: market databases, online listings and virtual tours, property management software, and the sensors and controls inside a “smart” building. Owners are offered more of it every year, and most of it is sold on promises.
This article is for owners and buyers of apartment buildings, hotels, shopping centres and mixed-use property who want to decide what is worth adopting. It covers the three areas where technology most often pays its way (data for decisions, marketing space, and running building systems), what independent evidence says about savings, and the security and privacy risks that come with connected buildings.
Start with the decision, not the tool
Every piece of technology should answer a question the owner already has. Is this rent at market? Why did the gas bill rise? How long do tenants wait for repairs? Which units are hardest to lease? If a tool does not change a decision or save staff time, it is an expense, not an investment.
Most owners of one to ten buildings already have the core: accounting and property management software for leases, rent and work orders. The next step is usually better use of public data and of the utility bills they already receive, before any new hardware.
Data owners can use today
Much of the most useful data for a Canadian owner is public and free. The table lists the main sources for a Nova Scotia owner, with U.S. equivalents where they differ.
| Need | Canadian source (Nova Scotia) | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment rents and vacancy | CMHC rental market data | Average rents and vacancy rates by centre and unit type, from CMHC’s annual rental market survey |
| Assessed values | Property Valuation Services Corporation (PVSC) | Assessed value of each property in Nova Scotia, used for municipal property tax |
| Ownership, title and registered documents | Nova Scotia Land Registry (Property Online) | Registered deeds, mortgages and plans, searchable online |
| Building energy performance | ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (via Natural Resources Canada) | Energy use per square foot and a comparison with similar buildings |
| Comparable sales and leases | Brokers, appraisers and paid commercial databases | Recent transactions and asking rents; coverage of smaller markets can be thin |
CMHC publishes rental market data tables drawn from its rental market survey.[1] PVSC sets property assessments across Nova Scotia,[2] and the province’s land registry has converted its historical books, plans and indices to electronic form, accessible through Property Online.[3] Natural Resources Canada describes Portfolio Manager as a free, online, secure platform, adapted for Canadian weather, postal codes, both official languages and metric units.[4]
The value is in combining them. An owner comparing a building’s rents with CMHC averages for the same centre, its assessment trend with neighbouring properties, and its energy use per square foot with similar buildings has a far clearer picture than the seller’s brochure provides.
Marketing space: listings, virtual tours and 3D scans
Online listings with good photographs, floor plans and video are now the minimum for leasing apartments and commercial space. Virtual tours and 3D scans go further: a prospective tenant or buyer can walk through a space from another city before booking a visit.
The honest case for virtual tours is narrower than the sales pitch. They save time for both sides by screening out people for whom the space will not work, and they help out-of-town buyers and tenants. They do not replace an in-person inspection before a lease or purchase, and a buyer should never rely on one for the condition of a building. For small properties, a well-shot set of photographs and an accurate measured floor plan often do most of the work for a fraction of the cost.
Running the building: controls and analytics
Most mid-sized and larger commercial buildings already have a building automation system that runs heating, cooling and ventilation. Two kinds of software sit on top of it. An energy information system (EIS) collects meter data and shows where and when energy is used. Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) software analyses the control system’s data and flags equipment that is running wrongly, such as a heating valve stuck open or a fan running at night.
The best independent evidence on what these tools save comes from the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign, a U.S. Department of Energy program run by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Smart Energy Analytics Campaign, year three report (U.S.)
These are medians from large U.S. portfolios whose owners chose to join a federal program, so a single small building may see more or less.[5] The finding that matters is that savings came from software that helps staff find and fix problems. A dashboard nobody looks at saves nothing.
Benchmarking rules are pushing in the same direction in some places. Ontario, for example, requires owners of privately owned buildings of 50,000 square feet and larger to report energy and water use to the province each year by July 1, and Toronto now has its own reporting rule.[6] Owners elsewhere should check whether their province or city has, or is planning, a similar requirement.
The risks: security and privacy
Connected buildings bring new risks. The best-known case is the 2013 Target data breach in the U.S. A U.S. Senate committee report described how attackers first got into Target’s network using credentials stolen from a Pennsylvania HVAC and refrigeration contractor, Fazio Mechanical Services, which had remote access for billing, contract submission and project management. The report said two-factor authentication for vendors could have stopped the attackers at that point. The breach exposed the financial and personal information of as many as 110 million customers.[7]
Privacy law also applies to building technology. In Canada, the federal privacy law PIPEDA covers personal information collected in the course of commercial activity. Only Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own general private-sector privacy laws, so PIPEDA applies to landlords in Nova Scotia.[9] The Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s guidance on video surveillance says organizations should consider less privacy-invasive means first, post clear notice before people enter a monitored area, and store recordings securely with limited access.[8] The same thinking applies to door-access logs, licence-plate readers and tenant apps.
How to decide what to adopt
A practical way to evaluate property technology
Name the problem
Write down the decision or cost the tool is meant to improve, and how you will measure it.
Use what you already have
Check your property management software, utility bills and building controls first. Many owners use a fraction of what they already pay for.
Ask for evidence
Ask vendors for results from buildings like yours, and for references you can call. Treat savings claims without data as marketing.
Check data ownership and exit terms
Confirm that you own your data, can export it, and can leave the contract without losing your records.
Review security and privacy
Ask how remote access is secured, where data is stored, and what personal information is collected about tenants and visitors.
Pilot, then measure
Try the tool on one building for a set period and compare results with the baseline before rolling it out.
Sources
- Rental Market Data — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Checked 2026-10-12.
- Property Valuation Services Corporation — PVSC. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Land and property — Government of Nova Scotia. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Energy benchmarking with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager — Natural Resources Canada. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Smart Energy Analytics Campaign Reveals Continued Energy and Cost Savings for Energy Management Information Systems — U.S. Department of Energy, November 18, 2019. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Report energy and water use in large buildings — Government of Ontario. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Senate report details Target’s missed chances to stop data breach — CBS News, March 25, 2014. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Guidelines for Overt Video Surveillance in the Private Sector — Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Checked 2026-10-12.
- PIPEDA requirements in brief — Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Checked 2026-10-12.
