Autumn is approaching with great strides and with it, unfortunately, the time of increasing corona case numbers again. A decentralized team event outdoors provides planning security and does not require a certificate or the associated organizational effort. Companies can register as an entire company or only participate with individual teams. An ideal opportunity for a strategy walk away from the hectic everyday life – or just for a nice chat among work colleagues.
For this purpose, some companies used the event last spring for additional team building measures and spontaneously organized an aperitif reception, started their own slack channel to strengthen the (international) team spirit or decided to collect waste along the entire route Communicate this good deed through social media. Interested parties can find more impressions of the past event here .
There are no special requirements for participation, only the will to complete 6 kilometers within 24 hours. Whether jogging or ambitious walking is up to each participant. After registering, the participant receives access to a geotagged app. The route can be chosen freely by the private persons / teams regardless of location.
With this initiative, the organizers want to draw attention to innovation and sustainability in the real estate industry. Everyone can contribute to this. Because sustainability is not a local but a global issue. Just like the Global Real Estate Run . As a “green” sign, thanks to the main partners Unispace , Immo! Nvest and PropTechMarket , a tree is planted for every kilometer covered.
Autumn is approaching with great strides and with it, unfortunately, the time of increasing corona case numbers again. A decentralized team event outdoors provides planning security and does not require a certificate or the associated organizational effort. Companies can register as an entire company or only participate with individual teams. An ideal opportunity for a strategy walk away from the hectic everyday life – or just for a nice chat among work colleagues.
For this purpose, some companies used the event last spring for additional team building measures and spontaneously organized an aperitif reception, started their own slack channel to strengthen the (international) team spirit or decided to collect waste along the entire route Communicate this good deed through social media. Interested parties can find more impressions of the past event here .
There are no special requirements for participation, only the will to complete 6 kilometers within 24 hours. Whether jogging or ambitious walking is up to each participant. After registering, the participant receives access to a geotagged app. The route can be chosen freely by the private persons / teams regardless of location.
With this initiative, the organizers want to draw attention to innovation and sustainability in the real estate industry. Everyone can contribute to this. Because sustainability is not a local but a global issue. Just like the Global Real Estate Run . As a “green” sign, thanks to the main partners Unispace , Immo! Nvest and PropTechMarket , a tree is planted for every kilometer covered.
The Department of Environment, Building and Design of SUPSI starts its high-profile public lecture series on the climate and environmental crisis on September 22nd. According to a press release, this reflects “the challenges facing our entire knowledge”. It is entitled “Earth Emergency – Live, Build, Think a Sustainable Future”. A total of four events are planned in this context on the SUPSI campus in Mendrisio. They are not only aimed at students, but also for all citizens. Participation is free in each case, but registrations are required.
Thomas Stocker from the University of Bern will play the first evening. In its announcement, SUPSI introduces him as “one of the most important protagonists of international climate research”. The professor for climate and environmental physics has been working on the climate for 30 years and was instrumental in drafting the UN reports on climate change. On September 22nd at 6:30 pm he will give a lecture entitled “Climate Crisis – Is There a Vaccine?”.
On October 27, the geophysicist and former President of the Roman Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology , Domenico Giardini, will give a lecture on the subject of “On the way to Mars”. On December 9th, Telmo Pievani, Professor of the First Chair in Italy for Philosophy of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Padua, will give a lecture entitled “We are changing the world and the world is changing: An evolutionary look at the environmental crisis”.
Finally, Francesca Bria, President of the National Innovation Fund of Italy and Honorary Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Affairs at London’s Global University , will speak on February 23, 2022 on “The Revolution of the City: Data Democracy, Participation and Ecological Change”.
According to its own statements, Holcim is the first company in the construction industry to commit itself to measurable positive effects on biodiversity and more ecological water management. At the same time, the group wants to bring more nature into the cities.
According to a press release , Holcim aims to reduce the water intensity in all product lines by 2030. A reduction of 33 percent is to be achieved in the production of cement. It should be 20 percent for aggregates and 15 percent for ready-mixed concrete. The building materials company promises to replenish fresh water in water-endangered areas by 2030: 75 percent of the locations should be “water-positive” by then. In addition, Holcim intends to equip 100 percent of all locations with water recycling systems during the same period.
Holcim also wants to achieve measurable positive effects on biodiversity. The group wants to orient itself on the reporting system for biodiversity indicators (Biodiversity Indicator and Reporting System, BIRS ) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN . Rehabilitation plans should be available for all quarries by around 2022. The BIRS principles for all cultivated areas should be fulfilled by 2024. In addition, the use of solutions such as the water-permeable Holcim concrete Hydromedia and green roof systems for more livable cities is to be accelerated.
Eva Zabey, Executive Director at Business for Nature , praises Holcim for these ambitious goals. They could “lead to scalable changes both in the building materials sector and in industry as a whole.” All ecosystems and societies are dependent on such measures and obligations from companies.
The engineering and consulting company Helbling uses innovative technologies to design ventilation systems for interiors, among other things to increase the air quality at workplaces. Last but not least, the COVID19 pandemic has put the reliable quality of indoor air at the top of the agenda of companies and institutions. According to a specialist article by Helbling, ventilation systems are also becoming more important because more and more buildings are being built according to the energy-saving Minergie standard. Improved thermal insulation and less fresh air supply help to save energy. However, sources of foreign matter such as building materials in the interior also influence the air quality.
