Stay ConnectedIn an increasingly digital and urbanized world, how can we implement building technology best practices today, tomorrow, and into the future? Find out by subscribing to Next Story Up by Schneider Electric, where we define what makes buildings “smart”, as well as how to unlock their fullest potential in optimizing energy efficiency and creating best-in-class occupant experiences.
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Useful and Referenced Links: JLL 2019 Global Sustainability Summary Report - https://us.jll.com/en/about-jll/our-sustainability-leadership
We have a new website:: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler commemorates the 50th anniversary of NASA’s moon landing by looking back at the event itself and exploring just how bold and revolutionary the moment was. He even goes so far as to share President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” speech, and it’s enough to get anyone motivated to go through their day. We discuss the circumstance around the launch, the immediate aftermath, and the ramifications of mankind’s landing on the moon as, among other things, an inspiration for all that great things can be achieved when we work together towards a common goal. In Act 2, we are joined by Annette Clayton, CEO & President of Schneider Electric North America. She’s a champion of our organization and its mission, and a tremendous leader, so we were thrilled to have her as a guest for our finale. With Annette, we discuss motivating influences throughout her career such as role models and great achievements she’s witnessed in her own career as well as those accomplished by some of our partners and customers. We also discuss the bold challenges that lie ahead of us in a smart building and energy society, and what in her view we must keep in mind in order to reach our lofty goals. Annette has had amazing experiences that have made lasting contributions across the board, so her insights are both informative and inspirational (especially at the tail end of today’s episode after the credits and music, in my humble opinion). We hope you enjoy this fantastic discussion to close out our second season. An important side note: in this episode, we discuss Schneider Electric’s race for Net Zero by 2030 and how our executives are tied to this achievement. Since recording this episode, we’ve announced a new target of 2025 for Net Zero at Schneider Electric, with a Net Zero Supply Chain (something Annette knows a thing or two about improving) by 2050. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
We have a new website:: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler shares that he is about to be married this coming Saturday, which is the impetus for today’s intro and conversation. He shares the many traditions and reasons behind marriage, but then also the rather unromantic mention that at its core a marriage is somewhat of a contractual agreement. A very important one, for sure, but with the same legal connotations and responsibilities as many others that we might think of in more black and white contractual terms. In Act 2, we are joined by Jason Heindel, Smart Buildings Solutions Architect at Faith Technologies (a strategic partner of Schneider Electric). Jason explains to us the history of Faith Technologies as well as what the partnership entails with Schneider Electric, as well as how the responsibilities of electrical contractors continue to change. Jason uses terrific examples of how connected technology can apply in the power side of a building by describing resiliency benefits at a nature reserve hosting – you guessed it – a wedding. He also details a point-by-point synopsis of what anyone designing or building a site should consider if they’d like to make their installation “smart”. Jason and I have never met in person, but have become friends virtually through our interest in smart buildings, travel, and food – all of which we’ve discovered about one another thanks to the internet. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Ran" by Future Islands
We have a new website:: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler prepares us for an inside look at a walk down memory lane by introducing that in this episode, we’re going to mix things up and share with our listeners the pilot episode that we created in order to gain interest in the viability of our podcast series. He explains that the essential elements needed in order to pursue the project included a belief that his company would be willing to accept bold ideas a little off the beaten path from what has been traditional, investment and sponsorship from leaders in the company, and visionary coworkers and counterparts excited to help make the vision a reality. Tyler describes the specifics of how that happened here, in what should be an insightful view into the creation of the series for fans, and also hopefully a bit of inspiration for any listener who might have a unique idea of their own that they’re itching to bring to reality. In Act 2, we play our initial pilot, which was simply a series of five questions prepared by Alexis Hart, National Director of US Channel Development at Schneider Electric and an early supporter and promoter of the podcast, which at its inception was called… “Schneider Speaks”. The conversation centers on many of the topics we discuss with our guests in the regular series including smart building services, the internet of things, and cybersecurity – but with a twist in that Tyler is the guest for these question and answers, and not the host. It was a joy to re-listen to this, and we are proud to share it with our audience before our final two episodes, which are groundbreaking for us in their own right as well. We hope you enjoy learning about our process with a peak behind the curtain at “Schneider Speaks”. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Drunk and with Dreams" by Angel Olsen
