Catching up in the real estate sector
Digital buildings save a quarter of heating costs
12.06.2024, 11:00 a.m.
Buildings generate a lot of data, but it is hardly used, says Franka Birke. She wants to digitize the real estate industry with her startup Metr. “The first thing I think of as a technology enthusiast is data,” she says. Today she uses this passion to help housing companies save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. With her IoT platform, pilot projects have already achieved savings of around 25 percent in heating costs.
“Some of our heating systems are still running on factory settings and are not optimally adapted to the needs of the buildings,” explains the founder of the building management company Metr. Her solutions monitor and optimize the systems automatically – without tenants losing comfort.
According to a study by Deutsche Telekom, the real estate industry is catching up in the area of ”digitalization.” However, there is a lot of catching up to do, particularly when it comes to using building data to increase energy efficiency: only 17 percent of the companies surveyed have so far evaluated sensor data. “Buildings generate a large amount of data that is currently often unused, but which offers a lot of potential for both business and technical optimization,” confirms a study by Deloitte.
Franka Birke is CEO of Metr.
So-called proptechs, which are technologies for the digitalization of the real estate industry, can act as important partners for established real estate companies. This is not just about heating control; smart building applications such as digital access systems or remote monitoring of elevators are also possible. “A smart building will be able to combine different trades. This can then analyze and optimize itself,” says Birke.
However, the founder still sees some hurdles on the way to becoming a smart city: data on the systems installed in buildings is often missing, as energy was taken for granted in the past. “That was not the focus. Energy was always cheap and was outsourced,” says Birke. However, the regulatory pressure to save more energy and reduce CO2 is now driving digitalization forward.
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