WGAN-TV Transcript | Aetos Imaging + Matterport = GREEN Commercial Spaces | We Get Around Network Forum

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	WGAN-TV \| Aetos Imaging + Matterport Digital Twins = GREEN Commercial Spaces \| Guests: Aetos Imaging Co-Founder and President Connor Offutt \| and Green Building Holdings [Sustainable Investment Group, LLC (SIG)] Head of Communications Brian Bollinger, CEM, LEED Green Association \| Episode: 152 \| Thursday, 7 July 2022 \| Aetos Imaging and www.SIGearth.com Aetos Imaging Image courtesy of Aetos Imaging Matterport digital twin of a Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP) space – used for an ASHRAE Energy Audit - courtesy of Aetos Imaging WWGAN-TV Transcript \| Aetos Imaging + Matterport Digital Twins = GREEN Commercial Spaces Hi All, [Transcript below ...] 1. How do you use Aetos Imaging solutions to leverage Matterport digital twins to create GREEN commercial buildings faster and save money while helping the environment? 2. How is Sustainable Investment Group (SIG) doing ASHRAE Energy Audits using Aetos Imaging solutions to leverage Matterport digital twins? 3. How is the energy audit process being re-invented to help building owners and Facility Managers better understand an ASHRAE Energy Audit actionable insights to expedite the implementation of GREEN recommendations? On Thursday, 7 July 2022, my guests on WGAN-TV Live at 5 will be Aetos Imaging Co-Founder and President Connor Offutt \| and Green Building Holdings [Sustainable Investment Group, LLC (SIG)] Head of Communications Brian Bollinger, CEM, LEED Green Association to discuss: WGAN-TV Aetos Imaging + Matterport Digital Twins = GREEN Commercial Spaces Among the topics we will discuss is implementing ASHRAE Energy Audits using Aetos Imaging + Matterport Digital Twins for helping show and tell what and how to implementing GREEN changes to existing building systems to: 1. Save Money 2. Save Time 3. Help the Environment 4. Make it easier to understand for stakeholders (such as building owners and Facility Managers) --- WHAT ASHRAE Energy Audit reports have become a box to check, often similar in look/feel from project to project. Aetos Imaging new offering utilizes Matterport digital twins to revolutionize energy audits and reporting. Instead of a too-often-ignored writeup, recipients can now view an interactive digital report of their space, down to the individual equipment components, allowing the visualization of Sustainable Investment Group’s (SIG) recommendations in their actual space, setting SIG apart from the rest of the Energy Audit provider market. HOW During the on-site audit walkthrough, we will bring a Matterport Pro2 3D Camera to capture an as-built of the client’s space. This Matterport digital twin will then be accessible via direct link. Our team will then go through the Matterport scan and “tag”, or mark up the space with notes and recommendations pertaining to the completed Energy Audit. Throughout the digital environment users will find detailed information overlaid on the corresponding equipment or area relating to the issue or opportunity. The report will contain a link and QR code to the digital report. Once the report is finished, our consultants will walk your team through all suggestions via an interactive video call. This state-of-the-art process brings traditional energy audits to the next level, allowing your team to more precisely implement changes to existing building systems. --- Questions I should ask Connor or Brian? Best, Dan P.S. Previous WGAN-TV show: => WGAN-TV Podcast: Aetos Imaging for Commercial Property FM/Training using Matterport -- Transcript (WGAN-TV show above) [00:00:02] Dan Smigrod: Hi all. I'm Dan Smigrod, Founder of the We Get Around Network Forum. Today is Thursday, July 7th, 2022, and you're watching WGAN-TV Live at 5. We have an awesome show for you today: Aetos Imaging + Matterport Digital Twins = Green Commercial Spaces. Here to talk to us about that are our two guests: Aetos Imaging Co-Founder and President Connor Offutt. Hey, Connor, thanks for being on the show again. [00:00:35] Connor Offutt: Good to see you Dan. And, [00:00:38] Dan Smigrod: Green Building Holdings Head of Communications Brian Bollinger. Brian is also working on the GBH business unit, Sustainable Investment Group (SIS). Brian, good to see you. Thanks for being on the show today. [00:00:56] Brian Bollinger: Thanks for having us. [00:00:58] Dan Smigrod: As I mentioned, we have an awesome show today. The words like: energy audits and ASHRAE, words I've never heard before, inspections, auditing, ESG. Before we jump into this topic to find out about how to decarbon, sustainability, save money, save time, be efficient, re-invent processes for commercial spaces, Connor, how about just giving us an overview of Aetos Imaging? [00:01:31] Connor Offutt: Thanks Dan. Aetos Imaging, we are essentially using Matterport in 3D scans as the base to provide software utility for commercial real estate. Our goal is to enable and specifically optimize what Matterport can do and what 3D scans in general can do. But I really feel like nobody has done it for commercial real estate operations, for facilities managers, and that's what we're doing. We're bringing the software and the user interface, and really a full-blown team dedicated to providing the specific solution for operations and maintenance; facilities manager. [00:02:08] Dan Smigrod: Call-to-action: www.AetosImaging.com For context for today's show, we actually did a deep dive a month ago on WGAN-TV Live at 5 with Connor. The show is called: Intro to Aetos Imaging for Remote Commercial Property Facilities Management and Training. That was on June 2nd, 2022. You can see the show, just go to the We Get Around Network Forum, www.WGANForum.com and search for – Aetos Imaging – in the search box, or a shortcut we have for you today, go to: www.WGAN.info/aetosimaging – and you'll call up that show and all other We Get Around Network Forum posts about Aetos Imaging. Brian, before we jump into the topic again, could you give us an overview, Sustainable Investment Group (SIS)? [00:03:10] Brian Bollinger: Sure, of course. SIG is essentially a full service firm that provides support for environmental design, construction, real estate and operations; all within the built environment. That's energy audits, that's LEED and WELL building consulting, building commissioning, retro-commissioning, Energy Star verifications, and a litany of carbon reporting standards, whether at GRESB, or SASB, or Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), or a number of other technical services. Long story short, we like to say, for anyone who designs, builds or operates a building, we get to wake up every day and help them see just how green and healthy their building can be. [00:03:54] Dan Smigrod: Awesome. Your website is: www.SIGearth.com [00:04:01] Brian Bollinger: That's right. [00:04:03] Dan Smigrod: We obviously have two different companies on the show today. Connor, how about teeing it up in terms of how Aetos Imaging is related to Sustainable Investment Group (SIS) for the purpose of today's show. [00:04:15] Connor Offutt: Sure. Essentially, we are cut from the cloth of the sustainable family over at Sustainable Investment Group and GBES and Blue Ocean Sustainability, all the companies that belong to Green Building Holdings. Charlie Cichetti, who's our owner, he sits on the board of both companies. As part of his overall vision, I think to see green building technology move forward. I think that was really the beginning of Aetos Imaging, so we really have a deep relationship with SIG. We leveraged their subject matter expertise all the time to consult on different product offerings that we can bring to the commercial