We have a new website:: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler describes his experiences as an adolescent growing up and visiting his local mall – an experience that today would be much different for youth today, and far less common. He discusses the evolution of the act of “shopping” from corner stores to malls, from malls to big box stores, and from big box stores to e-commerce and same-day delivery, and remarks on how at every turn the infrastructure supporting the buying practices had to change as well. Now, it looks like a great renaissance for in-person, brick-and-mortar shopping will be found at new airports; a happy convergence that capitalizes on the attitudes and attention of travelers, and a major driver for new airport development. This is not the only driver though, so Tyler concludes the first act by preparing the listeners for the fact that more information about the segment will be shared by our guest in Act 2. In Act 2, we are joined by Jason Dodier, Strategic Account Executive for the Carlyle Group and Engagement Leader for the JFK Terminal 1 Airport Project at Schneider Electric. Jason enthusiastically describes the trends impacting airport construction development, from traveler demographic to energy efficiency and sustainability goals, and goes to great lengths to indicate the types of technologies and services we might be able to expect as air travelers in the coming years. He has a clear eye for the permanence of airport infrastructure, and reminds us that this is an opportunity for any nation to really make a statement to the rest of the world about what it can produce. Jason is a charismatic speaker who puts a palpable amount of pride and passion into his descriptions, facts, details and predictions for us, and is a terrific guest to give us a view into an extremely hot development area in the built environment as we head into the 2020’s. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Something for Your M.I.N.D." by Superorganism
We have a new website: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler discusses the transition – both psychological and actual – between the Industrial Age and the Information Age, and what that means for how we see ourselves and how we see our buildings. He remarks that society places a high importance on what are traditionally manufacturing or blue-collar jobs, but that due to the fact we are now in an information/digital age, those jobs and the value they bring are highly digital as well. We should consider these “blue-collar IT”, and as opposed to these blue-collar jobs being finished once a building is completed, they now play an active role in the continued life of a smart building and feed directly into the productivity of a knowledge and services economy. In commercial real estate, where facilities are often used as the offices for “white-collar labor”, this dynamic is most apparent because these developments are now facing greater demands to be “smart” and “well” and leaning on the tech in a building to make that happen. In Act 2, we discuss the commercial real estate sector with Paris-based Cormac Crossan, Business Development Director of Commercial Real Estate for Schneider Electric. Cormac delivers the goods with quotes, facts, statistics and wide-ranging observations about the state of smart buildings in the commercial real estate industry. He remarks that while it’s still largely less tech-adopted than other less obvious industries such as commercial fishing, the investments in “prop tech” technologies across all aspects of a building’s services points to a promising future. He discusses the benefits of seamless engagement between building systems, and how this remains a holy grail of sorts, while describing how simple data points are becoming more and more valuable by helping to make the life of a building occupant simpler (and not just saving on electricity consumption). He speaks of the 3-30-300 principle, benefits of biophilic design, and other simply cool facets of CRE in today’s economy. Outro: “It’s All Okay” by Julia Stone
We have a new website: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler describes the evolution of music over time, with each new iteration of music building off the old and resulting in the type of popular music we hear today. Is this better than, say, classical music? Perhaps not, but it’s more popular for a raft of different reasons at this point in time. We then discuss classical music, in particular the symphony orchestra, and all the moving parts required to make it a magical performance, and note that this is not all that different than a well-functioning BAS system. All you must do is compare different instruments to different types of building equipment, different instruments to different sensors, different sheet music to different code. In no other type of building is this more important than the intelligent hospital, where outcomes are more high stakes than anywhere else due to the nature and outcomes of the facility and its occupants (surgeons, staff workers, nurses, and so on). In Act 2, we are joined by Brian Keemer, Strategic Account Manager for Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals at Schneider Electric. Brian discusses his experience in the world of hospitals and the importance of emerging technologies on the competitiveness of hospitals moving forward. Technologies like wayfinding are shown to make the experience better for patients and guests, while digitizing services and operations will help hospitals themselves stay more competitive and attract/retain better talent to perform crucial work within the facility walls. It all adds up to digitization leading us into the next generation of hospitals, where Brian tells us we are just at the beginning today. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Peace Signs" by Sharon Van Etten