The aim of well-designed ventilation systems is to eliminate gaseous substances such as odors as well as irritating substances and particles such as dust or viruses from the ambient air. This also includes carbon dioxide from human respiration and tiny liquid droplets, so-called aerosols. In the technical article, the authors Reto Wäger and Christian Seiler emphasize that the transport properties of aerosols are used for an efficient analysis. Since aerosols move with the expelled air, the concentration and distribution of carbon dioxide in the room can be measured and analyzed using sensors. If real measured values already flow into the planning phase, for example for workplaces or factories, “a certain air quality at the workplace can be achieved right from the start with targeted measures”, says the article.
To do this, the company uses flow simulations, for example. They are created using suitable software tools such as Ansys or COMSOL. Typical movement scenarios are also taken into account during planning. In addition, according to Helbling, other innovative systems can be used to optimize the room air, such as UV photocatalysis or plasma cleaning.
Sto AG replaces a third of the binding agent in the coatings of its StoTherm AimS facade insulation system with a renewable raw material based on pine oil. This saves around 43 liters of crude oil in a single-family house with a facade area of 200 square meters, according to a press release.
A complete replacement of crude oil with pine oil was not possible. This would have had a negative effect on quality and durability.
According to a media release, StoTherm AimS is the only facade insulation system with under and top plasters and a facade paint that is partly based on renewable raw materials. It is certified with the German Blue Angel eco-label. In addition, it is crack and impact-proof and cannot burn. Therefore, it is also suitable for high-rise buildings.
Every two years the Industry and Business Association Schaffhausen ( IVS ) and the ITS Industry and Techno Center Schaffhausen host the IVS Innovation Prize of the Schaffhauser Platzbanken . It is awarded to companies from the Schaffhausen economic area for developing and successfully placing an innovative product on the market. Criterion for awarding the prize are, among other things, the profitability and the economic potential of the innovation.
This year 23 companies competed for the award. Among them, TTS Inova from Thayngen SH won the prize and a prize money of 10,000 francs, the IVS informed in a message. The family company, which specializes in trimmings and technical textiles, was awarded for an elastic geothermal probe. “Our product is food-compliant, so it can also be used in areas where you would otherwise not be able to install a geothermal heat pump,” owner Simon Bernath is quoted in the press release.
The young company Imnoo from Buchberg SH came second with its artificial intelligence-based application for milled and turned parts. “Calculating technical parts is time-consuming and requires a great deal of specialist knowledge, which usually only a few people in the SME – and not infrequently only the managing director himself – has”, explains Inmo co-founder Jonas Albergatti.
Savvy Telematic Systems AG took third place with its sensor for rail transport wagons. In the last competition in 2019, the company from the canton capital won first prize for a sensor for automatic flat spot detection in rail transport. The Tanne Schaffhausen restaurant received a special award for its ethical and ecological business model.
There is an enormous amount of dynamism in the real estate market. The apartment carousel also rotates correspondingly quickly. Supply and demand find each other easily and directly via digital platforms. Because the web clearly shows what the rental property has to offer. In the further process, however, the creditworthiness of the potential tenant remained opaque until a year ago. Despite the excerpt from the debt enforcement register that those interested in the rental property had to submit. Because even this document, which at that time still had no alternative and was therefore indispensable, with a cumbersome name and the same procurement method, did not provide the landlord with any clarity. On the one hand, the conventional extract only shows the debt enforcement situation at the current place of residence. Any debt enforcement proceedings at previous places of residence remain invisible – the more than 400 debt enforcement offices in Switzerland are not networked. On the other hand, the document, which is still issued on paper, can be ‘corrected’ fairly easily. Accordingly, trickery is often used here with unpleasant entries.
More trust, less uncertainty with CreditTrust … It is therefore not surprising that the newly developed CreditTrust certificate, launched in 2020, has established itself as an innovative and extremely reliable creditworthiness certificate with property managers within a few months. The digital, blockchain-secured certificate cannot be falsified, uses the two largest creditworthiness databases in Switzerland to determine solvency and only brings advantages on all sides: the landlord minimizes his risk of rent defaults many times over and the prospective tenant can deal with it within show the certificate issued in three minutes as really solvent and trustworthy.
… and gain a multiple of security and expressiveness Almost as quickly, the CreditTrust certificate made it into the group of nominees for this year’s Real Estate Award in the management category. The award recognizes key projects and innovations that change the market and give impetus to the Swiss real estate world. The joy of all three companies involved in the development of the CreditTrust certificate – Intrum AG, CRIF AG and Certifaction AG – about the nomination was correspondingly great: Manuel Zollikofer, CRIF AG, Benoit Henry, Certifaction AG and Martin Honegger, Intrum AG, are themselves unanimously: “The nomination is valuable recognition. It confirms to us that with CreditTrust we have created a radical innovation that the market has been waiting for. ” The founders and innovators are well aware of the real estate industry’s difficulties with the debt enforcement extract: “We are proud to have set a new digital standard together. CreditTrust has not simply replaced the debt enforcement register extract. The digital certificate is many times more secure, more meaningful and more digital than a conventional debt collection register extract. “
A large market is open to the reliable, digital certificate The CreditTrust certificate entered the market with great success. It is to be expected that the digital certificate will soon completely replace the conventional debt enforcement register extract due to its qualities and advantages. In view of the 3.2 million debt enforcement register extracts ordered annually in Switzerland for a variety of purposes, the predicate ‘radical innovation’ for CreditTrust does not only apply to its effect in the real estate industry.