real estate market to the operations side of things. We continue to look forward to a growing relationship and seeing what we can do for green building in the United States and around the world. [00:05:00] Dan Smigrod: Essentially, Sustainable Investment Group (SIS) is a client of Aetos Imaging, leveraging the Aetos Imaging Operate platform + Matterport. [00:05:11] Connor Offutt: Absolutely. Sometimes they are a client and sometimes we bring business to each other. We really have a great relationship. I think it's really what we both bring to each other that makes relationships so valuable. [00:05:25] Dan Smigrod: Awesome. For the purpose of today's show, let's assume that our audience is mostly Matterport Service Providers (MSPs). That means I am a Matterport Service Provider who is probably already doing commercial spaces, scanning commercial spaces, probably doing as-builts, weekly construction documentation, probably the finished scan of a commercial space for a building that's for sale or lease. Today's show is about yet another use case for Matterport. What I hope would happen is by the end of today's show, that a Matterport Service Provider would understand how to leverage the services of Aetos Imaging and the services of Sustainable Investment Group in order to get yet additional Matterport scanning opportunities from their trusted clients that are commercial spaces. Sounds good? [00:06:30] Connor Offutt: That sounds great, Dan. [00:06:31] Dan Smigrod: Awesome. The open-ended question for Connor, how is Sustainable Investment Group [00:06:42] Dan Smigrod: leveraging Aetos Imaging + Matterport for green commercial spaces? [00:06:51] Dan Smigrod: Even before you dive into that, what does green mean in terms of commercial office spaces? [00:06:58] Connor Offutt: Sure. Brian, I think I'll start this and then you can catch me maybe midway through. I think when it comes to the built environment, there's often things that need to happen in order to keep your building up-to-date, to make it high-performing, to run it well. That really, I think, describes the scope of green building services out there. How do we tune up a building and run this thing at the highest level of performance and make sure that it is the best energy performance based on equipment, mechanical systems, and operations across the board? A green building professional would go to a building and consult on what needs to happen at that building to tune up performance. It might be a change in mechanical system and upgrade to a different VFD. It can be installing a new renewable technology. A lot of this revolves around credentialing that building against a certain standard. Let's take LEED, for example, run by the USGVC, which has their certification standards. You have GRESB, you have different programs like WELL, which is more focused on the wellness of the people and the inhabitants and the tenants. You really have all these different standards and credentials out there that need to be maintained, it shows empirically; knowing what the sustainability measures are of that building. With that comes a lot of work. With that comes the need for professional services such as SIG to go in and provide consulting services, make those recommendations, do the analysis and do the reporting. I think really the epiphany, Dan, was, when we realized that a tremendous portion of that entire process of the scope of the deliverables and work that is done in the ESG movement with regards to compliance and just reunification of their buildings, how much of that can be improved by leveraging 3D scanning technology? Whether that's a drone inspection, whether that's a Matterport 3D scan. How do we position and use this technology to solve some of the problems and drive efficiency or even change the whole thing with how green building is done? That's what really we're focused on and how we lean into SIG to really understand where that's possible and how we can do certain things enabled by software-specific solutions to that market. [00:09:24] Dan Smigrod: Thanks, Connor. Brian, before we jump in to actually Aetos Imaging plus Matterport, I'd still like to hear your thoughts following up on Connor. I'm going to be naive and say, "okay, I imagine there's a way to save money, and that sounds like a benefit." If that's the case, great. But what other things are important in this green environment? Connor referred to a lot of initials that I have not heard before and I don't know what they mean. Why are they important and how do you then start to help your clients? [00:10:07] Brian Bollinger: Absolutely. The alphabet soup of the built environment never ceases to amaze. I would say that while Connor is going to speak operationally, no pun intended for Aetos Imaging Operate platform, about how that sense of you makes a greener, healthier building and just the incredible things that Aetos Imaging makes possible in terms of that operation from a sustainability standpoint. At a more fundamental level worldwide, 40 percent of our carbon footprint as a planet is buildings. [00:10:49] Brian Bollinger: ... One of the most powerful ways that we can reduce carbon footprint is in the built environment. Most particular to Sustainable Investment Group (SIS), is that we provide a host of services across the lifecycle of the building whose potential for increasing both the sustainability and the energy efficiency of that building is amplified when there is a Matterport scan with which we can work. [00:11:25] Dan Smigrod: Well, you've gone too far for me. I'm a little bit slow, so I urge you to use some words about sustainability. Carbon efficiency. Can you translate this for a Matterport Service Provider in what problems, what pain points do their clients at commercial office spaces have? [00:11:53] Brian Bollinger: Absolutely. [00:11:54] Dan Smigrod: You say reduce carbon. I don't understand why that's a pain point. Can you help us understand what the backstory is, so when a Matterport Service Provider walks into an existing trusted commercial office space client that they not only know what words to use, they understand why? [00:12:18] Brian Bollinger: Absolutely. [00:12:19] Dan Smigrod: I'm here to talk to you about sustainability. Well, I don't know what that means and why that's important. What problem does that commercial office space owner or property manager have that will resonate with the Matterport Service Provider and go, "oh, I can make money here?" [00:12:39] Brian Bollinger: I think to make it clearer, we essentially have two kinds of carbon and when I say carbon, I'm talking about the CO2 that we know is at the source of global climate change, one is embodied carbon. That is, "hey, is this building steel or concrete a highly sustainable kind or not?" Then we have operating carbon, which is, "hey, are we building this building in a way where we're basically just flushing $100 bills down the toilet every time we flush the toilet because it's an inefficient one and are we literally just burning money in the way that we're either heating or cooling or bringing fresh air into these buildings?" Embodied carbon, that Matterport scanner is going to find that by-and-large commercial real estate developers and owners have decarbonization goals. They have a desire to use less carbon, both embodied and operational. The Matterport scanner can say, "hey, I think I can help you with that journey, with that goal, whatever it is." "We want to be carbon-neutral by 2030" or "hey, we want to be able to tell the story of hitting these targets that were reported about in our sustainability report." That's something that the Matterport scanner can say, "hey, this Matterport scan that I'm making, there are multiple service providers who are able to leverage this into