The Nexus Podcast

Latest Episodes:

🎧 #080: Colleen Morris on unlocking building level energy data Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

“My position is that in this space, when you're really getting systemic you need to be connecting all three (Buildings, Utilities, and Policymakers) in ways that we aren't yet. That's where we'll succeed or fail is how we make the right connections across these sectors."
—Colleen Morris

My Highlights

Lots of innovation in only two of the three stakeholders (Utility, Policymakers, and Buildings (5:23)
How we met and unpacking Colleen's quote (9:31)
All the ways in which utilities make it hard to use utility data (15:29)
How data access at scale is an energy equity issue (29:43)
Why scalability is so important in the Long Tail of small buildings (35:03)
What are the requirements for open access to utility data? (38:59)

You can find Colleen on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #079: Unpacking Stanford University's Smart Buildings Program and Road to Net Zero Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

“We needed an incredible sophistication at the building level, but we also need to do this in a way that is not just reliable, but also makes sense from an affordability standpoint and more and more makes sense from a sustainability standpoint."
—Lincoln Bleveans

My Highlights

Why is building technology important? To the U, to students, to other stakeholders. (7:29)
Energy & Sustainability - unpack the goals and initiatives (net zero by 2050) (27:06)
What use cases and tech have you implemented? (to get to 90% carbon savings (35:34)
How have you made the business case for investment? (46:46)
What new tech are you excited about right now? (59:22)
Lessons learned - it starts with the people (1:06:44)

You can find Lincoln and Gerry on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #078: Stacy Smedley on the road to zero carbon construction and where technology fits Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

“Step one (of 3) on reducing embodied carbon emissions is to start thinking about if we have to build a building at all. So if we just stopped building right now, there's plenty of empty space for us to put all that square footage into that we say we need. And beyond that, we have more than we need."
—Stacy Smedley

My Highlights

Quick overview of Stacy's background - lots of activities! (2:02)
A primer on emissions from construction - What is embodied carbon? (8:31)
LEED - why hasn't it scaled? (19:46)
What is the EC3 tool and how is it transforming construction? (25:53)
Future of EC3 - Where's this headed and the connection to digital twins (36:43)

You can find Stacy on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #077: Jon McFarlane on an open source building operating system and enabling true automation Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

“You can build anything on top and change things rapidly. Because of the platform business model, there's an ecosystem, so things are continuously evolving."
—Jon McFarlane

My Highlights

Founding story of PlaceOS (4:32)
Other industries besides office that are being disrupted by the internet (8:25)
What is PlaceOS? (13:00)
Platform approach - what is a platform (29:44)
Why open source? (35:27)
Hot takes on LinkedIn (43:36)

You can find Jon on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #076: The evolving role of the Master Systems Integrator (MSI) Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

“Those that adapt and recognize what's coming will continue to live on and those who want to keep their Blockbuster stores open with videos on the shelves, they're not going to be here in a few years' time."
—Rob Huntington

My Highlights

Mike Brooman on defining the MSI and the types of stuff they do: it's about mastery of technology and people skills to be the glue that brings all the systems together (1:24)
Brian Turner on what an MSI is and when they should get brought in (7:58)
Rob Huntington on the MSI role, whether the BMS contractor should play it, when they should get involved, and whether the MSA is a different role (16:38)
Mike Brooman on whether silos should continue to exist or whether there should be one person responsible for all tech (22:19)
Mike Brooman on whether MSIs are consultants - they're not (26:52)
Rob Huntington on the challenges and requirements for the design engineers (32:25)
Ruairi Barnwell on defining roles in the construction process (36:23)
Brian Turner on the ongoing service aspect of the MSI's role (43:21)
Rob Huntington on the BOS software and whether that company should be separate from the MSI (50:25)
Rob Huntington on the business case for the MSI role - it's just cheaper (54:51)
Sabine Lam from Google on what progressive building owners need out of MSIs (57:53)

You can find Mike, Brian, Rob, Ruairi, and Sabine on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #075: Anto Budiardjo on Smarter Stacks and solving the integration problem to enable digital twins Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

“I know people have different views on what digital twins is all about. I think that if digital twins are fundamentally an integration challenge then the most pressing problem is how to make things work with each other."
—Anto Budiardjo

My Highlights

Reflecting on 30ish years of integration efforts (5:54)
The smarter stack framework, how it came about, why it's valuable, and how it describes a new paradigm for our industry (18:05)
Why is integration so hard? (32:34)
How connection profiles help solve the integration problem (37:05)
An everyday analogy that explains connection profiles really well (49:12)
How Padi relates to connection profiles and how the two interact (56:06)

You can find Anto on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #074: Andrew Rodgers on what "open" really means Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

“You hear so many arguments defending the status quo.”
—Andrew Rodgers

My Highlights

Andrew’s answer to my favorite question is the pain-consumer distance and how the market isn’t self-regulating
The difference between open ecosystems and open source
How it all comes down to capabilities that are unlocked and personal preference
Open vs. interoperable
Where open source fits
Walking up the stack from the edge and what open means at each level (hardware, BACnet, APIs, platforms)
Why closed ecosystems won’t help us realize our future vision as an industry and how slime molds have it all figured out
The VOLTTRON open ecosystem and how it innovation happens with that model
How open-source can solve our workforce shortage
Examples of other tech from other industries going from closed to open and how open source is free like puppies.
How open is Niagara?
The vision for VOLTTRON and how AceIOT deploys it for their clients

You can find Andrew on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #073: Michael Grant on the latest trends in occupancy data, IAQ, APIs, and Overlay Software Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

“APIs are like toothbrushes: everybody's got one but nobody wants to use anyone else's."
—Michael Grant

My Highlights

Michael's background and COO role at multiple companies (1:07)
What is Metrikus? (9:24)
How Metrikus plays as an overlay and independent data layer (14:03)
Making the business case and whether technology providers should capture the full value their solution provides (19:14)
How Michael thinks about the data model component (26:28)
Reflection on our recent LinkedIn discussion on the quote "APIs are like toothbrushes..." (29:45)
Insights on the latest trends in occupancy data for office buildings (41:01)
AirRated and how it's different (47:26)

You can find Michael on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #072: Kilroy Realty and Intelligent Buildings on cybersecurity and the roadmap to enabling smarter buildings Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

“We were lucky enough that early on we built a team that included facilities management, physical security, sustainability, and IT.
And we said, 'What are our common goals? Where can we reinforce each other? What are all stakeholders' needs and how can we solve them together?'"
—Bayron Lopez Pineda

My Highlights

The origin story of the Kilroy smart buildings program, how IB helped set it up and how it led to the creation of the OT team (6:51)
Deep dive into network convergence (13:18)
What the roadmap looks like for existing buildings (22:31)
Paying for the journey and how they think about it (29:43)
What is required from a workforce standpoint for a real estate company to take full responsibility for OT? (33:46)
What applications are you enabling? (41:41)
How do you think about tenant engagement apps and what are your approaches to implementing them? (50:04)

You can find Andy and Bayron on LinkedIn.
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🎧 #071: DEI Today in the Smart Buildings Industry Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion isn't something that can be an add on. It's not a new part of your business. It should be integrating into your business. How do your core values align with your DEI efforts, your business practices, etc? Everything is literally connected."
—Tara Turk Haynes

My Highlights

The status quo of DEI and the smart buildings industry today (3:11)
The value of diversity to the industry (10:51)
The talent war, the process of hiring and building diverse teams (22:10)
The action phase of the conversation. Takeaways and actions we can all take (37:11)
Audience Q&A (51:54)

You can find Mandi, Tara, Mike, and Louisa on LinkedIn.
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