How To Control Every Property System With a Single Application

Over the past decade, building systems have become increasingly sophisticated, offering property owners unparalleled opportunities for control, automation, and data access

As building systems have grown more advanced, they’ve also developed in both variety and complexity. It’s not just an HVAC and plumbing system anymore; there are air quality sensors, physical and IT security controls, water usage monitors, and a plethora of other data points and features that can alternately inform and perplex.

Data is good; and more data is generally better, but only if you can translate that information into actionable processes that enhance the performance of your buildings and the experience of its occupants.

This is where a master services integrator, or MSI, comes into the picture.

If you’ve never heard of an MSI, you’re probably not alone. But a lot of the country’s largest property owners and institutions—from Brookfield Properties and Simon Property Group to Stanford University—are already availing themselves of this technology.

So, to paraphrase Raymond Carver, what are we talking about when we talk about an MSI?

“We're talking about the systems and the technologies that are responsible for controlling the comfort and the overall human experience in a facility.” That’s according to Brian Turner, CEO of OTI, one of the leading companies in the MSI space.

“That can include systems like heating and air conditioning, lighting controls, energy metering, water monitoring, leak detection—anything that is doing something in the envelope of the building,” Turner continued. “It's all about making sure that the facility is comfortable, safe, and healthy for the occupants.”

Edi Demaj, Co-Founder of KODE Labs, one of the most prominent software providers in the MSI and building automation space, further elaborated on the concept.

“KODE Labs is a smart building enterprise platform that integrates all core building systems—anything really within the built environment—normalizes it, and then provides the ability to visualize, analyze, command, control, orchestrate, et cetera, all within our platform,” he told me. “So, it serves as that single pane of glass that you can operate your entire portfolio off of.”

Demaj was emphatic about the benefits of these services. “A hundred percent of our client base sees a return on investment off of our platform in less than 12 months,” he said. In other words, Demaj claims that his clients’ entire investment in the platform is recouped within a year, which means that savings after that first year are going directly to the property owner’s bottom line.

And, yet, widespread adoption of MSI software and solutions has been, at least from the perspective of some industry participants, frustratingly slow. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

In today’s letter, we’ll address:

• MSI basics and approaches

• MSI benefits

• MSI adoption and obstacles

• The future of MSIs