We have a new website:: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler describes different scenarios of riding a boat on a beautiful day. In some of the scenarios, we encounter some whales on the beautiful day but in other scenarios we do not. The only real difference regarding the enjoy-ability of the experience is whether our intention for being on the boat in the first place was to see whales or not. If you set out on the boat with no expectation of seeing whales, you’re perfectly happy if you don’t see any; but if the exact same thing happens while you’re on a whale watching tour, you’re disappointed. The purpose of this story is to relate that in the hotel space, guest expectations are constantly changing but at the same time this guest experience is the paramount factor to the guest, hotel brands, and hotel operators. If we don’t keep up with these changing expectations, we run the risk of producing the less desirable type of boat trip. In Act 2, we are joined by Neha Jaitpal, Global Strategic Account Manager for Hotels at Schneider Electric. We learn about fascinating driving trends such as travel increases globally from the rising middle class and the Millennial demographic (who will represent 50% of guests by 2020!) and the impact these have on traveler expectations. The conversation centers around guest experiences in hotels, but Neha also treats us to excellent insights about what’s important in the segment regarding how important labor cost is to operational management (followed closely by energy cost). We learn about the technologies we might see in our hotel spaces soon (smart yoga mirrors, anyone…?), as well as less obvious lessons about the relationship between online reputation for hoteliers and the impact on their Revenue per Available Room – which might be more closely tied than you think. In all, we find a jam-packed episode about the digital hotel experience and how we can only expect more adoption and growth as the field progresses. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "I Go To Sleep" by Anika
We have a new website:: https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/campaign/nam/next-story-up/ In Act 1, Tyler discusses a Lyft ride he took in Minneapolis where the driver had a laminated sheet of information about his mission and services and what to expect during the ride. He was impressed with how “Customer First” this document and approach was, and decided to use it as a guideline for sharing information about what our listeners can expect from this series as we open up Season 2. Tyler recites the driver’s (named Bob) sheet and then shares his own mission statement for Next Story Up: “Our goal is to make the smart buildings industry more relatable and inclusive, as the concepts become more important to all of us. Remember: We are all building occupants!” In Act 2, we are joined by KP Reddy, CEO and Founder of Shadow Ventures, and author of “Everything You Know about Startups Is Wrong” as well as Shonodeep Modak, CMO of Schneider Electric North America. The conversations center around how much space there is for innovation in the smart buildings industry, as well as authentic and unique insights like how the “Minecraft Generation” affects our industry, how the construction industry is similar to the film industry, why our true customers are actually users (building occupants), and how entrepreneurs can learn from the television series Law & Order. The conversation bounces from insight to insight, will keep you entertained, and will leave you excited and empowered to be a member of this field. It’s a perfect way to start our sophomore season. Thank you for rejoining us for Season 2. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series as you join along in the next leg of our journey. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Y Control" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
In Act 1, Tyler thanks the audience for a fantastic debut season which concludes with this episode. He discusses why he believes now is the perfect time to subscribe to a podcast evangelizing the future of smart buildings, including the importance of the industry, the tipping point of infrastructure inversion we are currently overlooking, and the need for imagination and creativity in a space that can make all of our lives better. He illustrates his point with the infrastructural ramifications that automobiles have had on society, and compares this to the connected environment now being created by our new building technologies. In Act 2, we are joined by Kevin Self, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Business Development & Government Relations at Schneider Electric North America. Kevin treats us to many incredible statistics about the challenges that lie ahead in creating a sustainable and resilient energy future, including that 65% of the buildings that will be around in 2050 already exist (and thus need our immediate attention). Our most devoted listeners will also find reference to two familiar anecdotes! While discussing these issues, we learn about innovative problem-solving and solutions from a wide range of fascinating technology-adjacent companies and sources like Fortnite, Netflix, WeWork and Bill Gates, as well as impressive success stories from building landmarks such as JFK International Airport, The Empire State Building, and The Shedd Aquarium. Kevin also details the importance of policy throughout the discussion, including a reference to his work at The Alliance to Save Energy, in spearheading and steering technology innovation. He underscores the value of education at all life stages: the youth with programs like FIRST Robotics, the demand for climate action from university students, and the evolving nature of continued online learning throughout life. Kevin has charted his career to tackle "big, hairy, audacious goals", and as such we hope and believe he reflects the listener base of our series. It's an inspiring discussion and a perfect sendoff as we prepare to craft a more impactful series in Season 2. Thank you for listening this season. It would be wonderful if you could subscribe, rate, and comment on our series with what you liked or enjoyed from Season 1. We are honored to have you be a part in this. Outro Music: "Saltwater" by Geowulf