helping you right now during construction in shifting some of the selections for materials being made or as we go along both now and later in the way the building is going to be operated." That Matterport scan is going to give critical data. For example, it's going to reveal pretty early on in the process if the systems being put into place are probably the consequence of a good energy study not having been done. But you can get out in front of that and actually pivot – even in the middle of construction toward different mechanical systems that'll save money at the front-end and money operationally because you can size them down if you make the building more energy efficient. Again, I'm trying not to go off into the weeds, but there's a lot that can be done. [00:15:06] Dan Smigrod: Yes. [00:15:07] Brian Bollinger: The last thing I would say is there is a commissioning that happens when the building is done. If we've got a Matterport scan, we can actually do that commissioning inside the scan and put all our notes in the scan. That's where Aetos Imaging Operate platform has special capability. But at the end of the day, instead of right now, unless SIG does an energy audit, we hand a PDF to the client and if anybody even reads it, it's one generation of operators, but Matterport scan last forever. [00:15:43] Dan Smigrod: Brian, bear with me because I do want to talk about Matterport + Aetos Imaging + the services of Sustainable Investment Group (SIS). Before we get there, I still want to understand, at the very big picture, what problems – that by the end of this WGAN-TV show – we're going to have solved. The first one I'm hearing is decarbonization. Is that a goal in itself that building owners – developers? [00:16:13] Brian Bollinger: Bingo. Building owners are either having to spend money in other ways to hit decarbonization goals or they're hitting those goals by not making mistakes along the way when they're building their building or building smarter. [00:16:29] Dan Smigrod: Other than the fact that we all want to do good for the planet, what is it about decarbonization that is super-important to the building owner or the building developer? [00:16:46] Brian Bollinger: What's going to be important to them – to your point in an existential sense – it's, "hey, there's less carbon in the atmosphere, which means less climate change or a slower effect or even a reversal." For the building owner, it's by and large, they're going to have very specific goals if they have any sustainability strategy and those goals will be measured in some way by some metric. [00:17:11] Dan Smigrod: I'm not asking the right question. Is it because they're a public company and there's rules and regulations and laws or things that they must do or is this because they want to be a good Doobie and hit certain goals regarding sustainability? [00:17:27] Brian Bollinger: The answer is yes. To all of that, it depends on where you are. If you are in New York City versus if you're in Phoenix, Arizona, how much of it is rules and regulations, how much of it is choices your company has made? How much of it is a specific brand narrative that that company is wanting to tell? Those are all drivers and they're all going to be different in different contexts. [00:17:52] Dan Smigrod: Ah! This is really good. If you're a Matterport Service Provider and you're talking to your client about another use case for doing Matterport while you want to lead with the word decarbonization, you want to know that – that may be, I don't know if that's a strategy or an objective, whatever that is. But the actual motivation may be one of ten other things. [00:18:19] Brian Bollinger: Absolutely. [00:18:20] Dan Smigrod: It may be regulation. [00:18:23] Brian Bollinger: That's right. [00:18:24] Dan Smigrod: It may be a public company and they have made statements regarding the planet and how they're going to help. It may be to save on the cost of building actual materials. I think I'm up to four or five here. The next is the operational expense over time can be reduced. [00:18:47] Brian Bollinger: Greatly reduced. [00:18:48] Dan Smigrod: Greatly reduced. [00:18:50] Brian Bollinger: Then maintenance and replacement, the life of the materials can be improved by making smarter choices from a carbon standpoint. [00:18:58] Dan Smigrod: Maintenance. - I'm sorry, maintenance and [00:19:03] Brian Bollinger: - Longevity. [00:19:04] Dan Smigrod: - Longevity and Connor I think I saw you're nodding your head. Did you have other tactical reasons? Is it saving money? Saving time? Is there yet some other piece to this sustainability decarbonization? [00:19:19] Connor Offutt: - I think we covered most of them. I think it's important to understand that, as stated, sustainability is like such a blanket cover that covers a tremendous amount within that. Some of that being said, I feel compliance related, we said this thing, we need to maintain that we're actually executing against that and then on the other side, it's very actionable energy savings performance analysis. Those all really fit within the umbrella of sustainability. [00:19:46] Dan Smigrod: - I know we're going to talk about some buzzwords of energy audits, inspections, or auditing but one of those terms I keep reading about, it seems like almost every day there's a lead story in The Wall Street Journal on environmental, social, governance which show up as ESG compliance. Is that part of this subset of decarbonization or is that yet something different? [00:20:17] Brian Bollinger: That's will be both an ESG, environmental we just talked about the social, well, I'll say governance is the other one is very well-defined and that's going to very much tend to be location-specific. If you're in New York City, boy, you are spending all your time thinking about local law 97, how are we going to hit the regulatory compliance required there? But in that S (Social) category, I think that's a spot where actually there is some quality of life for those who operate the building that the Matterport scan has the potential to improve. That is a surprising part of the S in ESG. [00:20:56] Dan Smigrod: - Awesome. I think this is a really good context. Then go to the next level to say, "okay, our objective is decarbonization." There may be ten reasons, one of which might resonate with the client: Rule 97, if you're in New York, compliance governance, improving the lives of people in the building and saving money, doing the right thing reducing the cost of building and reducing the cost of operating, increasing the length of the operating systems, mechanical, electrical and plumbing. So I think that's probably enough context for a Matterport Service Provider to understand when they say, "hey, I'm here to talk to you about decarbonization" one or more of the next things might resonate with the reason they're going to say, "yes, okay, let's do that. How do we do that.?" That's obviously what we're about to talk about where Sustainable Investment Group and Aetos Imaging + Matterport all come together. [00:22:01] Brian Bollinger: - Dan if I can, I would strongly recommend any service provider like that. For most commercial real estate players, developers, builders, those goals and priorities are very publicly available so you and your friend Google can learn a whole lot about which particular goal is going to mean the most to the client you're walking in to see. [00:22:24] Dan Smigrod: - I can understand that on a public company, Is that true on a private company? Generally, they're going to put their ESG compliance? Decarbonization? – [00:22:32] Brian Bollinger: - A lot of private companies are going to put that on their website or in some way make that visible – if it's there at all – and then of course, at the end of the