Dive Brief:
- BuildingIQ last week launched its 5i cloud-based services platform for building operators "at any stage of a building's lifecycle, "a move aimed to capture a segment of the market interested in optimization but not ready for a full suite of advanced measures."
- The platform could spur growth by providing a "common technological underpinning" to buildings seeking to improve efficiency and services; the news platform focuses on five points: analysis, advanced modeling, measurement & verification, closed loop predictive control and expert human analysis.
- BuildingIQ CEO Michael Nark told Greentech Media that probably 10% of buildings on the market are currently ready for optimization, with that number closer to 5% in some regions.
Dive Insight:
Founded in Australia and now based out of California, BuildingIQ went public on the stock exchange down under about seven months ago, and its stock price has fallen to about a third of its IPO level. The company is seeking to expand, and recently announced a new platform aimed at expanding its market to building optimization that may not be cutting edge.
“We’d love to say that 10 out of 10 buildings are ready to take advantage of optimization," CEO Nark told Greentech. “The reality is that one out of 10 is probably ready, or one out of 20, depending on geography."
Earlier this year the company acquired two platforms, Energy WorkSite and Facility WorkSite, giving BuildingIQ access to about 200 new customers and the ability to track submetering data and other metrics essential to building management.
Johnson Controls recently published the results of its 2016 Energy Efficiency Indicator survey, showing global interest is growing in energy efficiency, management and optimization for a wide range of organizations and buildings.
The survey showed half of respondents said their organizations are paying more attention to energy efficiency today than they did a year ago, with 72% planning to increase investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the coming year. Only about 1-in-3 respondents in the 2013 survey reported paying more attention to energy efficiency.
BuildingIQ said the Energy Worksite is used for evaluation of energy initiatives "through single point one-time or rolling baselines and consumption trending," while the Facilities Worksite is used "for fast work order ticket creation and simple, intuitive scheduling."
“The infrastructure and needs of buildings within a portfolio of properties can vary drastically from assets that are retired in place to state-of-the-art BMS implementations,” Nark said in a statement launching the new platform.
“Services built on the [5i] platform work together synergistically," Nark said, so owner and building operators "need not worry about [building management system] changes or market evolution."