When it was first held in 2020, many interested members of the Swiss Real Estate Association (SVIT) and other visitors flocked to the popular event location on “Europaallee Zurich”. "Digitization has been a major topic in the real estate industry for many years," says Pascal Stutz, CEO of SVIT Zurich. “But a lot of smaller companies find it difficult to deal with the subject. We have been telling our members for a long time that digitization will simply come – regardless of whether they participate or not. " On the one hand there is the digital compass to check the digital fitness of a company. Trying out, watching, but also personal contact is in the foreground at the SVIT Digital Day.
Meet & Greet Also this year, providers, users and interested parties can exchange ideas at the symposium and seek direct contact with various software developers for the digital offerings. The latest software applications for the real estate industry will be presented by around 40 exhibitors. In addition, the “SVIT Digital” commission is launching a “Meet and Greet” for all visitors on this day. Specific digital concerns and questions can be discussed intensively directly with proven professionals on site and other users in order to develop efficient solutions. The practice-oriented specialist presentations are an additional highlight on the “SVIT Digital Day”. And the best part: access to the symposium and the presentations is free for everyone.
New construction projects can be digitally modeled using drone recordings. With the help of software, the planned object is, so to speak, “inserted” into the property and surroundings images received by the drone. This Building Information Modeling (BIM) creates realisticvisualizations of a new building project in two or three-dimensional views. Object-strategic statements can thus be made reliably, quickly and cheaply.
Drones are also used for construction-related work themselves. One of the most recent applications is the computer-controlled use of drones for painting facades. The flying robotic helpers can be controlled very precisely and can fly very close to a wall. So it is possible to paint facades without work preparation and erection of scaffolding. In addition to saving time, this is also a step forward in terms of safety on the construction site.
Another area of application is that for inspections and damage tests of buildings and structures – for example the use of drones for roof inspections. Due to the high altitudes and good stabilization in flight, drones can also be used in historic buildings, such as churches. But drones can also be used comfortably and safely to check building cracks, glass damage or hard-to-reach areas. Thanks to the high resolution of the images, even the finest damage can be detected and these images can be saved for later documentation purposes.
You can find impulses around innovations in the real estate and construction industry here: https://hubs.li/H0RQl480
According to a press release , the aim of this study is to measure air quality in classrooms and to provide tools to improve it, which reduce pollution. The starting point was a study by the Federal Office of Public Health . Samples in 200 classrooms showed that the limit of 2000 ppm (parts per million) CO2 in the room air was exceeded in two thirds.
This study showed that the concentration is lower in Minergie-certified buildings with systematic air exchange. During the measurements, cases were also found in which volatile organic and microbial compounds exceeded the safety limit or were very close to it. The recommendations of the study authors range from air monitoring systems in classrooms to the use of air purifiers and the replacement of windows and doors.
On September 15 and 16, SUPSI is holding a further training course on the subject for specialists from the construction sector. Registration is required for this. There will also be a public conference on the subject on September 16.
Avobis is launching a new real estate platform. Property Captain should cover the entire spectrum from the search to financing, insurance and maintenance to the valuation, purchase or sale of properties, the Zurich-based real estate and mortgage service provider informs in a message . The platform uses artificial intelligence for this purpose. “Property Captain is pursuing the vision of matching the four million residential properties with the individual dream homes of the Swiss population and thus improving satisfaction with the living situation”, Avobis Co-CEO Patrick Schmid is quoted in the press release.
The new Avobis subsidiary is designed as an open platform with an independent network of partners. Around 120 financing partners and 150 brokerage companies were already involved in the launch, Avobis informs. The group was able to win Bank CIC (Schweiz) AG as an innovation partner.
Avobis will bundle all of its own offers for private customers, in particular the corresponding mortgage services, in the new Property Captain Tech AG, is further explained in the announcement. Myriam Reinle is to take over the management of the Proptech. In the press release, Avobis refers to Reinle’s many years of experience in managing online marketplaces and tech start-ups. The designated head of Property Captain was active in the real estate industry for ImmoStreetand Homegate , a company belonging to the TX Group.
An ecosystem is basically the interaction between different stakeholders in a defined area of a human need – for example mobility, health or living. The increasing trend towards ecosystems can be seen in different areas of life. Depending on their relationship with the end consumer, the various players in an ecosystem can assume three different roles: that of the “orchestrator”, that of the “implementer” or that of the “enabler”.
The orchestrator has direct contact with the end customer and takes over the management of the customer interface via a digital B2C platform. Well-known examples are Amazon or Airbnb. Put simply, these companies are responsible for identifying the needs of customers and matching them with the right products and services from companies. In this context, the latter are the implementers – in the “living” ecosystem, for example, providers of PropTech solutions or insurers and banks themselves with their respective products and services. The companies that act as supporters for the other two groups are enablers . These do not come into direct contact with the end consumer. In fact, most companies in an ecosystem are enablers – such as suppliers of product components or software. They form the backbone of the ecosystem, so to speak.
