It is the combination of advanced technologies and knowledge that has enabled GWTInsight to develop a unique solution to extracting useful information from commercial buildings.
Like many solutions it arises from a real-world problem. For the insurance world, how to improve risk management for and with clients. For building services providers how to improve on cost, carbon, and performance metrics. The bringing together of people with expertise in these areas sparked the imagination and is opening many opportunities.
Our technology incorporates several bodies of capability including IoT, Cloud, data compression, machine learning, AI, and Edge technologies to deliver cost-effective collection and visualisation of a wide range of data from commercial buildings.
Our GWTi-Observer hardware has been developed and tested to meet manufacturing and performance certification whilst minimising waste in manufacture and energy in use. Made in the UK it has advanced security and ease of installation.
Ensuring data security and the integrity of our whole system has been at the centre of our approach to the creation of GWTi-Observer and our insight products.
The GWTi-Observer is designed to listen and capture data from systems, sensors and machinery operating in commercial buildings. The GWTi-Observer cannot interrupt the operation of systems or effect the way that they are set up.
Common Internet of Things (IoT) vulnerabilities are managed through a combination of both hardware and software security. The approach includes the design and engineering of the hardware and software tools.
Clients may choose the length of time data is held and may authorise access to it via one of our insight products.
Insight products are all protected by strong levels of encryption, authentication, and access controls. Access is automatically logged in an audit log.
All GWTInsight systems are regularly tested by a third-party penetration team and updated to meet the highest expectations of globally operating firms and public sector clients.
The GWTi-Observer hardware includes physically separated components. One part connects to the building, captures, and processes the building data the other connects to the internet to process and send data to the cloud.
The setup is like a highly secure datacentre where all internet facing components are physically separated in a Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).
GWTi-Observer has multiple levels of firewall and intrusion prevention. The device’s DMZ has a dedicated internet facing firewall and intrusion prevention mechanism and separate components that connect to the building also have a firewall facing the DMZ. This provides a second level of defence.
Should there be any sign of potential compromise of the DMZ, the DMZ is shut physically severing of the internet connection and immediate termination of all processing in the DMZ.
All data read from the building is strongly encrypted at rest and in transit both within and from GWTi-Observer and within the Cloud. And all connections are strongly authenticated.
Intelligent products from real time
commercial building data.
Because GWTi-Observer captures data in real time, across time and from multiple building systems and operational equipment, it unlocks insights never seen before.
For insurers it has opened the potential for automation of risk assessments and an opportunity for risk engineers and underwriters to reinvent the evaluation and pricing of risk. It has provided new revenue streams and improved client retention.
For companies designing, manufacturing, and assembling building portfolios it is creating the opportunity to deliver digital twin benefits and will in time, underpin performance guarantees.
For providers of mechanical systems for solar power, cellular telephone networks or remote building provision it facilitates a mercurial shift in cost to service and the ability to disrupt the current servicing market.
For innovative consultants there are many opportunities to combine expertise and knowledge with the potential offered by GWTInsight technology to create innovative and cost-effective ways to reduce cost, risk, and carbon emissions.
Capital Allocations. A bank wishes to improve the basis of its £50m replacement capex programme across a range of commercial building types. Under pressure to maximise ROI the traditional sources of information, surveys, manufacturers recommendations and maintenance records prove expensive, difficult to assemble and compare and frequently bear little relation to actual performance of the building. Across time and the whole portfolio data on core system performance and cost to run significantly improves decision making. When combined with user feedback and space use, it creates a powerful tool for capital allocations.
Benchmarking. This has long been the source of value. GWTInsight solutions provide data at building equipment level facilitating performance comparisons across all building types, across zones within a building and across a portfolio.
An outsourcing FM firm wishes to find the sources of added value and to be able to demonstrate to clients why action is necessary and the benefits it can bring. A pilot identified that a focus on large scale energy users like HVAC systems can deliver ROI within months and significant financial and environmental benefits over time.
