Smart Building Blog

Could your office building be described as… average? Maybe it doesn’t have a fountain in the lobby, or a view of the ocean – but you have four solid walls, a non-leaking roof, and only a few drafty cubicles. Have you ever tried to make your building work with an HVAC hack? Maybe you even taped a piece of cardboard over the vent to manage the airflow. That would be pretty clever of you, MacGyver.

So, if your office building is around 10-20 years old, has some wear and tear, but is generally in good shape, you probably have a Class B building. This is good news. Investors tend to target these buildings since, with a few upgrades, they can easily become Class B+ and compete readily with Class A properties. One of those upgrades is making your Class B smart – and it’s probably easier than you think.

Increasing your net operating revenue is sometimes easier said then done. However, building automation systems are an under-leveraged CRE technology offering huge potential to not only improve the occupant experience, but also increase your buildings' operational efficiency and bolster the balance sheet.

But how exactly can a BAS increase that revenue? Keep reading to find out!

Our friends at the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) outdid themselves this year at the 2018 Minnesota Energy Expo, hosted at the Radisson Blu in Bloomington, Minnesota. Programming spanned three rooms with 13 presentations, including the keynote speaker, ASHRAE National President, Sheila Hayter, plus energy project deployment stories, projections about the future of energy and building automation.

So find a cozy seat and enjoy some of our key takeaways from the 2018 ASHRAE Minnesota Energy Expo!

Thankfully, with the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), you can improve the air in your commercial real estate buildings with 75F building automation solutions, all while cutting your HVAC costs by 30-50% and receiving a return on your investment in as little as a year! Match the cut in operational expenses and increase in property value with improved air quality management (and a great occupant experience) and you have a smart building that works for you and your tenants, not the other way around!

According to a study from Memoori, the commercial real estate market is projected to have the fastest and largest growth in connected devices between 2016 and 2021.

Clean Energy Trust (a nonprofit cleantech accelerator) announced to a sold-out crowd at their Co_Invest Cleantech event in Chicago yesterday that 75F had taken home the largest investment for their building control solutions  delivering operational efficiencies, improved productivity and optimal occupant experiences. 75F is one of four new portfolio companies (and the only MN-based company) selected from over 100 applicants; and, the crowd of attendees voted 75F as the People’s Choice.