This interaction is essential in the increasing battle for market share. That is why more and more insurance companies and banks are also participating directly in PropTech companies – among other things, in order to be able to offer their services in a more user-friendly and cost-efficient manner by means of digitizing their own value chain. The extent to which insurers and banks will play the role of orchestrators in the future remains to be seen. What is certain is that you can secure customer interfaces through a functioning ecosystem – because many experts agree: In the future, the focus will be on digital ecosystems.
Bern makes the three-dimensional view of the entire city publicly available. So far it has only been accessible to municipal offices and other interested parties. An Internet browser or a newer smartphone is sufficient for access.
As the city of Bern informs , the city model includes all existing and planned buildings in the city. It also shows the most important bridges in detail. The vegetation can also be added as a 3D object or as a point cloud. The sub-municipalities were also supplemented using freely available data from the Federal Office of Topography.
As a video shows, you can find out how high the Bern Minster is by zooming, sliding and rotating. In addition, it becomes clear which shadow course a building shows on a cloudless day. With the measuring tools control element, distances and building heights can be taken from the model. For example, the linear distance between two placemarks can also be determined. Much more information is also available via a link to the city map.
Experts from urban planning, architecture and landscape design can also switch on official surveying data for their projects. For a processing fee, the city of Bern also offers to prepare and submit the data according to customer requirements.
Wingtra , a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ( ETH ), manufactures special drones for aerial photography and remote sensing. It combines the positive properties of multi-rotors and fixed-wing aircraft. The Wingtra drone takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter. At the same time, however, it flies forward as efficiently as an airplane. Thanks to its high payload, the drone can also carry a wide range of cameras.
Wingtra recently launched the WingtraOne GEN II. This drone enables a new, angled camera configuration for high-quality 3D drone mapping. In order to use the development immediately, Wingtra has created a digital twin of the city of Zurich.
According to a media release , the drone only needed six hours of flight for the 3D mapping of the city of Zurich. One pixel in the 3D model corresponds to 3 centimeters of information from the real world. It thus represents "a completely new level of detail".
According to Maximilian Boosfeld, co-founder and CEO of Wingtra, the new Dorohne is “the perfect choice for capturing infrastructure – from a single industrial plant to entire cities”. Detailed 3D data could help city administrations, town planners, engineers and architects, for example, to increase the quality of life in urban areas, to plan critical infrastructures and to simulate changes in the environment.
The Dietiker electrical company Jaisli-Xamax AG carried out the electrical work for connecting innovative X-ray devices in the newly designed radio-oncology department at Inselspital in Bern.According to the press release , the special thing about the construction work was that the new building within the Bern University Clinic, which belongs to the Insel Group, is located underground. A three-story, underground building has been erected there. In the so-called intermediate building, which is not visible from the outside, there are treatment and examination rooms with waiting rooms as well as the technology rooms of the tumor center.
According to a press release from Inselspital, a state-of-the-art center for the radio-oncological treatment of cancer patients has been put into operation on three floors, 20 meters below ground, in two years' time. Three devices of the latest generation are available to treat patients with precise radiation therapy.
The demanding task of connecting these Ethos devices was in the hands of Jaisli-Xamax. At peak times, there were 20 employees working there, three of whom were apprentices. Construction manager Eduard Harder is quoted as saying that Jaisli-Xamax is proud “that we were able to make our contribution to such an important and forward-looking project”.
With ECOPlanet, Holcim is bringing a green cement onto the market. According to a press release by the company, this causes 30 percent less CO2 emissions than conventional products. According to CEO Jan Jenisch, this will be the world's first cement that consists of 20 percent recycled construction and demolition waste. In addition to the use of low-emission raw materials, the CO2 reduction is achieved, among other things, by decarbonising the production process.
ECOPlanet is already available in Switzerland as well as in Germany, Romania, Canada, Spain, France and Italy. In the current year, the product is to be launched in a total of 15 European countries. Holcim plans to double its market presence with ECOPlanet by the end of 2022.
"In view of the increasing world population and rapid urbanization, solutions like ECOPlanet are of crucial importance to create greener cities and smarter infrastructure and to build more with less effort," Jenisch is quoted in the press release.
There are several reasons why it is worthwhile for a company in the real estate business to embrace new technologies.
Attractiveness for employees: High potentials and well-trained employees want to work in companies that are agile and digital. In order to be able to keep up with the future “war for talents”, digital company DNA is almost a “hygiene factor”.
Creation of efficiency and transparency: With new solutions – for example in the field of artificial intelligence and data analytics – resources can be bundled correctly, investment decisions can be made well-founded, and rental and sales processes can be processed faster and more cost-effectively.
Minimizing risks: Through the targeted use of technologies, data can be generated, structured and analyzed in order to improve the basis for decision-making and thus minimize risks.
New options for monetization: Disruptive new technologies such as blockchain technology are “business enablers” and promote the development of new business models, ecosystems and collaborations.
