• Building management systems that can't talk to each other so energy and occupancy data lives in five different dashboards?

  • Tenants with no digital touchpoint to book facilities, raise issues, or see building information?

Smart Building Software Development

Building management systems that can't talk to each other mean energy and occupancy data lives in five different dashboards. Tenants have no digital touchpoint to book facilities, raise issues, or find building information.

We build custom smart building software for commercial property operators, building managers, and proptech companies. IoT data integration, energy monitoring, occupancy analytics, and tenant experience apps -- built for the real operational structure of your buildings.

  • Unified IoT data layer connecting HVAC, lighting, access control, and occupancy sensors

  • Real-time energy monitoring with anomaly detection and automated setpoint adjustment

  • Occupancy analytics by floor and zone with space utilisation and capacity planning reports

  • Tenant experience app covering desk booking, room reservation, visitor management, and issue reporting

Smart building software connects IoT devices, building management systems, and access control hardware to a unified operations platform -- covering energy monitoring, occupancy analytics, predictive maintenance, and tenant experience. RaftLabs builds custom smart building software for commercial property operators, building managers, and proptech companies that need IoT data integrated across HVAC, lighting, access control, and occupancy sensors into a single dashboard, with tenant-facing mobile apps for desk booking, meeting room reservation, and issue reporting.

Vodafone
Aldi
Nike
Microsoft
Heineken
Cisco
Calorgas
Energia Rewards
GE
Bank of America
T-Mobile
Valero
Techstars
East Ventures
100+Products shipped
24+Industries served
FixedCost delivery
12-14Week delivery cycles

Five dashboards for one building is not smart building management

HVAC lives in the BMS vendor's app. Access control is in the security system's portal. Occupancy data is in a sensor manufacturer's cloud dashboard. Energy consumption is in the utility supplier's portal. Maintenance work orders are in a facilities management system that nobody has updated since last quarter.

The people managing the building spend their time logging into different systems and mentally assembling a picture that should be in one place. The decisions that should be automatic -- adjusting HVAC setpoints when a floor is empty, alerting the facilities team when energy consumption spikes above the baseline -- require someone to notice the problem first.

Smart building software doesn't mean replacing all the hardware. It means building the integration layer that connects what's already installed, normalises the data formats across manufacturers, and presents the operational picture your building management team actually needs. It also means giving tenants a digital touchpoint so the building works for the people in it, not just the people managing it.

What we build

IoT data integration

Integration platform connecting your existing building hardware to a unified data layer. HVAC controllers, smart lighting systems, access control panels, occupancy sensors, smart meters, and water monitoring devices -- each communicates in its own protocol (BACnet, Modbus, MQTT, REST APIs). We build the normalisation layer that translates each device's data format into a consistent schema the platform can act on. For building operators with a mix of hardware generations and manufacturers, this unified layer is the foundation for every other capability. New sensor types and device categories can be added to the integration layer without rebuilding the platform.

Energy monitoring and optimisation

Real-time energy consumption dashboards showing consumption by floor, zone, and building system -- HVAC, lighting, and plug load broken out separately where sub-metering supports it. Baseline profiles built from historical consumption data by time of day, day of week, and occupancy level. Anomaly detection that alerts building managers when consumption deviates from the expected baseline -- catching equipment faults and wasteful operation before they appear on the utility bill. Automated setpoint adjustment rules: HVAC setpoints shift when occupancy sensors show a floor is empty, lighting schedules adjust to daylight hours, standby equipment powers down outside core hours. ESG reporting output for commercial property operators tracking carbon footprint and energy intensity metrics.

Occupancy analytics

Space utilisation reporting by floor and zone using occupancy sensor data -- showing average utilisation by hour, day, and week against designed capacity. Peak hour analysis identifying when different areas of the building reach capacity and when they are consistently underused. Desk and meeting room utilisation rates with comparison across floors and building types. Capacity planning reports for property managers making decisions about floor plate reconfiguration or lease negotiations with tenants. Heatmap visualisations showing which zones are heavily used and which are consistently empty. Data exported in standard formats for inclusion in building performance reports or investor data packs.

