Picture a Bakersfield office manager calling in an IT contractor because the security cameras keep dropping off the network. The contractor arrives, checks the switches, checks the Wi-Fi, and eventually traces the problem to a cable run installed over twenty years ago, never rated for the load it’s now being asked to carry. The fix is straightforward but demands the cost of disruption, downtime, and money to resolve it.
Smart building technology is being layered onto infrastructure that was designed for a simpler era, but the gap between what the cabling was built for and what it’s now being asked to support is where most problems start.
What a Smart Building Actually Means
A smart building uses sensors, networked systems, and automation to monitor and manage how a space operates, adjusting energy use, managing access, tracking occupancy, and integrating systems that would otherwise run independently. As the University of the Built Environment describes it, the defining characteristic is the ability to optimize building performance based on real-time data, rather than simply connecting devices for connectivity’s sake.
A useful illustration is the Empire State Building. A 102-story, century-old skyscraper isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when picturing smart building technology, but it was retrofitted with a building management system and smart sensors targeting a 38% reduction in energy consumption, reportedly saving $4.4 million in energy costs annually. The building’s age wasn’t a disqualifier; it just meant the infrastructure upgrade required careful planning around what was already there.
That’s relevant for most businesses in Bakersfield. New construction is the exception. The more common scenario is an existing building where the technology is being upgraded but the infrastructure underpinning it hasn’t been reviewed since the original build-out.
The Systems That Define a Connected Building
Smart building deployments draw on a core set of technologies. Security cameras and access control, IoT sensors for environment and energy monitoring, smart HVAC and lighting, high-density wireless networks, and integrated AV systems for communication and conferencing are the most common, and none of them operate independently from the network. According to IoT Analytics, the total number of connected devices globally reached 21.1 billion in 2025, growing 14% year-over-year, with projections pointing toward 39 billion by 2030.
What those numbers mean in practice varies across the Central Valley. For example, take a Kern County school district rolling out wireless access points and AV systems across a campus built in the 1990s. Every classroom added to the network is another device drawing on infrastructure that was never designed for that density.
The industry changes, but the dependency on the underlying network doesn’t. And in each case, every device added to the building increases the demands placed on the structured cabling carrying it.
Why the Physical Infrastructure Gets Underestimated
Businesses invest in the visible technology and treat the cabling as a line item to minimize. Everything that is ordered, connected, and installed happens without documentation or a plan for additional devices coming in two or three years and without standardized infrastructure to support future changes.
The failure modes that follow are predictable. Intermittent connectivity is the most common symptom and the hardest to diagnose because improperly terminated or insufficiently rated cabling underperforms unpredictably. Security systems are particularly exposed. An IP camera that drops off the network because of a degraded cable just stops recording. Access control systems dependent on network connectivity can become unreliable at exactly the moments they need to be trusted.
When cabling is installed without a scalable design, every major technology upgrade requires pulling out and redoing infrastructure work that should have been completed correctly the first time. That’s compounding labor, disruption, and cost across every upgrade cycle. The global structured cabling market is projected to reach $44.5 billion by 2035 at a CAGR of 8.4%, according to Global Market Insights. That growth reflects not just new construction but the volume of existing facilities catching up on infrastructure that was under-planned at the outset.
What Getting It Right Actually Looks Like
Buildings that handle technology upgrades smoothly tend to share one characteristic. The cabling infrastructure was planned alongside the technology, not retrofitted around it afterward.
In practice, that starts with specifying cable categories suited to the planned systems rather than defaulting to whatever is cheapest at the time. Pathways, rack locations, and labeling conventions should be decided before installation begins, not worked out on the day. Capacity for systems that aren’t being installed today also needs to be factored in, as the next upgrade cycle comes faster than most businesses expect. For anyone currently in construction or renovation, this is the right moment to address it. Once walls close, the cost of changes increases sharply.
Certification standards provide the framework. Installations designed to TIA/EIA-568 guidelines carry documented performance benchmarks and support manufacturer warranty coverage. Working with technicians certified by manufacturers like Corning and Legrand Ortronics, both of which require rigorous training before certifications are granted, provides assurance that installations are completed to specification. Cal State Electrical’s networking installations are backed by a 25-year warranty on network components, which is the kind of assurance that only holds when the work is done to standard from the start.
It’s worth noting how seriously the industry is treating physical cabling infrastructure right now. In January 2026, Corning and Meta announced a multi-year agreement worth up to $6 billion for Corning to supply optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions for Meta’s AI data center buildout across the United States. The systems you depend on are only as reliable as the physical infrastructure connecting them. That holds whether you’re building a hyperscale data center in Louisiana or upgrading a commercial property in Kern County.
The Question Worth Asking Before the Next Upgrade
Every smart building technology worth investing in depends on physical infrastructure that’s reliable, organized, and built to accommodate growth. The sensors, cameras, and AV systems that make a building more efficient are only as effective as the cabling that carries them. That cabling is the piece that gets the least attention during planning and causes the most problems after installation.
For businesses in Bakersfield and the Central Valley planning upgrades or new construction, the priority is understanding whether the infrastructure beneath planned devices can support them reliably through the next several years of changes and what it would cost to address it now versus later.
Cal State Electrical has been delivering networking solutions, AV systems, and consulting services to California businesses since 1990. Our certified technicians handle structured cabling, fiber optics, wireless infrastructure, access control, and AV integration across the industries that define the Central Valley. If your building is due for an upgrade, contact us to discuss what a properly planned infrastructure looks like for your business.
