PointGrab
Architecting the Smart Buildings of Tomorrow

For commercial facility owners and managers, the need for space and resource optimization has always been on top of their minds. Now, this necessity of space optimization has become even more apparent with the ongoing social distancing norm, albeit in an inverse fashion. So far, facility managers had focused on utilizing their commercial buildings to their fullest capacity. But in order to stay resilient against the COVID-19 pandemic, facility managers now need to comply with the social distancing protocol and recalibrate the public gathering capacity of common areas such as elevators, cafeterias, and meetings rooms. For this, many facility owners and managers are turning to the latest technological innovations for efficiently managing their buildings and complexes. Modern technologies would not only help them comply with the current social distancing norms but also pave the way for smarter ways of facility management. And this very same technology can also be used to cutting your real estate costs dramatically.

A classic case in point would be the use of sensor technologies. Sensors can be used to determine the human presence in a particular area and then compare it with a pre-determined capacity limit to label the area of interest as ‘empty’ or ‘full.’ Besides, sensors can also be connected with the HVAC systems of the facilities to assist in predictive maintenance, creating a superior experience for the visitors and occupants alike. This can also be used for energy saving, environmental data monitoring, and many more smart building features.

But, the promise of realizing this brighter future of smarter facility management is not possible without a trusted maven, who is not only advanced from a technological viewpoint but also well-versed in the construction industry. Enter PointGrab, with a multitude of innovative solutions to help tenants and facility managers reap the advantage of these cutting-edge technologies.

Based out of Kefar Sava, Israel, PointGrab is currently at the forefront of building automation ecosystem and collaborating with many partners in this arena to improve the overall commercial real estate business performance.

To this end, PointGrab has developed CogniPoint—a highly advanced sensing solution, which is steadily becoming the cornerstone of a flexible workplace and making buildings, well, smarter. The CogniPoint IoT platform leverages highly intelligent embedded-analytics sensors and a cloud-based management system to provide deeper insights into occupant behavior for better space utilization. “Our sensors provide accurate data about the count and location of people in any given space, without violating their privacy,” underscores Doron Shachar, CEO of PointGrab. As a result of this, facility owners and managers can streamline their human resource management as well as optimize the allocation of physical resources such as workstations, meeting rooms, lighting, HVAC, and more – thereby bringing forth significant cost-savings and improved building efficiency.

At this juncture, the true potential of PointGrab and its flagship IoT platform can best be explained through a case study. Recently, PointGrab was selected by Deloitte to deploy the smart sensing platform in their new UK and northwest Europe headquarter, London—known for having one of the most advanced workplace environments in the world. The project aimed at supporting a rapidly evolving talent pool and offer them a broad range of work activities for both scheduled and ad-hoc meetings. Once onboarded, PointGrab first researched multiple smart building technologies that can fulfill Deloitte’s ambitious vision. And based on the comprehensive research, PointGrab deployed thousands of sensors covering the entire workspace to feed Deloitte’s building management apps with real-time data on how people are using the desks, meeting rooms, elevators, or lobby. Going the extra mile, PointGrab also implemented an innovative feature called Virtual Traffic Line on its CogniPoint platform to keep track of footfall in a zone and assist in more efficient building maintenance management. For example, the system would alert cleaning crews to attend to spaces that have hosted a certain amount of traffic. The success of such measures not only enabled Deloitte’s London office to continue enjoying its status as the most advanced working environment, but it also sparked similar initiatives in other Deloitte facilities.

With many similar success stories under its hood, PointGrab is now growing fast. Offering a peek inside PointGrab’s ongoing plans, Shachar shares that his company will soon integrate environmental data within its sensors. This will reduce the need for separate sensors to measure the data. Besides, the company is also partnering with entities such as automation expert ABB, smart lighting maven–Signify, and CRE sector expert–EcoMachines Ventures. These partnerships will give PointGrab the necessary competitive edge it needs to drive the smart building and facility management even further. And, as PointGrab propels further ahead in this relentless pursuit of excellence, it is poised to enhance its technical capabilities and be at the bleeding edge of technologies.