Category: Features
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Better Indoor Environments with Real-Time IoT Data
Homes and other properties contain an increasing number of IoT sensors and smart devices that provide data relating to their environment. Cozify wanted to demonstrate how that data could be used to create comfortable indoor conditions for people, and save money while doing so. Kimmo Ruotoistenmäki Cozify is a Finnish startup that develops hardware and…
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The Law Clinic Paves Way to the Digitalization of Built Environment Processes
The Law Clinic offers legal advice on digitalization to built environment innovators and experimenters and in the process helps lawmakers find the pain points in legislation. In April 2018 the Finnish Ministry of the Environment launched an experimental legal service for real estate and construction professionals, municipalities, and lawmakers. The cost-free service is like a…
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IoT: Take Guessing Out of the Concrete Drying Process
Flooring, tiling, or painting on a concrete surface that is insufficiently dry can end up being a disaster. An experimental project recently used IoT sensors and AI to determine when it is safe to start finishing concrete surfaces. Haste and Imperfect Conditions Lead to Failure To successfully first cure and then dry concrete requires specific…
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A Portable Robot That Will Shake the Window Cleaning Industry
A Finnish startup wants to automate the way we clean and care for our building facades. Its compact robot is taking the world by the storm. “Back in 2016, I was painting a cow stable and cleaning its sheet metal roof. It was pretty tough work, balancing on a ladder. I almost had an accident…
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Hot PropTech in the Cool Nordics
RecoTech, the official side event of Slush, brought together PropTech enthusiasts from all over the world. Each presenter shed their own light on why we should keep our entrepreneurial eyes on PropTech. Here are my notes on a few of the awesome presentations and talks at the event on December 4, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland.…
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Making the World’s Longest Undersea Railway Tunnel Possible with BIM
Finland and Estonia are Baltic sea neighbors separated by the Gulf of Finland. Over eight million travelers and 1.2 million cars travel between Helsinki and Tallinn every year by boat. However, a consortium of companies is now planning to build the Finest railway tunnel between the two countries. The vision of such a tunnel has…
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SkenarioLabs Uses AI for Property Benchmarking
AI continues to be a hot topic across industries. The PropTech startup SkenarioLabs has a data analytics solution that utilizes AI. The results have been successful from the perspective of property owners: reliable technical surveys that contribute to making smart investment decisions. While automatic valuation is not a recent invention for property owners and investors,…
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Toward Increased Citizen Engagement in Urban Planning
Digitalization creates new opportunities for citizen engagement in urban planning. I gave a short presentation on the topic at the Digitalization in Urban Planning event in Helsinki. The event was organized by CHAOS Architects, a tech company. Its AI cloud platform allows citizens to share ideas about their city and co-create it with their community.…
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eRent: Construction Efficiency Using Principles of the Sharing Economy
eRent has developed a digital equipment management portal for construction equipment. At the very heart of the concept lies the resource efficiency that can be achieved using principles of the sharing economy. Olli Aaltonen, CEO of eRent Solutions, is confident about the platform his company has created: “Besides offering a digital solution to a rather…
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eRent: Construction Efficiency Using Principles of the Sharing Economy
eRent has developed a digital equipment management portal for construction equipment. At the very heart of the concept lies the resource efficiency that can be achieved using principles of the sharing economy. Olli Aaltonen, CEO of eRent Solutions, is confident about the platform his company has created: “Besides offering a digital solution to a rather…