day, nobody doesn't want to save money. [00:22:42] Dan Smigrod: - I think that's an awesome tip is before you go in and talk to your client, go look at their website, see if they're using the words ESG, decarbonization, sustainability. Any of the buzzwords that we're talking about today, because that will help you decide what the pain point is of why your client now needs to do more Matterport scanning? [00:23:05] Brian Bollinger: - Bingo. [00:23:07] Dan Smigrod: - So you surprised me, Brian, with something. I guess I thought what I was going to hear was the building is being built and when it's done being built, that's when you come in but I'm not hearing that at all. [00:23:24] Brian Bollinger: - No, but I think Connor is the best one suited to talk about that from a Matterport perspective. [00:23:30] Connor Offutt: - I think what we're talking about is the value of construction based scanning and operationally based scanning. I think they're both viable. They're both extremely important to the whole process and depending on where you want to play as a service provider on that spectrum of the market. I think there's tons of opportunity in that whole process. [00:23:51] Brian Bollinger: - Dan, let me give you a simple example of an SIG. If I walk in and serve a commercial real estate client – this building, and I know that that client has available a Matterport scan where there has been multiple scans throughout the build process and they engage me to do an energy audit, whether it's a Level 1 or Level 2, whatever it might be. If I can actually pull up their model and I can zoom in and look at serial numbers on equipment, but then I can peel back that ceiling and look at what it looked like when it was under construction. See some of those fundamental system in there, it's going to be much more labor efficient for me to deliver a plan for improving energy efficiency of that building all the more, If I can access notes from the original commissioning agent's somewhere in there. [00:24:44] Dan Smigrod: - This is awesome and I want to dive into that even deeper. So let's assume the Matterport Service Provider – instead of they've been engaged to do as-built, or are engaged to do weekly construction documentation; lets them they've only been engaged to shoot [a Matterport of] the finished building for marketing purposes and before you talk about operating going forward, let's talk about why that Matterport Service Provider needs to be in their Day 1 doing the as-built as it relates to this discussion of decarbonization and all its benefits. [00:25:23] Connor Offutt: - I'll definitely take this and I think on the marketing side, when you're debuting a building, you are trying to create as much buzz, as much awareness about that as possible. Obviously, that also entails what media and collateral you put on your website? How are you using it to draw viewers and attention? So I think what's happening is 3D –and what Matterport does with the web and the ability to create dynamic, unique experiences to showcase a property – and I'm not talking about just being able to walk through the space and see the amenities. I'm talking about being able to interact with things that have been put into that experience for you, and going through a whole guided process that educates you on why this building is great. That's what they are really trying to achieve. And I think this is specifically where Matterport is on the marketing side. If you're trying to talk to the sustainability team and have them tell their sustainability story by way of Matterport that's completely possible. [00:26:24] Dan Smigrod: - Well, but I think what I'm hearing from Brian is if the Matterport Service Provider is only being engaged to shoot the commercial office space for the purpose of marketing. There are great reasons regarding decarbonization and the one of 10 motivators to get into do as-built. So it may not just be, you want to do the as-built for the purpose of the architect because they may come back and say, "No. The architect doesn't need the as-built. They've already been out to measure. Take pictures. Reconstruct the space." [00:26:59] Dan Smigrod: Let me ask the question differently. If you get into the Matterport tour as an as-built before the construction begins. The as-built that is going to be used by the architect to re-imagine the space. Why is that important from a decarbonization standpoint at that phase of construction? [00:27:21] Brian Bollinger: - To be sure I'm understanding, you're describing an as-built bit about to undergo a renovation or adaptive reuse? [00:27:29] Dan Smigrod: Yes. [00:27:32] Brian Bollinger: Yes. The way that that would be the most valuable from a sustainability standpoint is that it will allow for a baseline understanding of, how would I describe this, the bones of what potential that space is going to have for being built out in a way that is more energy-efficient and in a way that creates a better place to be from a user experience standpoint. But then also it creates, that again, it's the layer so that then later when there's that finished one, you've got this back-and-forth that's going to allow an energy auditor or a sustainability consultant to be able to peel back and go, "okay, this is what was there before. That's why we're having this thermal challenge right here where tons of heat is getting out." It's a valuable data point. [00:28:29] Connor Offutt: To add onto this, then if I may, I think the best way to illustrate this is in comparing the two examples with and without, because that's where you really understand the pain point and where the value is. Without your having constant site visits, trying to understand what's there. You're trying to run an analysis. You then have to store that information somehow. Hopefully, you're writing it down and keeping good notes. Maybe you're taking pictures in that whole process. You're then going back to your team using that information, going to the drawing board and trying to understand what's next. Now there's a lot of resources out there, a lot of data that can help you do that. But being able to see, just pull up the Matterport scan. In a lot of cases, save even that initial trip. You're able to see and really inspect what's inside of this building – virtually. The efficiency of that process, it should be obvious when you compare with or without and all the efficiencies that are there at the beginning. [00:29:24] Dan Smigrod: Brian, from your perspective, if you have the as-built before it gets re-imagined, renovated, redesigned. If you have that as-built, are you able to consult with the architect and/or the general contractor? [00:29:41] Brian Bollinger: Oh, absolutely. [00:29:42] Dan Smigrod: You may be able to say – [00:29:44] Brian Bollinger: It's easier to have a broader conversation with people with different areas of expertise than if you just say go have a CAD file or a Revit file or architectural drawings that a number of voices you might bring into the conversation would look at and just go cross-eyed. But that Matterport scan, everybody can look at that and understand what they're looking at. [00:30:09] Dan Smigrod: That Matterport scan at that phase of the building will help you decarbon in how the building is built and how the building is operated, in other ways? [00:30:23] Brian Bollinger: It's going to make much clearer what is the best strategy than the visibility into that strategy you could get through other means. [00:30:35] Dan Smigrod: Again, staying on – I don't want to jump in yet to Matterport + Aetos Imaging because I still think we need to be a little bit of a strategic level of understanding what problems can be solved at the big picture with Matterport + Aetos Imaging together. I still want to stay with