Did You Know Buildings Could Be This Smart? with David Williams & Fanie Reynders

In this episode of The Propcast, Louisa speaks to David Williams, Smart Buildings Industry Lead at Microsoft, and Fanie Reynders, Head of Technology at EDGE Next, about the future of smart buildings. In this episode they discuss the movement towards net zero and what that means for real estate businesses, construction companies and landlords, and how the technology needed for smart buildings has become more affordable and accessible.    Companies Mentioned: EDGE Technology https://edge.tech/  EDGE Next https://edge.tech/next  YIT https://www.yitgroup.com/en  RXR Realty https://rxrrealty.com/  CBRE https://www.cbre.com/  Mitie https://www.mitie.com/  Azure Digital Twins https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/digital-twins/    Shout Outs: Coen van Oostrom https://www.linkedin.com/in/coenvanoostrom/  Guy Grainger, JLL https://www.linkedin.com/in/guyjgrainger/?originalSubdomain=uk  Erik Ubels https://nl.linkedin.com/in/erikubels    Key Insights From This Episode:   We build great buildings, and what is a building without a great smart building platform. - Fanie   With the pandemic, we realised there was a different need, also with working from home and also post pandemic of people trying to optimise workspace - Fanie There’s kind of like the base layers, as I like to think of it, which is the building itself.  Then there's the middle layer. And for me, that's kind of what goes on in the building.  And then at the top layer, it's how the people interact with the building.  - David The whole notion of getting back to work and bringing people safely back to work, first of all, but also having them productive in the offices - Fanie The amount of data that building provides is like, you cannot comprehend how much data it gives. - Fanie The pandemic, I don't think has actually changed any trends. I genuinely don't think it has, but what it's done is it has accelerated trends that we were already seeing in the industry. - David What's really exciting is when you're working with companies that aren't aware of how digital technologies can help them, how they can make the buildings better for the humans that work in them and look after them. - David Find your niche find something that enthuses you really makes you want to make a change. - David   Keywords: smart buildings, facilities management, service management,    About Our Guests:   David Williams https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-williams-9559641/  David has worked for Microsoft since 2005 and has been part of an internal Innovation Team since December 2014. For the past 5 years he has been responsibility for creating and developing Microsoft’s Smart Places emerging industry. He provides commercial, business, and technical advice, that enables Microsoft customers and partners in the real estate industry to digitally transform.  Prior to joining Microsoft, David served in the Royal Air Force for 22 years as an Engineer Officer and he has a LLB Honours degree in English Law.   Fanie Reynders https://www.linkedin.com/in/faniereynders/  Fanie is an enthusiastic technologist who always thrives to push technology to its limits, whether its IoT devices, cloud infrastructure or even software design. He is an engineer by heart with over 16 years of experience building on the Microsoft stack. He joined EDGE Next in 2020 as the Head of Technology, being responsible for leading the engineering teams and also serving as the Principal Solution Architect. About EDGE Technology Today’s world runs on data. We use it every day to make our lives easier, our impact bigger, our goals more achievable. At EDGE Next, we’re using it to make better buildings. For everyone. The EDGE Next platform offers a seamless solution to optimising any office building’s performance, making it smarter, healthier, and more sustainable. The platform uses multiple sensors and sources to not only gather data, but also to deliver valuable and actionable insights. It’s the ultimate tool to enable buildings, companies and people to thrive. Check out https://edge.tech/next.   About Our Host Louisa Dickins https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisa-dickins-ab065392/?originalSubdomain=uk Louisa started her career in property working at a well-known estate agency in London. Realising her people skills, she moved over to Lloyd May to pursue a career in recruitment. She now is a Director at LMRE, who are a specialist recruitment firm driven by PropTech and recruitment professionals, and Louisa oversees their 5 core areas. Louisa co-founded LMRE and provides a constructive recruitment platform to the new disruptors in real estate. Louisa is also on the board of Directors at UK PropTech Association (UKPA).   About LMRE www.lmre.tech LMRE believe there is a better way to recruit. LMRE focus on a more comprehensive, client led focus delivering exceptional talent to the place at the time. They are passionate about the industry and passionate about people's careers. LMRE spend time with each client to become and an extension of the business, and their transparency and core values help them grow with the sector. LMRE simplify recruitment and innovate with our clients and evolve the people driven, PropTech community.