Insights

According to "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries, "the fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. All successful startup processes should be geared to accelerate that feedback loop." Sounds like how JTJ Tech started - and continues to grow. What was your last decision about pivot or persevere? the book is available @ amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898 ...
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Three questions you need to ask yourself when starting a business by Naveen Jain 1. Why This? 2. Why Now? 3. Why Me? ...
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#Propmodo brings up an interesting question about ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) in Commercial Real Estate, and measuring them isn't as straightforward as it sounds, but the conversations themselves are valuable and worthwhile. Each of the elements wrap into the other: "...things like energy consumption, carbon emissions, or waste reduction can easily be calculated and reported. But being good for the environment is not the only important factor when it comes to sustainability. Our impact on the environment, after all, depends on whether or not our societies are in a place to protect it. The S in ESG doesn’t garner as much attention or dollars as environmental sustainability, but is a critical consideration when it comes to a company’s impact. and also, "the condition and maintenance of a building are also seen as social factors. A well-run, clean building instills trust and improves tenant satisfaction and well-being while deteriorating properties do just the opposite" full article here: propmodo.com/how-do-you-measure-the-social-in-real-estate-esg  ...
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Happy Belated Birthday Steve Martin! From his autobiography, "Born Standing Up" on the importance of originality: "There was a problem: at age 18, I had absolutely no gifts. I could not sing or dance, and the only acting I did was really just shouting.  Thankfully, perseverance is a great substitute for talent." ...
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The Case for a Smart-Building Stimulus Over the past few decades, regulations and building codes generally have driven more energy efficiency and other occupant-facing benefits. For example, ASHRAE published a position document on energy efficiency in buildings in 2019, noting, “additional energy use efficiency improvements are not only achievable but often the most cost-effective strategies in both new and existing buildings to achieve a more sustainable world.” A few dozen municipalities now require larger commercial buildings to provide their Energy Star scores each year, to benchmark overall energy performance. Moreover, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) has launched a program that funds the deployment of real-time energy monitoring solutions in buildings. The program, which is part of New York’s ambitious Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) plan, funds the upfront deployment and some ongoing costs for software solutions. Overall, these programs have been successful and they can provide a roadmap for other, federal government-led initiatives. Utility incentives are another source of ideas and tools that could drive smart building adoption. Regulation and policy tools focused on energy efficiency and building retrofits are not new, so a smart building stimulus would have many real world case studies and initiatives that would provide examples.  Investing in smart technologies in buildings appears to be a winner to catalyze economic growth, respond to the pandemic, and set America up to remain a leader in building and facility technology for the future. Original article @ propmodo.com/the-case-for-a-smart-building-stimulus/ ...
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From #Propmodo: Natural gas prices have been on a rollercoaster ride in recent days because of a deep freeze throughout parts of the U.S., including Texas. Bloomberg reports that one measure of natural gas volatility is at its highest since 1996. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia could further shock gas prices. All of this is unwelcome news for property owners, as commercial buildings heavily rely on natural gas for space heating. A winter storm recently blanketed much of the central U.S. and reported blackouts are expanding in Texas, where some fear gas wells will freeze and power plants will go offline. A U.S. government tally of gas inventories shows the biggest withdrawal since the Texas freeze-out in February 2021, as stored supplies remain 15 percent below the level from last year. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has discussed stepping up production of liquefied natural gas to several companies and countries in Europe in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, CNN reports. How's that for foreshadowing. Another compelling reason to use energy resources smarter! original story @ propmodo.com/worst-natural-gas-volatility-since-1996-could-sting-property-owners ...
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from #Propmodo Alongside data collection, the ability to remotely monitor and control the multitude of systems across a portfolio is the next most obvious benefit of building IoT. Every IoT system can by definition be remotely managed, saving employees across the property team time spent moving through the building to access different components. There are other benefits to this as well. IoT-enabled access systems can allow for remote control of employee, guest, and visitor access to the property, and in appropriately-equipped properties, even specific rooms within the property. In the context of COVID-19, this could be useful for managers seeking to limit access to common areas after certain occupancy levels are hit. IoT systems don’t only help with the active management of building components, they also offer the opportunity to automate or digitize substantial portions of property management. For instance, maintenance can be performed based on sensor readings, preempting occupier complaints, and visitors can be automatically assigned a properly-credentialed guest pass for the spaces they need to use. In many cases, a large percentage of all complaints from tenants are comfort issues that are predominantly handled in a manual, labor-intensive process today. Digitization of this workflow means using data and analytics to surface, diagnose, triage, report and notify, saving time and money while and improving customer experience. This benefit becomes most evident in IoT platforms that connect completely different systems, like sensors, thermostats and access control in the room occupancy example above. fully story @ https://www.propmodo.com/commercial-property-managers-guide-to-iot-implementation Many benefits including extending ...
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Happy Pennsylvania Day! The Salamander Reservoir was created, patented and deployed in Pennsylvania. Since the beginning, we have been committed to protecting systems, saving people, buildings and energy! ...
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We posted before about the book, "The Future is Smart" by W. David Stephenson, and here is another idea worth sharing from that book... re: Nest Thermostats "While it comes with a phone app to control the thermostat when you're away from home, most of the programming is done through sensors that monitor your occupancy patterns during the first weeks after installation and then automatically program the device through Artificial Intelligence. The results are staggering. Nests (thermostats) have saved users billions of kWh of energy, an average of 10-12% on heating bills and 15% on cooling" So, what do you think you could do with those energy savings? Devices like #Nest - and the Salamander Reservoir - make good sense to save energy dollars! The book is available at amazon.com/Future-Smart-Capitalize-Things-Connected/dp/0814439772 ...
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Happy Independence Day from the Salamander Reservoir team and JTJ Tech! ...
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Sometimes it's difficult to coordinate all of the information you need throughout a given day, week or project. The team at Salamander likes #technology for #productivity and uses #Evernote (this is not a paid endorsement). Evernote, like Salamander both enable teams to share data in real time. And, access is available on mobile (iOS & Android) and desktop (Mac & PC) platforms. Oh, and did I mention that both have a green animal logo? A match made in.. a zoo?!? ...
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Salamander Reservoir (JTJ Tech, LLC) is heading to the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International conference in #nashville this weekend... please stop by booth 838 in the technology pavilion and see how we can #connect and #protect your #buildings! ...
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