those problems. The second phase of the building is weekly construction documentation or monthly construction documentation. Again, Brian, from your perspective at Sustainable Investment Group doing an energy audit, if that's the right term, are there things that you're able to affect even while the building is built? I guess I just assumed, while the building is being built, somebody's already made the decisions about mechanical, electrical, plumbing materials. [00:31:25] Brian Bollinger: Sure. In that particular case that you're describing, it would be more likely that the client would engage us to be their sustainability consultant for the actual construction process. Like any good built environment service provider, you're like, "well, the earlier you can engage us in the process, the more good we can do for you." But even when you get brought in somewhere in the middle of the conversation, yes, the moment you have the ability to dive in and look at that Matterport scan, you can go, "Whoa! Y'all do not want to take this approach right here. It's not going to be expensive to change this and it's going to save you a whole lot of energy later." Those "ah ha moments' happen a lot in that process. But again, it's more expensive, more time-intensive, and frankly, more risk-filled to be doing all of that in the middle of that active construction zone with lots of people on the site. If you can sit there and have the engineer who's 1,500 miles away, but it's the best person in the world to do that walk and she is going to walk that building and then turned around and deliver those incredible insights and then turn around and walk out the door and take your dog for a walk, that's going to allow you to tap into a whole nother level of expertise that might be hard to get if you're stuck with who can actually jump in a car, jump on a plane, then go out there and do it in person. [00:32:55] Dan Smigrod: Okay. Let's pick it up when the building already exists. Then there's this term, ASHRAE? I'm pronouncing that right. ASHRAE Energy Audits. American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning: ASHRAE. What is an ASHRAE Energy Audit? How is it presently being done? Then, how is it re-imagined when the Sustainable Investment Group uses the Aetos Imaging Operate platform to do these ASHRAE Energy Audits? [00:33:41] Brian Bollinger: Connor, do you want to take that one or do you want me to? [00:33:43] Connor Offutt: How about you start with ASHRAE. What is it? How does SIG play there? And then I'll go into what we're doing about it? [00:33:51] Brian Bollinger: Brilliant. An ASHRAE Level 1 Energy Audit is what we call a desktop audit. Typically, you won't go to that physical building. You're just going to review all of their utility bills. For a new construction, that might not be necessarily what they would have you do, but you're going to look at their utility bills. You're going to look at the drawings that you have available and you're basically going to come up with, "hey, these are the top X number of things that you're going to be able to do to lower the energy profile of this building and lower the carbon footprint of this building. That report is going to have a fair amount of limitations, some of which are because it might be hard to get all of the detail in those drawings that she might get otherwise. Now, sometimes you'll do a site visit with Level 1, sometimes you won't. There's some exceptions. By and large though it's a Level 2 audit where you're going to actually have people out on the site. They're going to go in and they're going to do things like, "what?" They're going to look at the plates on the motors. They're going to look at some of the performance metrics on specific pieces of equipment and they're going to take some equipment with them that's going to allow them to see how things are performing, the day-lighting, etc. There's going to be a lot more data. They're going to be able to say, "okay, it's not just, here's the list of X things. Here's how much those things are likely to cost and what they save and what their repayment periods are going to look like with a lot more detail," but it's not quite what you would call a level of audit that would be investment grade. You're not going to take that and go to the CFO and they're going to be able to go draw a line of credit. To do that, you need an ASHRAE Level 3 Audit, which is where we actually go out and stick things on machinery that is going to track how much energy is going through it. We're going to follow – We're going to actually employ some very detailed performance period measurements. It's going to take a little bit of time, but we're going to come out and we're going to have, again, exactly what we had with Level 1 and then Level 2. But with Level 3, it's going to be overwhelmingly detailed unlike you can literally take that to the bank and you're going to know exactly what you're going to be able to get if you take this piece of equipment out and put in that piece of equipment or you change the way you run that piece of equipment or you put this coating over those windows so not as much sun and heat gets in. You're going to see that with a level of specificity. Again, all of these processes generate mountains of paperwork and mountains of documentation. Let's just be honest. The place where they fall apart is nobody reads it, nobody follows it. Then what happens when that building gets sold? None of those papers go with the building. It's all lost to history. [00:36:43] Dan Smigrod: The problem with how ASHRAE Energy Audit Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 are done today is there's a mountain of paperwork that may or may not get read. [00:37:02] Brian Bollinger: I would say there's a limitation in how much information, especially with Level 1 can even be gotten using 2D paperwork. [00:37:14] Dan Smigrod: I'm just going to ask my audience to stay with me here because we're going to jump into a moment of, "what's the new process?" Introducing Aetos Imaging + Matterport + sustainable consulting, like Sustainable Investment Group. But before we get there, because I'm really tactical, I have trouble understanding stuff unless you make it obvious to me. I'm going to imagine that the report that's done, let's call it the ASHRAE Level 3 Audit, probably tells you something like there are X number of these light boxes in the ceiling and you happen to have thousands of them in this building. If you change those 1,000 light boxes, you're going to save X number of dollars within three years. Is that how that goes? [00:38:10] Brian Bollinger: Hopefully, you'll get that actually the ASHRAE Level 2, but yes. [00:38:13] Dan Smigrod: You have a chiller, whatever that is. The life expectancy on that is X number more years. But if you replace that chiller today, it's going to cost you an investment of X, but this is how it's going to save you money over time operating the building so even though you're going to pay – you're going to pay money upfront on an improvement, it actually saves you more money over time. Maybe, you'll save 10 times as much money if you spend the money today to replace something, like a chiller, if that's the right thing? – [00:38:56] Brian Bollinger: It might open up government or public incentives that will reimburse you for part of that. Navigating those kinds of possibilities are all things that that audit is going to help you do. [00:39:08] Dan Smigrod: This audit. ASHRAE Level 1, Level 2, Level 3. Let's even say we're at Level 3. We go for the whole Megillah. - The goal is decarbonization. What may resonate with the actual owner/developer is, "oh, that's going to meet our sustainability objectives. That's going to save us X number of dollars in material. That's going to save X