During Victoria’s sixth lockdown, major shopping centres had only four hours warning they needed to scale down  – a disaster that spawned a Melbourne proptech startup.

CIM pioneered the creation of a new building analytics software solution which enables a rapid response to manage building operations.

The Melbourne proptech startup chief executive and founder David Walsh said the product was in use across 144,000 square metres, facilities managers were able to remotely execute over 300 changes to the building to ensure it was performing at its maximum efficiency and adhering to public health and safety precautions.

“Working remotely we engaged the input of all building stakeholders including contractors, tenants and even security guards to create a bespoke register of essential and non-essential stores within the platform,” he said

“Initially this process took two-weeks to operationalise, however through our unique rules algorithm, we were able to tailor a solution that helped GPT adapt their retail asset to new restrictions in just 90 minutes.”

With all parties collaborating through CIM’s platform, the onsite team was able to reduce energy by up to 50 per cent at the height of the pandemic – this collaborative approach provided GPT with the building management blueprint to repeat across its entire portfolio.

In 2020, the commercial sector saw rental incomes drop as vacancies rose to a high of 8.6 per cent in Sydney, its highest rate in over seven years.

CIM has helped Knight Frank navigate these challenging times by facilitating greater transparency and control over plant and equipment performance to drive efficiency, sustainability and thermal comfort improvements.

CIM helped to achieve significant sustainability results, with Knight Frank improving the NABERS ratings of two separate buildings after 12-months of sustained environmental outcomes.

At 309 George Street, Sydney, the PEAK Platform reduced electricity and gas consumption by 17 per cent and 42 per cent YoY, respectively. The sustained environmental outcomes led to the building achieving a full one star upgrade from 3 to 4.

“When Australia’s major airports, shopping centres and commercial offices started closing during 2020, many building managers and owners realised that data was the only life raft for their businesses to survive, he said.

“They quickly started to optimise their buildings to get more out of what they already have, recognising efficiency is the new income. This led to CIM onboarding 48 new buildings on the platform in just seven weeks, completely virtually during the pandemic.”