Improvement of the user experience: New technologies such as virtual or augmented reality enable a completely new user experience. This type of convenience will become standard in the future and customers will probably no longer want to do without it.
You can find an overview of new technologies and PropTech solutions here: https://hubs.li/H0RQjYL0
Applications and tools such as 360 ° tours, interactive design or virtual reality (VR) are not new. But what two Swiss and a German start-up have made of it, yes. For example, the Zurich start-up Coding Mind AG with their product “Remotely360 °”: The founders, Alexandros Tyropolis and Danijel Veljkovic, have revolutionized the 360 ° tours: “These virtual tours have been around for around 10 years. But the existing solutions on the market did not go far enough for us: The tours are primarily perceived as a marketing tool. Once entered into the Internet, prospective tenants are then left to their own devices. Any questions that arise remain unanswered – any misunderstandings cannot be clarified, ”analyzes the CEO, Alexandros Tyropolis.
Therefore, with the Remotely360 ° solution, marketers and interested parties can meet digitally in the property: “The property manager receives all information about the property overlaid. Thanks to the integration of Google Streetview and Google Maps, the surroundings can also be shown, ”explains the CEO. Further documents could be sent immediately in the chat. The integrated floor plan shows where you are in the property. With this offer, the company is one of the so-called first movers: "We only know of a handful of start-ups worldwide that are pursuing similar ideas," says the young entrepreneur. Big players in the field of 360 ° tours in particular would have overslept to continue spinning their thoughts and ask themselves how 360 ° tours could have a deeper impact on the marketing process. Remotely360 ° customers include companies such as the CBRE Group, Crédit Suisse and Swiss Finance & Property Funds AG.
In order to use the tool, the first step is to digitize the property. “We maintain a network of photographers who, if necessary, take pictures of the object with a 360 ° camera,” explains Tyropolis. The customer can also do this himself without any problems: "Our solution is compatible with all 360 ° cameras." After that, all you need is an Internet browser. The tours are hosted free of charge. Anyone who would like to benefit from additional tools pays CHF 24.90 per property and month. The start-up was founded during the corona pandemic. The makers cannot therefore conclusively answer whether this gave the tool a boost. "Corona definitely sensitizes and has increased acceptance even among more conservative market participants," says Tyropolis. In the future, the innovative solution should also be able to be used for other applications in the life cycle of a property, such as handover protocols. “The simultaneous implementation of a tradesman's offer tool is being planned. Another milestone would be the connection between visualization and photo. We are working on integrating floors, colors or furnishings into the 360 ° tour, ”says Tyropolis, revealing the plans for the future.
There is no need to build model apartments The start-up «Hegias», founded in 2017 and based in Zurich and Lugano, also wants to make life easier for building planners, architects, marketers and authorities. With deceptively real tours of properties that are often still in the planning phase. Quite often the first word that the three founders Patrik Marty, Tuan Nguyen and Andreas Schmeil hear from their customers is: “Wow!”. The three young entrepreneurs rely on virtual reality (VR) for their solution. “We noticed that agency VR applications are static, expensive and difficult to share with other stakeholders. We want to democratize VR and make it possible to use it for smaller projects such as single-family houses, ”explains Marty, who is CEO. This gave rise to the idea of developing software with which anyone without experience or programming knowledge can bring content into the VR, change it in real time and commit and discuss it together with all the people involved.
Hegias VR works simply and intuitively: “Our solution is the first in the world to be completely browser- and cloud-based; all you have to do is drag a 3D plan into your internet browser and a few minutes later you can walk through it – with or without VR glasses, ”explains the young entrepreneur. With the help of so-called libraries, the plans can then be materialized and furnished. The innovation is intended to prevent misunderstandings and planning errors and make the construction of model apartments superfluous. Additional services such as the laser scan of a property and the subsequent creation of a 3D model are available for existing buildings.
The acceptance in the real estate industry is very high: "We even dare to say that anyone who has experienced Hegias VR live will never build again without first going through the project in the VR," Marty is convinced. Today VR is still a competitive advantage, but in a few years it will become the standard. The solution was developed for the masses and for collaboration. “The application is completely automated. Our innovation is therefore significantly cheaper than the VR offers of the agencies, ”says the CEO. A virtual tour of a project costs less than 200 francs, depending on the subscription and its utilization.
The solution is already available in four languages (German, English, French and Italian). “In the next two years, the focus will be on Switzerland as well as on countries that are increasingly using Building Information Modeling (BIM). In other words: Scandinavia, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the USA ”, Marty reveals. The pandemic accelerated the digitization surge in the industry: "We are feeling that more and more solutions are being sought for decentralized meetings and inspections of real estate projects." Marty sums up other advantages of the tool: “Competitions can be carried out purely digitally. Objections can also be shortened and, at the end of the day, construction can be carried out faster, more efficiently, more sustainably and more cheaply. "
The potential of the application is far from being exhausted. Marty opens: "In five years, it will be possible to order materials and furniture on our platform with a click of the mouse – of course after you have looked at them in virtual reality in peace and quiet in your own four walls." In ten years at the latest, the VR will be an integral part of our lives – the resourceful entrepreneur is convinced of that.