Tenant experience app

Tenant-facing mobile app covering the daily interactions building occupants have with their workspace. Desk booking with floor plan view and filter by amenity type -- sit-stand desks, quiet zones, collaboration areas. Meeting room reservation with real-time availability, capacity display, and AV equipment inventory. Visitor management -- tenants pre-register visitors who receive a digital access pass and are automatically notified when their visitor arrives at reception. Issue reporting with photo upload, category selection, and status tracking so tenants know when their issue has been assigned and resolved. Community feed for building-wide announcements, events, and news from the building management team. White-labelled with the building or landlord brand.

Predictive maintenance

Sensor-triggered maintenance alerts based on equipment performance data rather than a fixed schedule. HVAC units with temperature or pressure readings deviating from normal operating ranges generate a maintenance alert before the equipment fails. Lifts with anomalous vibration or cycle count data flagged for inspection before a breakdown occurs. Service history per asset linked to sensor data so the maintenance team can see the relationship between past interventions and current performance. Contractor dispatch workflow integrated with the alert system -- the right contractor receives the job details automatically when an alert is generated. Compliance tracking for statutory inspection schedules mapped against the asset register.

Building management dashboard

Portfolio-level operations dashboard for building managers and property operators overseeing multiple buildings. Active alerts by building and by category -- energy anomaly, occupancy threshold, maintenance overdue, access control event. Building health score per property based on alert frequency, energy performance, and occupancy utilisation. Compliance checklist showing the status of statutory inspections, fire safety checks, and certification renewals across the portfolio. ESG reporting dashboard pulling energy intensity, carbon emissions, and water consumption data into the format required for GRESB, BREEAM, or investor reporting. Single login across the full portfolio rather than separate logins for each building's individual BMS.

Frequently asked questions

Smart building software is the integration and application layer that connects the physical systems in a building -- HVAC, lighting, access control, occupancy sensors, smart meters -- to a unified operations platform. It gives building managers a single view of what is happening across all building systems rather than requiring them to log into each system separately. For tenants, it provides a digital interface for booking spaces, raising issues, and accessing building services. For property investors and operators, it generates the occupancy and energy data needed for ESG reporting and operational cost management. The software does not replace building hardware -- it connects and makes useful the data that hardware already generates.

We integrate with BACnet and Modbus-based HVAC and BMS controllers, which cover the majority of commercial building systems. Access control systems from manufacturers including Lenel, Honeywell, Genetec, and Paxton where API access is available. Smart meter data via MQTT or utility data APIs. Occupancy sensors from manufacturers including Density, Verkada, and Cisco Meraki. Lighting control systems from Lutron and DALI-based platforms. For hardware without a published API, we work with BACnet and Modbus protocol interfaces directly. We assess your existing hardware inventory during discovery and confirm what can be integrated before the project scope is agreed.

Yes. The tenant experience app is a standard component of smart building projects where the property operator wants to provide occupants with a digital touchpoint. We build native iOS and Android apps, or cross-platform apps using React Native depending on the update frequency and performance requirements. The app is white-labelled with your building or brand identity. Standard features include desk and meeting room booking, visitor pre-registration, issue reporting with photo upload, and push notifications for announcements and issue status updates. The feature set is scoped during discovery based on what your tenant mix actually needs rather than building every possible feature.

Energy management starts with data collection from smart meters, sub-meters, and BMS sensor points. We build a baseline consumption model from historical data -- showing expected consumption by hour, day of week, and occupancy level. The monitoring layer compares live consumption against the baseline continuously and triggers an alert when deviation exceeds a defined threshold. Automated rules can take direct action -- adjusting HVAC setpoints, switching lighting zones, or sending a command to shut down standby equipment -- where the BMS supports bidirectional API control. The building manager approves automation rules during setup and can override any automated action from the dashboard. ESG reporting pulls the cleaned energy data into the format required for your reporting obligations.

Related proptech and property software

Talk to us about your smart building software project.

Tell us about your building portfolio, the hardware already installed, and what the current operations process looks like. We'll scope the integration and application layer that makes it work.