In Act 1 of our penultimate episode for Season 1, Tyler tells a building story about the similarities and differences between a food staple (different kinds of dumplings globally) and how this relates to the similarities and differences in the goals of building automation in different building customer segment types. He asks: how do we use our building systems to optimizes the results of goals in every different building segment? In Act 2, we are joined by Jana Gerber, Vice President of Buildings Segments Business Development at US Schneider Electric Digital Energy. She is the perfect guest to talk about how digitization is enabling better and more occupant-centric experiences in all types of building segments: hospitals, commercial office buildings, hotels, K-12 schools etc. Jana describes how the digital building landscape is extending the “big red toolbox” of the traditional facility manager to make more insightful and proactive decisions, while also enabling better performance and well-being for occupants. This combination – regardless of facility type – provides benefits in building value and financial viability for all building stakeholders while also improving sustainability and energy-efficiency to better the environment. We discuss specific value propositions in a wide array of building segments with Jana providing terrific facts, details and anecdotes that really help to understand just exactly how much value our systems can provide to facilities and their various stakeholders. Jana deftly bounces between segments, while also showing us that what’s important in each is to climb “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” in ways that may not be as different as you might think (they all revolve around comfort). We also learn about her favorite dumpling types and about the culinary prowess of her budding culinary expert children. Outro Music: "Diving Woman" by Japanese Breakfast
In Act 1, Tyler explains his love for spring, which includes the fact that it's university commencement speech season. He shares an excerpt from one of his favorites - "This Is Water" from the late David Foster Wallace - to illustrate that sometimes we we might not notice our surroundings, and because of that don't do enough to challenge them or make them better. In this episode, we discuss how we can make our lives better with a more decentralized, resilient, and cleaner energy infrastructure. In Act 2, we are joined by Trish Starkey, Business Development Manager in New Energy Landscape Strategic Alliances at Schneider Electric US. Trish starts with some valuable definitions for the building audience and answers questions like "What are microgrids?" and "What is energy as a service?". She explains that the benefit of having a resilient energy infrastructure no longer needs to be at odds with having a sustainable and renewable one, and that true value is realized when greater interconnectivity is pursued. We learn that microgrids just may be the "posterchild" for digitization, and that fundamentally you can't have an occupant-centric building if power isn't reliable and constant. For some facility types, outages are simply unacceptable. For others, a resilient grid provides an opportunity for community in a time of distress. In what felt at first like it may be an exciting detour, we learn just how intertwined (and necessary) resilient, sustainable electricity is with our smart building infrastructure, services, and experiences. Outro Music: "Who I Thought You Were" by Santigold
In Act 1, Tyler tells a building story comparing his recent digitally-enabled journey from New York City to Baltimore with the types of experience-guiding journeys we might have in buildings. He asks whether we should at this point consider GPS- and app-assisted travel to be miraculous or mundane, and why those experiences don't existed at the same scale in buildings. He also asks: will they ever exist in buildings? In Act 2, we are joined by Dhaval Shah, the Senior Product Manager of the Digital Buildings Division at Schneider Electric Global. Dhaval has been incubating (and just launched) a new service called Workplace Advisor that addresses the burgeoning needs of commercial office tenants and occupants with respect to optimizing space layout, occupant well-being and facility services. He discusses the emergence of the experience economy built on the groundwork laid by the growth of the digital economy, and explains how enabling humans to perform better and more healthily in today's service jobs makes all the sense in the world. Dhaval describes the different levels of way-finding (static, dynamic, and integrated) and where we are in that frontier with buildings. He is excited to be able to both alleviate and harness footfall traffic in facilities to optimize office experiences, and believes that from what he's seen of early-adopters, within five years the market will be at such a level of maturity that we'll all be asking him "what took so long?". Dhaval views the building technology industry as a Blue Ocean for both technology and business innovation offering huge, untapped opportunity to improve experiences - and that the timing for doing so could not be better. Outro Music: "To Die in L.A." by Lower Dens