Real estate and furniture providers are directly networked for the first time “Deceptively real” are attributes that apply to the furnishing solution for real estate agents from the German start-up MockUp Studio. Monica Riad, founder and CEO, has developed a tool with which apartments can be virtually furnished with real furniture, floors can be changed, wall colors can be tried out and decoration can be exchanged as desired. All of this in true-to-life quality that cannot be distinguished from real photos: "Our solution is particularly interesting for new construction projects or apartments in need of renovation," explains the managing director. The tool enables floor plans and apartment pictures to be uploaded. The apartment is then automatically digitized and can be set up virtually. "2D images or 360 ° tours can be easily created from the digitized apartment," says Riad, who founded MockUp Studio in 2017.
Users can try out different furnishing styles and, thanks to the collaboration with furniture dealers, order their favorite items directly in the application – an absolute novelty, as Riyadh says: “We are the first to connect real estate and furniture providers directly – and the whole thing is 70 percent automated. » All that is needed to use the tool is photos of the apartment – smartphone quality is sufficient. The solution costs from 100 euros per room. If several objects are digitized at the same time, this amount is reduced to 25 euros. The next development step is imminent: "At the end of 2021 we will also be offering the tool to end customers," announced Riyadh.
Digitization has already become an integral part of the real estate industry. With their ideas and solutions, the start-ups presented should hit the nerve of the times – and perhaps even stir up the industry internationally in the coming years.
To person Mario Facchinetti, founder of PropTechMarket, has the overview in the innovation Jungle. As an expert, he knows what is important when evaluating and implementing quality-checked PropTech solutions: www.proptechmarket.ch
Mario's tip Visualization solutions make real estate mobile. The offer is large and difficult to understand. This question grid helps with decision making.
Is it a new or an existing building?
Which quality level is the property assigned: high-end or standard construction?
Who is the target group: tenants or buyers? What about digital affinity?
Solutions in the field of virtual reality are suitable for new buildings in order to make visions tangible. This technology has developed strongly over the last few years and is becoming suitable for the masses. For existing properties, 3D visualizations are increasingly becoming the standard – implementation is uncomplicated and can be adapted to the quality requirements of customers. Simply integrating tours of this kind on the property side is a long way from getting the maximum added value out of the models. In addition to digital appointments and visits via an integrated live stream, this solution can also be used to show the virtual furnishing of untidy or empty objects in 2D or 3D.
Of course, given the multitude of options, the customer must not be disregarded. The type of object visualization and its integration into the viewing process must be adapted to the target group using the appropriate medium (online portals, print advertisements, social media, website, posters, etc.).
The portal Die Deutsche Wirtschaft wants to award the innovation location in Switzerland, Germany and Austria for the year. Six locations were nominated for this. These are not cities, but rather universities, business development agencies or regions, for example. The goal is to find “exemplary examples of new thinking in various fields”, according to the portal's website.
The Greater Zurich Area is also among the nominees. It competes against KölnBusiness, Munich Urban Colab, Reutlingen INNOPORT, MCCI Innsbruck The Entrepreneurial University and d.velelop Campus Münsterland.
Anyone interested can vote for a location on the website of Die Deutsche Wirtschaft. The result of the vote will be communicated at the end of July. People who vote can win prizes.
Whether renting or selling – the demand for visualization solutions in the real estate and construction industry is increasing noticeably. Depending on whether it is an existing property or a new construction project, different solutions are used. With the former, 360 ° tours are often used – increasingly interactive, with the latter often virtual reality solutions – adapted to the property and the target group.
Not every buyer or tenant can imagine an empty room furnished. This is where virtual home staging solutions help to make the sparks jump. With this tool, inexpensive condominiums or rental properties can also be designed in a visually appealing way and thus conveyed more quickly. Further solutions enable the virtual inspection of rooms that are yet to be built. Using stand-alone virtual reality glasses, planning errors can be seen virtually and thus avoided later. In addition, planned trades can be inspected together – for example with the client or architect. The "immersion" and actual experience of the premises gives security and a good feeling.
In addition, there are also complete virtual solutions on the market that digitally map different phases of the real estate cycle: from the outlined project vision and prototyping to visualization concepts for marketing and management.
You can find an overview of quality-checked visualization solutions here: https://proptechmarket.net/tools
The construction company Strabag Switzerland has been awarded the contract for the renovation of a road section in difficult terrain in the municipality of Küsnacht as well as the renewal of the gas, water and electrical lines of the local electricity supplier Werke am Zürichsee AG . According to the media release , the project will be digitally controlled from planning through construction to subsequent maintenance. For this purpose, so-called Building Information Modeling (BIM) is used. Strabag AG has been awarded the contract as general contractor. The start of construction is scheduled for the end of August and completion around October 2022, according to the announcement.
The renovation project of the municipality of Küsnacht on the upper part of the Schiedhaldensteig is considered difficult. There, on the one hand, the renovation work has to be done in a very narrow and steep traffic area and, on the other hand, the sewerage pipes have to be replaced.
BIM manager Stijepan Ljubicic from Strabag is quoted as saying that, on the one hand, “the construction site will be handled completely digitally” with regard to the use of BIM in the planning and implementation of the two construction projects. In addition to planning and execution, all work would be digitally documented and ultimately handed over to the client in a so-called as-built model. This data offers many advantages with regard to quality management, operation and maintenance as well as a planning basis for follow-up projects.