number of dollars in operating. That's going to make our equipment last longer. That's going to make us operate at less expense. We're going to spend less money heating the building, so you have all these practical, tactical things. [00:39:55] Brian Bollinger: - The last thing I would make sure is on that list it's a chance to make it a place where your best talent wants to work. Whether that's the mechanical professional who is going to like working at your building instead of your competitors building or your tenant. It's like being here instead of somewhere else. [00:40:15] Dan Smigrod: - Is that because I feel good that my building is moving in the green direction or that because the air just seems cleaner because it is being filtered better? [00:40:24] Brian Bollinger: - Yes and by and large, I think you'll find a healthy building. [00:40:35] Brian Bollinger: A healthy building is usually a green building and at the end of the day, a healthy building – people, whether they can define it or not, whether they can put their finger on it or not, you find that people are demonstrably more productive and more likely to stick around in a healthy building and they might not be able to tell you why, but study after study has shown that to be true. [00:41:00] Dan Smigrod: - It may be that the temperature feels better, the air feels cleaner, the lights feel better. There's a lot of things that are maybe soft. [00:41:08] Brian Bollinger: You get fewer migraines. You have fewer incidences of asthma attacks, yes all the above. [00:41:15] Dan Smigrod: - Great. The problem that I now feel like I'm experiencing is, you've handed us the 10 commandments of how to decarbonize a building and achieve all these objectives in the course of that, but it's all locked into a paper document that may not get acted on. I think we're now at the point to say, Connor, Brian, sounds like you-all are re-inventing the process of an ESG Audit and ASHRAE Energy Audit. An inspection. Auditing. How does that look? What is the deliverable? Let's start there. Not even how you accomplished it, but what's the new deliverable if it's not a mountain of paper and why is that better? [00:42:12] Connor Offutt: - So the new deliverable are 3D environments, Matterport scans, experiences, whatever you want to call them. [00:42:21] Dan Smigrod: - Matterport digital twin. [00:42:23] Connor Offutt: - Yes. Also containing the steps and the experience within – which is often far more than just the Matterport 3D environment that you're in. It's what you click while you're in there. It's how you progress through that experience. It's what you're able to interact with inside of that environment. What are you able to glean from that experience? That's what really matters, and so I think we've all listed a tremendous number of ways that a Matterport 3D scan can assist in that environment. Ultimately, software needs to be curtailed and created to optimize that interaction and that experience. For example, if I'm doing an energy audit, I'm going to list out recommendations, and so I could go to Mattertags and I can say, I'm going to put my recommendation in red and this one in blue and this one in this color, but is that really the best that can be done for an energy audit? How about drop-down field specific questions that the client interacts with to share information throughout the process that can be done inside of the environment. [00:43:29] Dan Smigrod: - I think we need to remind our audience that we did a deep dive WGAN-TV Live at 5, about a month ago, June 2nd, 2022: Intro to Aetos Imaging for Remote Commercial Property Facilities Management and Training. We're not going to do a deep dive into understanding at a tactical level, because if you're at this point and you're watching the show and you "get it" watch the other hour that we did on this topic because it really is a drill-down in terms of how the Aetos Imaging Operate platform works. I'm still trying to understand though. Let's just assume that Aetos Imaging has annotations on steroids. Why is that way more important – better than – a mountain of paper? How does it get used or is it just the fact that it will get used in more of it will get used implementing it. [00:44:31] Connor Offutt: - Definitely both ends. Specifically to how it's useful and consolidating that mountain of paperwork. Well, it's really doing exactly that. Can we display all that paperwork to contextualize the environment? That's something that very specifically adds value to that engagement; that conversation. [00:44:57] Dan Smigrod: - Connor, did you want to give us a demo of an actual tour that's been annotated? [00:45:03] Connor Offutt: - You'd like me to share my screen now? [00:45:05] Dan Smigrod: - Yeah. [00:45:06] Brian Bollinger: - Connor, while you getting that what that brought to mind when you just said that was one of your clients even told me when I was talking to them on the phone about their experience with it. Essentially, this was a crusty old engineer in this whole panoply of buildings that he's managing. He's like, "do you have any idea how hard it is to get the mucky mucks upstairs to fund when we tell them – Man! If you'll do this thing, it's going to save us this much money. When I go and show them a bunch of drawings and show them some written reports. When I have them, look at this thing – because I'm not going to be able to drag them down to the engine room. It's four buildings down and they are in the middle of a whole board meeting with a whole bunch of other stuff to do, but when I can pull up that Matterport scan and show this and here's what we're going to do. It so much easier to get that funded and it just it makes making the case so much easier than a pile of papers." [00:46:07] Dan Smigrod: - So it's not just doing an energy audit, which may be required for some reason, but if you do the energy audit, you actually want it to be acted on and it sounds like that's actually a big problem and the Matterport plus Aetos Imaging actually solves that problem. In that example, the Aetos Imaging client was able to use the Matterport space annotated with Aetos Imaging Operate platform in order to tell the story, in order to get funding to get to the next level. So if you can show, "well, look, these windows are costing us money. These lights are costing us money. Our heating system is costing us money. Let me show you what that looks like within the Matterport tour annotated by our energy auditor, in this case, Sustainable Investment Group (SIS), to say, we can decarbonize by X and achieve these kinds of savings and have improve the livability of our space and meet the regulation requirements in whatever city or state has relevant regs." [00:47:30] Dan Smigrod: Brian, while Connor is setting up, Are there other things about this Matterport tour? Is it like the difference of night and day of a mountain of paper as an audit or providing a visual story, in an interactive digital report in order to communicate to people that have action items? I don't know. Is that even just the owner of the building says, "okay, it's going to cost us this much money." No, you need to go get actual funding. Now we've got to go to tell the story to whoever, I don't know if that's the bank or someone else that's going to provide funding. [00:48:09] Brian Bollinger: I mean, the picture has always been worth a thousand words, and fundamentally, the magic of Matterport in that context is that every one of those pictures that you're showing, it's bridging the gap of understanding for them that hold the purse strings. Because by and large them, that hold the purse strings are not engineers. They're not mechanical systems professionals, they probably aren't architects who are building pros of any stripe or shade. But