In Act 1, Tyler tells a building story comparing the process of investing in smart building services to the perils of purchasing wine either in a retail shop or at a restaurant due to the potential intimidation that accompanies making choices in a world full of them. He surmises that it's the building automation industry's responsibility to guide these decisions, but asks: what is the best way to help get customers started down that path? In Act 2, we are joined by James Mylett, Vice President of Channel Development for US Digital Energy at Schneider Electric. James reminds us to never argue with the data, but that in order for it to be useful we must find appropriate methods to communicate it in a way that building operators understand, and can use to apply to their most important desired outcomes. The best way to find out what those outcomes are and how to communicate the value is by speaking with your customers. James explains how the value received from initial investments in smart building services will create a virtuous cycle of repeating that process to generate other positive outcomes with different streams of data. The process is transferable once you learn it - but you've got to start somewhere in order to start learning! Throughout the conversation, James marvels at the rate of speed at which innovation happens today and the effect this has on customer and occupant expectations. He also notes the importance of using lighthouse projects to help guide the way for customers and businesses to take the first steps down a smart building services journey. Data has value that is being harnessed in many facilities, but others will need to identify what desired outcomes can get them started down the path to intelligent services - and that's where our industry can help. Outro Music: "Black Sail" by Chastity Belt
In Act 1, Tyler tells a building story comparing the success of games during the early days of the smartphone App Stores - and in particular Angry Birds - with the adoption of early smart building services use cases in our more connected environment. He focuses on the promise of building analytic platforms that help facility managers optimize energy, maintenance and comfort with proactive insights from building automation data. He asks: when will these practices be commonplace, and what makes a data analytic platform great? In Act 2, we are joined by Andrew Tanskey, Regional Services Manager for Schneider Electric's US Northeast and Midwest Regions. Andrew makes it known that analytic services aren't just about saving energy and generating traditional ROI measures, but to protect us against the oncoming shifting demographics of the facility management industry. He encourages system decision-makers to consider the benefits of a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce that leverages data to make better and more prioritized decisions. Andrew uses deft analogies between buildings and the human body as well, while also sharing powerful statistics like "~80% of current building data goes unused." He shares with us the most dangerous phrase in the English language, and characteristics to consider when selecting a data analysis platform to use such as "Managed Services" vs. "Rules-Based". Through emphasizing the benefits that allowing data to work for us can bring to our own lives in terms of experience, fulfillment, and acknowledgement of a job well done, Andrew takes data and ties it directly into the human obstacles it looks to help us tackle. Outro Music: "Jeannie Becomes a Mom" by Caroline Rose
In Act 1, Tyler tells a building story challenging us to consider a connected building technology platform infrastructure in the same way we consider our smart phones - unique and personal via the implementation of apps and services. He asks: how do we as an industry set ourselves up for a future of more personalized, smart building app experiences? In Act 2, we are joined by Bobbi Jo Provost, Construction Sales Manager for BMS, Security and IT at Schneider Electric's New York/New Jersey Branch Office. With her experience in one of the world's most progressive and competitive building construction and technology markets, Bobbi Jo shares her insights on the solutions and experiences that are being demanded of her high-performance team. She discusses the critical importance and value added by employing converged platforms that integrate multiple, historically disparate building systems like HVAC, lighting, and security to name a few. She shares that while we have access to incredible technology today, we are still on the forefront of how customers will be deploying applications (and that's okay!). Equally important, she advises decision-makers in our industry to invest in innovative partners for projects who embrace ambiguity and are willing to bring their app and services visions to life. Bobbi Jo also discusses how the changing landscape of building technology impacts and influences the behavior of general contracting firms, design engineering firms, and technology firms. She finishes by describing her passion for participating in the fast-paced NYC market: "I wouldn't have it any other way." Outro Music: "Master of None" by Beach House
In Act 1 of our inaugural episode, Tyler tells a building story comparing the rise of digital connectivity, analytics, smart services, and occupant expectations in the smart buildings industry to that of the White Walkers in the popular HBO Series Game of Thrones. He asks: how do we properly prepare for digital disruption? In Act 2, we are joined by our first ever guest: Ben Norman, Strategic Technology Incubation Execution Leader at Schneider Electric. In a wide-ranging discussion about how software and data are enabling new possibilities in building experiences, Ben shares his thought-leading technology strategy insights. He discusses the importance of collaboration and having an end vision in mind when pursuing innovation, and encourages us to embrace big-thinking and become comfortable with ambiguity towards the future. Ben makes deft comparisons between internet tech stacks and the infrastructure we find in our buildings, relating the future of what we might be able to expect in buildings with services that we are already aware of and benefit from in other tech sectors. He emboldens us to work iteratively on things that matter most (and not stuff that no one cares about...), with easy connotations on how to pursue building services in an ever-growing array of different technological enhancements. Ben closes by sharing with us why he's excited to work for Schneider Electric in the technology industry and - for those of us trying to expand our musical tastes - well, he has some recommendations on that front as well after we tease the next episode. Outro Music: "Paris (Aeroplane Remix)" by Friendly Fires
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