The technical division manager for traffic route construction east at Strabag, Michael Graber, is quoted as saying that one of the main criteria for the award was the company's digital performance. The contract confirms Strabag's own competence and specialist knowledge in the field of BIM.
The press release also gives facts about the construction. The excavation will make up 1,500 cubic meters, 240 meters of raw material will be laid. The road is being built over a distance of 750 meters, using 500 tons of rolled asphalt.
The canton of Solothurn supports the SoTech Network project, the network and training platform for MINT professions. The project was developed by the location promotion agency, the Solothurn Chamber of Commerce and sovision espace Solothurn and will enter the test phase at the beginning of 2022. (see standortsolothurn.so.ch )
Houzy continues to grow rapidly. As the PropTech start-up of the same name reports, the number of users of the platform has risen from 5,000 to 50,000 since the beginning of 2020. According to a press release, this growth is due to the strong need of homeowners for more transparency and well-founded information about their house or apartment.
Therefore, Houzy integrated a Switzerland-wide mortgage comparison in the first half of 2021. Other functions such as the plant manager, the neophyte checker and the solar calculator have been updated and expanded. At the same time, the development team has simplified and improved all tools, including the renewal fund analysis and the heating and renovation calculator.
From the available data and results, Houzy derives recommendations for planning any renovation work that is due or reminds them that it is time to change the windows. In addition, the Houzy network now has more than 700 craftsmen. To celebrate the milestone, the company is offering CHF 5,000 for a residential project as part of a competition.
The corona pandemic has also posed challenges for the proptech industry, as a new report from Credit Suisse shows. Globally, for example, 25 percent less risk capital has flowed into such start-ups. However, the reluctance to invest has not left any major mark on the industry. Almost 80 percent of Proptechs were able to increase their number of employees in the past twelve months. Only 3 percent reported a decrease in the workforce. In addition, 87 percent expect a further increase in staff in the next twelve months.
Furthermore, only around 10 percent of proptechs suffered a setback in sales. In contrast, 80 percent were able to increase their sales during the Corona crisis. According to the report, the industry is aiming to double sales in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, too, higher sales growth is expected than in 2020.
Credit Suisse also looks at the Swiss proptech industry in the study. Accordingly, the number of proptechs active in Switzerland also increased last year. With over 320 companies, Switzerland has an extremely high density of proptechs in an international comparison, it is said.
However, the bank also points out that many proptechs with similar business models appear in the market. She assumes that not all companies will be able to position themselves successfully. Credit Suisse sees the quality of the management team and the scalability of the business model as the most important success factors of a Poptech.
According to the Gartner Hype Cycle, every new technology is initially subject to high or exaggerated expectations. After a “cycle of disappointment” follows a “phase of enlightenment”, from which solutions then arise at a realistically increasing level of productivity. Data science, robots and drones, virtual and augmented reality or artificial intelligence are just a few of these basic technologies. The blockchain is one of the last technological hype triggers. We will see promising developments and use cases in these areas over the next few years.
The challenge for a PropTech company is to develop a successful business model or product or service with the corresponding problem-solving potential and scalability from one of these basic technologies. In this context one often hears terms like SaaS or DSaaS. “Software as a Service” (SaaS) is a cloud service model in which applications and data are located in the cloud and thus on the PropTech provider's servers. With “Data Science as a Service” (DSaaS), the data supplied to the cloud is processed by the provider, analyzed using an algorithm and fed back to the customer as findings.
But this is only one side of the coin. The established companies in the real estate industry must also recognize the added value of these products and services and be prepared to pay for them. The driver for real estate entrepreneurs will certainly be the cost and efficiency side, but also or above all the needs of their customers. Anyone who aligns their business model to a megatrend – such as sustainability, big data or future work – is fundamentally not wrong here.
You can find out more about successful business models here: https://proptechmarket.net/loesungen
Thanks to a student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ( EPFL ), the regularly necessary classification of land use is now much less time-consuming than before. According to a press release from the university, she has developed and trained her own machine learning algorithm that can not only distinguish forests from other types of land. Instead, Valérie Zermatten's algorithm also recognizes rivers, lakes, camping and sports fields, cemeteries, water treatment stations, public parks, airports and dams. This makes it clearly superior to the algorithm developed by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) called Areal Statistics Deep Learning, or ADELE for short.
The results produced by their program as part of a master’s thesis are similar to the official data published by the FSO. According to the announcement, this suggests that it could be used for land use classification in the future. The big advantage lies in the processing time for aerial photos, because their classification into around 40 different categories is still largely done by hand.
All of Switzerland is photographed from the air every three years. Because manual categorization takes so long, the results are only published every six years. With this mapping, land consumption can be better tracked, soil permeability can be monitored and urban sprawl can be combated.
“Our goal is not to replace humans with artificial intelligence,” says Devis Tuia, one of Zermatt's doctoral supervisors at EPFL. “Although Valérie's algorithm will reduce the amount of tedious work that has to be done manually.” But even then there is still enough for people to do – for example, to recognize whether it is a house or a school, a football field or a football field Wiese act.