the more you can bring that down to earth, not just the more you're going to be able to tell the story correctly or accurately, or effectively. You're also going to be able to bring a more diverse group of voices into the table, into the room without having this gateway of you need to be able to read these schematics in order to understand this. [00:49:02] Dan Smigrod: Yeah. Connor, are you ready to show us? You're still calling it up? [00:49:06] Connor Offutt: Actually, I don't have an energy audit. It's been done by SIG on it. But what I do have is the base layer of the scan which shows the tagging and how they are used for that. Is that okay? [00:49:17] Dan Smigrod: Please show that. Brian, just to follow up on your point because I think one of the things that Connor can speak to is doing live video chat within the tour itself, which is way better than doing Zoom + Matterport because of the latency challenges. Even as Connor does his little demo right now, we're going to see some latency involved in showing Matterport as opposed to doing the video conferencing within the Aetos Imaging Operate platform. Connor, back to you. [00:49:52] Connor Offutt: Very well said Dan, you're setting me up quite well. I think the first thing that I really want to show here is again, the different types of tags that you can throw into these environments and so what SIG will do is they'll create their own system of labeling. If they want to have the lighting bolt icon in yellow represents their recommendations for energy audits or for energy light bulb fixtures. They want to use blue for water improvements. They want to use a fire icon for safety recommendations. They're able to set the parameters of how they label these Matterport scans and how they're going to present that to their clients. I think it's important for me to contextualize that before we jump in. But again, one of the most important processes when I'm actually doing an investigation, is understanding what is the equipment, specific equipment, that is there distributed throughout the building. Being able to know things like nameplate data and being able to pull model, make and number. These are things that we need to make sure we track. We do that here. We can also incorporate data and imagine this as an empty project. You might want to add specific files to this tag, to this recommendation. You might want to show a progress report or a payoff period and ROI analysis, obviously linking to things like user manuals or what recommendations you can attach PDFs, whether if it's not a user manual directly. [exits popup] That's the tagging stuff and then especially important is how all that rolls up. Again, being able to see everything, sort different recommendations, understand the cross-comparison of equipment. This is all part of what our clients are used to interacting with them, their equipment. The way we specifically optimize this for the energy audit process is to again, give that contextual awareness, make that fidelity real. It's really like going from Zoom, being just a voice only to turning the video cam on. It's a completely different experience. It really changes how you interact. [00:52:01] Dan Smigrod: Excuse me. If the Sustainable Investment Group (SIS), in terms of presenting their ASHRAE Energy Audit, is having a conversation about equipment, boom, you can start by equipment. If they have 100 buildings and they want to make the point that, well, we can go sort by building and that equipment to show that you have 27 of these chillers that are affected by our conversation. [00:52:32] Connor Offutt: Precisely. [00:52:33] Dan Smigrod: With Aetos Imaging Operate platform you can sort by equipment, buildings, organizations, and then all tagging systems. If you've tagged electrical or plumbing or mechanical or other, I think you have some examples. There's chillers, floor coverings, etc. [00:52:57] Brian Bollinger: Well, let's not forget, we're going to be able to perform this tour for the investor, for the executive team, whatever. We're going to be able to perform this tour enough fraction of the time and with absolute complete non-regard for the mobility of the individuals, whether they're in a wheelchair or whether they walk slowly, whether we have to hit 45 floors of a building to do this walk-through. None of that matters. It doesn't matter if we're in 17 different cities, we're able to do all of that in a fraction of the time with everybody there when we're doing it in that Matterport scan. [00:53:36] Dan Smigrod: I'm trying to picture how this was. Maybe pre-COVID with a mountain of paper. Maybe everybody was in the same room with copies of the same report. Go to Page 174. [00:53:51] Brian Bollinger: Mind-numbing PowerPoints. [00:53:54] Dan Smigrod: Mind-numbing PowerPoints, and then maybe during COVID was, now you're doing it by Zoom and you're still doing those PowerPoints and mind-numbing number of documents. I think we've probably heard the point that even if and when COVID is behind us, that we probably will still be in this hybrid work environment where lots of us enjoy working from home and we're in different cities and different states and maybe even different countries. Now you're doing your presentation within the Matterport digital twin, fully annotated. I always say when you were showing us that Connor, those were like, were those Mattertags? Yeah, but there are Mattertags on steroids because there's this full database behind every one of those modal data points annotated with photos, videos, and reports, etc. [00:54:55] Connor Offutt: Exactly and the key to unlocking that side of it was again to have all that data rolled up in a way that is already custom-built for commercial real estate operations managers, the people that actually interfacing with these buildings. Then again, the other differentiation is in the ability to customize it to whatever end you want for your specific industry niche. If you're trying to create a drop-down that has an interactive field, you can do that. If you're trying to put data on there and store it as a repository of information and roll that up to a specific part of your dashboard, then that's how you need to do it. That's really the utility here. [00:55:36] Dan Smigrod: Is it safe to say that an interactive digital report, a Matterport digital twin, annotated in steroids using Aetos Imaging Operate platform, that makes all the difference in the world? [00:55:52] Connor Offutt: It is deliverable. It is basically able to contain far more and also everything of the original deliverable. [00:56:02] Dan Smigrod: I imagine anyone that's comfortable getting that mountain of paper, you can still use your CMMS platform, your work order management software that the energy audits, interact with the CMMS? [00:56:17] Connor Offutt: They will be used to pull data into full equipment understanding. Brian, you can speak more to this than I can probably about like in Angus Anywhere or Building Engines or CMMS platform that aggregates work order and equipment. [00:56:33] Brian Bollinger: Well, let's just put it this way. There's no interface between Aetos Imaging Operator about a Matterport scan and any of those systems that's going to be less efficient than a stack of paper. There may be some variations in quality among the connectivity, amongst those various programs and systems. But I guarantee it. It's still going to be a better situation than a bunch of manual entries and stacks of paper. [00:57:00] Dan Smigrod: For any old-school person that still wants their stacks of paper, they can still have that. But we really – I guess what I'm trying to say, it just seems obvious to me that a Matterport digital twin tweaked out. I mean, I don't do energy audits, I don't do inspections. I don't understand