The recast EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) of 2018 aims to further improve building stock energy efficiency. It includes several new provisions that concern the deployment and use of Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS). Until then, much of the effort had been focused on new construction, tightening building regulations to improve the efficiency of the building fabric and the installed equipment, but very little attention had been paid to BACS, which is surprising given their potential to substantially reduce building energy consumption and do so at a relatively modest cost.
For some time now, companies have been striving to reform their policies based on ESG strategies, starting with reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions and extending to social responsibility, such as improving working environment conditions. Employers need to guarantee the physical and mental well-being of occupants both at work and at home, considering the new workstyles imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The traditional FM sector – valued at €400 billion just in Europe in 2018 (according to issworld.com)- is fading out and being replaced by holistic operations management that targets energy inefficiency and complex challenges affecting workforce productivity like Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).
It becomes obvious that organizations need modern Building Automation and Control Systems for integrated workplace management in alignment with their ESG policies.
Until now, such systems did not exist. Companies were struggling with split financial incentives between saving energy and maintenance costs and procuring socially impactful services. They had also been striving to gain awareness of options and value propositions, access to qualified personnel to design, install and commission automated controls while preparing to detect poor implementation.
In alliance with the ‘SMART research group’ of the University of Southeast Norway (USN), Yodiwo launched EUROSTIA, an ESG-aligned Integrated Management System (IWMS). This project will enhance the functionality of the company’s flagship platform for Facility Management, YodiFEM, making YodiFEM the first platform of its kind to combine IoT, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) to create the digital twin of organizations for automated management of ESG-related KPIs . EUROSTIA will rely on processing data from devices, cloud services and digital systems that organizations may already possess. The aim is to create a knowledge base about the way buildings behave in relation to events that affect their operation such as weather conditions, occupancy levels, equipment health and human behavioral patterns through advanced analytics. This knowledge is important for organizations to get an accurate projection of energy costs, helping the platform detect anomalies such as energy consumption outside the expected range. Through continuous monitoring of environmental and energy related KPIs, EUROSTIA sets the ground for effortless ESG audits.
EUROSTIA will be an add-on module in the existing platform of Yodiwo, aiming to become a solution customizable by certified partners to achieve scalability and high profitability.
Yodiwo leverages the technology it has developed on IoT and AI to create EUROSTIA, the first Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) that serves all Environmental, Social and corporate Governance (ESG) policies of organizations. Our goal is to provide the highest possible efficiency in energy saving and predictive maintenance of equipment through end-to-end space management that increases occupant wellbeing and productivity.
Alex Maniatopoulos, CEO and co-founder of Yodiwo.
The integration of IoT gives the FM sector more precise insights into its operations and equipment, and access to real-time data on productivity, which is directly related to the wellbeing of occupants, convenience and sustainability.
EUROSTIA aims to transform the broader market of building management methods and systems by upgrading the role of IWMS solutions from administration tools to business operation management and optimization systems, addressing the increasing demands for establishing Environment, Social and Corporate Governance policies due to EU regulations and investors practices.
Supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Business Innovation Greece”.