Case Caverion: Smartview - property monitoring platform

Sometimes the business potential of a product is fully revealed only after it has been introduced to the market.

Viagra was originally developed in the 1990s as an anti-hypertensive drug. Other uses had not been examined – until the researchers began to wonder why the test subjects were reluctant to stop using the drug. 

Text messages were at first a mere curiosity on mobile phones but eventually became culturally more important than calls. 

Social media was developed to help university students to connect more easily.

Unlike Viagra, the platform developed by us for Caverion served its original purpose perfectly from the outset. But just like Viagra or social media, awareness of its potential for new business models and applications has grown constantly.

From reactivity to anticipation

Caverion is a public company that designs and implements building and industrial services. Caverion wanted to create a client portal that allows the real-time monitoring of building performance transparently.

Houston and Caverion professionals worked in close collaboration to create a digital platform that collects information about buildings and their interior conditions from various systems, databases, and sensors. On the platform, the client can monitor the Key Performance Indicators of an individual property or their entire building portfolio and optimize indoor conditions. The platform also has its dashboards for the control room, property users, and maintenance.

Data is important but equally important is the way it is presented: The benefits of any information are lost if it is in the wrong format. Instead of raw data, Caverion’s SmartView provides clear information and recommendations on what measures to take. Switching from reactivity to proactive anticipation and problem prevention will increase the saving potential and improve client satisfaction.

New benefits with new metrics

So, the platform designed to measure indoor conditions worked brilliantly  – but why stop there? By expanding the dashboard, the platform evolves from a means to monitor and control indoor conditions to a tool for effective property management and successful business decisions.

As the solution was further developed, it became clear that it is useful to provide data on other indicators than just the ones the platform was created for. New sensors can be used to measure new things – not just technical performance but how people use different spaces.

Combining this data with AI and digital models of the building creates completely new applications. These allow Caverion to provide service models that were previously not possible.

Can buildings be used more flexibly? Where can you find a free workstation or conference room? What kind of feedback do property users give? What is the best cleaning or maintenance cycle for client satisfaction? What is the response time of different service providers? What if service orders could be directed straight to the component to reduce the idle time?

All of these questions can be addressed using properly selected sensors, intelligent data processing, and the Caverion SmartView platform.

The value comes from understanding

While data is important, the key to developing the platform has been effective communication between people. Value does not come from technology but from a common understanding of how it can be utilized. There are no teams of them and ours; there is only 'We'.

The platform’s potential will grow even further as digitalization increases and smart buildings begin to form smart cities that are more and more interconnected. With open data and building technology interfaces shared with different developers and producers, we can create even more interesting and visionary ways to develop services.