Optimising use of space. Traditional methods of assessing space rely on point in time surveys or more recently sensors that count the number of people on a floor. Both methods miss essential information about behaviours and changing patterns in use. A pilot project with a leading building environment consultant in the UK, a combination of GWTi-Observer, GWTinsight-Maker and Ubiqisense sensors was able to:
The applications range from automating time bound surveys to real time availability of space and rooms delivered to a smart phone.
The realisation of a risk in commercial buildings can create danger to people, reputational damage, disruption to operations, reduced revenue, and the challenge of renewal. Insurance companies share the burden of commercial building failures and have embraced the opportunity to work with clients to better identify and mitigate risk.
The adoption of a digital solution across portfolios of buildings is now affordable thanks to the innovative GWTI technology. Whether focusing on the building systems or those critical to operations, known risks can be effectively mitigated by real time and over time insights with cost and operational benefits realised.
AXA XL and Zurich Insurance, global insurance companies have embraced the technology which underpins a new and disruptive digital approach to risk engineering. Other Insurance companies are embracing the technology to improve risk assessment, pricing, product offering and cost reduction inside of their operations.
Mutual benefits for clients and providers include:
6% of the worlds carbon emissions are estimated to be caused by commercial buildings in use. The majority is created by energy consumed by building systems. ESG commitments make tackling this area a priority.
Heating, cooling, and ventilation systems (HVAC) in addition to the increasing technology loads and the impact of multiple visits to buildings by those responsible for maintaining them are the key carbon creators. Of course, carbon reduction is not a zero-sum issue, tackling inefficiencies in building systems, eradicating waste, and reducing system failures and the need for maintenance also reduces cost.
Our most common findings leading to action which delivered cost and carbon reductions are:
• Out of hours unnecessary energy consumption
• Systems competing against each other
• Poorly configured systems with few controls
• Failing equipment increasing energy consumption
• Underperforming equipment increasing costs in other systems
• Risk avoidance, the discovery of failing systems and mitigating action.
• Abuse of controls by users
These tactical observations and fixes enable broader cost reduction benefits including improvements in:
• FM strategy optimisation
• Reduced maintenance visits and costs
• Capital allocation and renewal decision making.
• User education and use
What better way to identify performance and provide proof of delivery than real time and over time reporting on a simply accessed dashboard shared with all parties to a contract? This is exactly what GWTInsight technology can do.
A good example is a project where fines were being incurred for non-performance in a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) contract for a collection of schools. Classroom temperatures were consistently poor leading to multiple complaints from teachers and pupils. Attempts to correct it had failed. A GWTi-Observer and GWTinsight-Maker were used in a pilot project and quickly identified several system issues. The deployment of additional sensors increased insight and solutions were identified.
Sharing the findings with reliable data aligned the client and provider and facilitated the benefits which included better classroom environments, fewer carbon emissions, fewer site engineer visits and reduced energy bills. The financial penalties stopped.
Equally consultants advising on potential for improvement and tracking KPI’s in outsourced contracts can baseline performance with accurate data and then monitor performance over time.
The application of the system in commissioning of commercial buildings is also possible. The use of real time data on installed systems over a test period goes beyond simply checking the building management systems (BMI). The use of sensors combined with building systems completes an accurate picture which can be documented, proven with ‘independent data’ and tracked through occupation.
From the outset and working with clientsclients, multiple instances of safety systems not working were found. Commonly occurring instances include:
• Low pressure in fire sprinkler systems
• Heat pumps working at 100%, 100% of the time
• Security alarm systems switched off after hours
• Dangerously high temperatures in computer rooms
• Critical safety equipment switched off whilst machines are working
• Machinery consuming high levels of power indicating a fire risk
• Legionella disease protection
• Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide monitoring
These basic key safety issues can be identified by GWTi-Observer and GWTinsight-Maker technology reducing the risk of danger to people and business operations. And importantly, our technology allows users to monitor systems and set triggers for early warnings or real time alerts.