any of this, but it certainly seems like if you could walk me through a Matterport space that's annotated and tell me, "well, if we do this here, it's going to save this much money." I always focus on money, but I think at the beginning of the show we talked about the 10 reasons that may be material to that decarbonization process and be able to use the appropriate buzzwords with the appropriate client, where this one cares about money, this one cares about ESG, this one cares about decarbonization. [00:57:57] Dan Smigrod: I think that's it. Visual storytelling on steroids. [00:58:03] Connor Offutt: Visual storytelling, data consolidation process improvement, reduction in travel times. These are all the things that we're trying to achieve. [00:58:15] Brian Bollinger: Let's not forget institutional knowledge or even the disposition of the building. When you move, if you can inherit that Aetos Imaging Operate system when you go and buy that building or even as you're trying to sell your building in that due diligence, those same magic leavers get pulled that I can have more engineers come and walk this building for its efficiency profile in that Matterport scan, then I have any chance of doing it if it's just bunches of paperwork and then when I get a new building, if I'm able to pull that up and say, "okay, I can look inside this energy audit that happened three years ago, and I can pick these things that they didn't decide to do and I know exactly what that payback is going to look like, but it's not a mountain of paper that I can't lay my hands on, so it's living document." [00:59:03] Dan Smigrod: It may be that you've added value to the physical building by having a digital twin that's annotated. When the time comes to sell or lease or probably more to sell the building. The building has, what's that word in art? I love the word, "provenance" [00:59:20] Brian Bollinger: Appreciated. [00:59:22] Dan Smigrod: Provenance, and appreciate. [00:59:24] Brian Bollinger: Yes. [00:59:25] Dan Smigrod: That you know, the backstory of the building and can make the case of why things are going to last longer, cost less. You could have two buildings that are each going to cost $10 million. But this building is actually a much better value when you tell the energy story. [00:59:40] Brian Bollinger: We can make all the jokes we want about people building things in the metaverse and making money in the metaverse. The reality is, if your physical building has a Matterport digital twin, that digital twin is a real asset that adds capital value to your physical building and that value will carry and appreciate greater than its absence would. [01:00:03] Dan Smigrod: Awesome. I have two final questions before we wrap it up. First, WGAN Member Aaron Rice in the greater Washington DC area – Aaron asks every which way to Sunday about incorporating IoT sensors. Where do they fit in? Do they fit in regarding the ESG in terms of reducing maintenance cost, monitoring air quality, temperature, humidity, cleaning, monitoring air, energy consumption, carbon emissions, water leak detection, waste management, tracking capital expense through the building life cycle. Are IoT part of this discussion on decarbonization, ASHRAE energy audits, ESG compliance? [01:00:50] Brian Bollinger: He just answered his own question. The things he listed are exactly what those do and they feed that data right to the model. [01:00:59] Connor Offutt: Right. [01:01:02] Dan Smigrod: Aaron, go back and watch our preview show because we talked about the integration of APIs from all those IoT elements within the Aetos Imaging Operate platform, which means – voilà –you have IoT meets Matterport. I want to say something to wrap things up and then just ask you for final thoughts. Again, if you're a Matterport Service Provider, you're doing commercial spaces. You have trusted clients in the space. If you are only doing as-bills, or only doing weekly construction or monthly construction documentation or only doing the shooting of the finished space for marketing purposes, your takeaway from today has to be – first, make sure you're doing those three for your existing client. But now there's really this fourth, which is this whole conversation about decarbonization made possible through the magic of Aetos Imaging plus the Matterport digital twin, plus an agency like Sustainable Investment Group – an advisor/consulting services. When you add those things up, you get greener buildings, greener commercial spaces, which have real value that we talked about at the top of the show. What I would say is, if this is resonating with you, go to the Aetos Imaging website: AetosImaging.com Go to Sustainable Investment Group website: www.SIGearth.com and leverage the power of these two organizations to help you get more Matterport scanning for your existing trusted client. Because these two subject matter experts can; please stop me if I'm wrong here, but you can help pitch the building owner about all the things of why decarbonization matters and why you can help achieve things related to either the environmental, social, governance, cost-savings both during construction, after construction – the whole Megillah – in order to help a Matterport Service Provider do what they want to do, which is scan more commercial space more often – even can scan the existing space multiple times at different building life-cycles, life cycles of the building. Connor, your final thought and then we'll turn to Brian? [01:03:43] Connor Offutt: Just a PSA to all the Matterport Service Providers out there. My hunch says you're probably not selling the way that you could be. You're probably leaving a ton of dollars on the table because you need to understand how the base technology and how what you're doing can be leveraged to solve problems across the entire commercial real estate cycle. You're probably only dialed in right now to a sliver of that. Understanding how to position the value to the operations team, to the facilities management team, to the property management, to the brokerage sites that asset value, that's really what's about to happen here as Matterport goes and grows and the whole 3D scanning movement takes off. But once you do that, what you're going to find is you really want great software to deliver that value proposition to your clients the way that they want to see that delivered. You need that to be interactable. You need them to be able to engage with that in a way that makes sense. The platform that they use needs to be built for that express purpose of solving all those different pieces of that overall pie. If all you get from this is just diversify your message a little bit, go out and try it, maybe there's an operations value property you can sell to different sites. Or even if you just learn how to tell the story of what Matterport 3D scanning can do for commercial real estate. I think we're just beginning to explore this. I think that the opportunity has been just so greatly underestimated. When you see it, how many different sides this touches. Whether it's training, whether it's ESG, whether it's sustainability, whether it's operational performance, equipment degradation, archiving, consolidation of all this stuff? These are all areas that are effective and each one of them on their own is valuable. Learning how Aetos Imagining can help you – please reach out – that's obvious, but also just even in just using 3D scanning – Matterport in general. Think about how you're positioning your services now and how else you might tell the story of value to a client in a way that you're maybe not doing right now. --- Continued below
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WGAN-TV Transcript | Aetos Imaging + Matterport = GREEN Commercial Spaces17095