A lot of capital is currently flowing into startups. In 2020, over CHF 2 billion flowed into Swiss start-ups. Across Europe, more than 500 million euros per year have recently been invested in startups dedicated to digitizing the real estate industry (source: Swiss Venture Capital Report 2021, European PropTech Trends 2020). In addition to professional venture capital companies, it is increasingly corporate investors and business angels who want to cut a piece of the (PropTech) pie here. This is due, on the one hand, to the situation on the financial markets – keyword negative interest rates – but on the other hand it is certainly also due to the digital transformation and the efforts of companies to secure appropriate product know-how in the company.
But how does a startup actually define itself? Not every young entrepreneur is automatically a startup entrepreneur. According to the definition of the Swiss Startup Radar, a scalable business model and ambitious growth plans must be in place and the focus must also be on international sales markets. The business model is based on a science and technology-based approach and a focus on innovation. Last but not least: the donors are return-oriented, their investments should pay off.
Funding generally takes place in different financing rounds. Depending on the development stage, one speaks of seed investments, Series A and Series B financing rounds for the early phases, Series C, D, E, etc. for the later stages – until a possible exit follows at some point, for example through an IPO or the sale to a large investor. An exit is, so to speak, an indicator of the “maturity” of a startup ecosystem and is important for the system’s own dynamism: it produces selling (previous) investors and founders who, in turn, reinvest in new startups or re-establish startups.
City Pop combines the need for microliving apartments with social living. This is how City Pop differs significantly from other microliving providers. «Our app should meet the needs of our guests and meet the requirements for sustainable living. All services relevant to everyday life can be accessed centrally in one place and are easy to use. We also want to provide tenants with an uncomplicated platform on which they can network and exchange ideas. The aim is to create a real community that helps new tenants to integrate into the respective city, ”explains Manuel Sassella, CEO of City Pop.
Innovation and flexibility The app is the heart of City Pop and the key to the City Pop apartments and the associated services. For example, the apartment can be viewed autonomously before booking. A time slot can be reserved via the app during which individual access to the apartment is possible. Booking and management of the rental agreement for the apartment, ancillary rooms and services are also carried out directly via the app. City Pop confirms the conclusion of the contract in just under 30 minutes and unlocks the virtual house key. «Last year we focused on creating a new and leaner user interface – using solid, secure and scalable technologies. A brand new, engaging and interactive experience that adapts to the needs of our guests, not the other way around. The focus is on innovation and maximum flexibility, ”says Alex Sassella, City Pop's Chief Technology Officer and responsible for the development of the app. The experiences and needs of the guests are continuously integrated into the further development of the entire City Pop concept via the app's feedback functions and thus also flow into the future design of the houses and apartments.
Community idea in the foreground In addition to the additional services such as laundry and cleaning service, delivery service or car and bike sharing, the app also offers "house chat" – the opportunity to easily get in touch with neighbors, to meet up and exchange ideas. The “Around you” column shows what offers and activities are available in the area. City Pop's social living concept includes not only virtual, but also physical spaces that are intended to promote exchange, such as common rooms for events and coworking spaces.
City Pop is expanding nationally and internationally City Pop is the first provider in Switzerland to have developed a holistic microliving concept in which living space, innovative technology and social community ideas go hand in hand. The implementation takes place at national and international level. In Switzerland, the Swiss company offers apartments in Zurich and Lugano. The occupancy rate in the apartments is over 98% on average. Further projects in Lausanne, Zurich, Geneva and Basel are under construction and will be ready for occupancy over the next two years. In addition, City Pop took over around 1,300 apartments in Switzerland and Europe last year, which are currently being converted in accordance with the City Pop concept. Including cities like Milan, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Dublin, Berlin, Frankfurt and Prague. City Pop aims to operate 15,000 apartments in 57 major European cities by 2025.
Further information on City Pop's innovative living concept is available at: www.citypop.com Download the app from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store
In the next ten years, 81 percent of construction companies want to introduce robotics and automation or intensify their use. This is the result of a survey by the technology group ABB among 1,900 companies in Europe, China and the USA. According to a press release, only 55 percent of the companies surveyed are currently using robots – compared to 84 percent in the automotive industry and 79 percent in the manufacturing sector.
The reasons for the intention to automate are to be found in the increasing shortage of skilled workers worldwide. An equally strong argument is the improvement of health protection and safety on the construction site. Environmental protection is also one of the main drivers for changes in the industry.
"The new awareness of health, safety and sustainability is massively accelerating investment in robotics," said Sami Atiya, head of ABB's Robotics & Factory Automation division . "At the same time, the decreasing supply of skilled workers means that the construction industry increasingly needs robots to keep up with the challenges of urbanization and climate change." Internal analyzes by ABB Robotics on the market potential of robot-assisted automation in the next ten years assume high double-digit growth rates the end. This applies above all to the key areas of construction, including precast construction and 3D printing.
ABB works with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich , among others, to develop new automation solutions. At the Institute for Technology in Architecture located there , ABB contributed to setting up the world's first laboratory for collaborative, robot-assisted digital manufacturing in architecture. The latest technology for large-scale 3D printing in the construction industry can currently be seen at the Architecture Biennale in Venice. It is part of an installation by the Austrian architecture firm MAEID.
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