Founder Note

Every Wednesday, we send out "the single best resource on technology for buildings", Nexus' Founder Note. Each issue includes a note from Nexus Labs Founder, James Dice, along with a podcast, featured speaker, an event list, and more. Sign up today.

Latest Articles

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
68
min read

🎧 #149: Change My Mind: The Independent Data Layer

James Dice

Join us for lively debates with Nexus Pro Members live in the audience. Engage in thought-provoking discussions on controversial topics within the world of smart buildings. Prepare to have your perspectives challenged and expanded! And of course we had to start with today’s ultimate debate: The Independent Data Layer!

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
14
min read

🎧 #148: Foundations: Intro to Horizontal Architectures

James Dice

Immerse yourself in expert-led monologues focused on a single topic. We’ll share their wisdom and knowledge, giving you the tools to build a solid foundation in key areas of interest. This season, yours truly tackles The Horizontal Architecture.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
25
min read

🎧 #147: Deep Dive: Audio/Visual Systems and The Role They Play

James Dice

Dive into fascinating interviews with experts who explore the boundaries of "smart buildings." From cutting-edge to established technologies, we'll uncover the latest trends and innovations in the field. This season, we dive into the overlaps between Audio Visual Systems and smart buildings.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
25
min read

🎧 #146: In The Field: Facility Manager Mary Gloven

James Dice

Get ready for insightful boots-on-the-ground interviews with changemaking facility managers, technicians, and more. We're hitting the ground running with Mary Gloven, a phenomenal facility manager at The Alliance Center in Denver.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
37
min read

🎧 #145: Early Stage: Waste Tracking with WATS

James Dice

Discover the future of innovation as we chat with seed stage changemaking startup founders. This season, we're thrilled to feature WATS (Waste Administration and Tracking Software). Their vision will have you rethinking the way we handle waste in real estate.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
7
min read

May Pro Member Gathering Recap: Interview with Jamestown's Becca Timms

Natalie Patton

This month’s Member Gathering featured a wide-ranging conversation with Becca Timms, Director of ESG at Jamestown. For this recap, we’re formatting it as a written interview to cover the topics discussed in chunks.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
44
min read

🎧 #144: Case Study: How the University of Iowa integrated FDD into maintenance operations

James Dice

Learn valuable lessons from buyers who have successfully deployed mature tech solutions at scale over multiple years. We dive deep into their experiences to uncover the insights and challenges faced throughout their transformative journeys. In this first episode, we hear from The University of Iowa on their 9-year effort to transform their maintenance operations around FDD software.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
25
min read

🎧 #143: Updates + AMA

James Dice

You asked for it, and we're delivering! Our Nexus Pro members will have the chance to ask Rosy and me anything. We'll be answering your burning questions, sharing our experiences, and providing hot takes.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Case Study
10
min read

Case Study: The University of Iowa’s FDD Program Spanning 7 Million Square Feet

James Dice

The story of a 9-year effort at the University of Iowa to integrate fault detection and diagnostics, or FDD, into their maintenance operations.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
5
min read

Applying and advancing Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Natalie Patton

Nexus Pro SME workshop hosted by Krigh Bachmann to the Nexus Pro community focusing on how to leverage BIM to improve smart buildings.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
4
min read

April 2023 Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
4
min read

June 2023 Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
4
min read

Dream's Net Zero Target and the Technology Involved

James Dice

April's members-only SME Workshop was a master class in showing how a roadmap to Net Zero includes operational technologies.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
6
min read

Quadreal's Quest for "The Operations of the Future"

James Dice

April’s members-only gathering was an honest and insightful take on Quadreal’s efforts rolling out “The Operations of the Future” across 55 buildings.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
15
min read

Let's catch you up

James Dice

It’s been a week of celebration, as we hosted a successful happy hour event in Denver, Colorado, bringing together our team and community members for an evening of fun and networking.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
4
min read

March 2023 Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
6
min read

Introducing: The Decarb Roadmap

James Dice

As an energy engineer for the first 10 years of my career, I always felt like I was doing important work. I loved studying mechanical rooms and putting together retrofit projects that helped my clients save money by saving energy. 

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
6
min read

The Founding Story

James Dice

Since the beginning, it’s felt like I’ve been pulled into creating Nexus. It felt like a calling. I’m simply answering the call—while each day trying to hone my listening skills (so I can interpret the call correctly) and remove my ego (so I can minimize getting in the way).

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
6
min read

Introducing “Who-Is, I-Am": our speaker database for conference organizers

James Dice

Today’s newsletter is a collaboration between Nexus Labs and our newest creator, Drew DePriest, Senior Director of Digital Facilities Management at CBRE. Drew and I are among the select few invited to speak at most smart buildings conferences.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
66
min read

🎧 #142: Living buildings and where technology fits

James Dice

"The building industry can be the first to show the world what it looks like for an industry from within itself to transform itself in line with a sustainable future."​

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
8
min read

Insights → Operations

James Dice

Today, we’re kicking off a new monthly Nexus Labs column called Insights → Operations. We’ll explore best practices with leading building owners and our fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) category partners. 

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
67
min read

🎧 #141: CRE Market Talk #2 with Mandi Wedin and Joe Gaspardone

James Dice

"So many organizations are selling ESG solutions, but very few have their own ESG statements, goals, or positions. If you don't want it, why would I?"

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
4
min read

Launching our Partner Program!

James Dice

Today’s newsletter is part 5 in our series about the humans we wrap around the tech stack to form the smart buildings ecosystem.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
min read

February 2023 Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
64
min read

🎧 #140: The value of occupancy data and reducing risks with leak detection

James Dice

"You can't just sell the data. It's got enormous value, but it needs to be manifested and taught in such a way that people can react to it." Episode 140 is a conversation with Bayron Lopez Pineda, Director of OT Operational Technology at Kilroy Realty and Mike Moran, Chief Markets Officer and Chief Risk & Sustainability Officer at MicroShare. We talked about Killroy Realty's Smart Buildings Program and got into the weeds on how they're thinking about occupancy data and leak detection, which are two topics we've discussed on the podcast, but not in detail.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
4
min read

Announcing the “seller” ecosystem

James Dice

Today’s newsletter is part 4 in our series about the humans we wrap around the tech stack to form the smart buildings ecosystem.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
69
min read

🎧 #139: Q1 2023 M&A Roundup with J³

James Dice

Episode 139 is a conversation with Joe Aamidor of Aamidor Consulting and Jeanne Casey of Nuveen. If you add me in, you get J³. This is the fourth installment of our M&A Roundup series, recorded in February 2023 all about what's happening in the marketplace right now. We unpacked the most interesting recent mergers and acquisitions in the smart buildings industry and dove into why, our reaction to them, and other trends they’re related to.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
90
min read

🎧 #138: The one where James gets interviewed

James Dice

Episode 138 is a special episode with Nexus Labs' new COO, Rosy Khalife. We introduce you to Rosy who, for the first time on the podcast, turns the tables on me and interviews me. We talk about my background before starting Nexus Labs, the founding story of the company, and the future. If you're looking for some background on Nexus Labs, this is definitely a good place to start.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

The Voice of the Customer

James Dice

Today’s newsletter is part 3 in our series about the humans we wrap around the tech stack to form the smart buildings ecosystem: Voices of the buy personas. We have this saying in our industry: “every building is a snowflake.” Do you say it? It’s true… but we shouldn’t let that be an excuse for inaction or resisting change.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
50
min read

🎧 #137: Jigar Shah wants to fund your Virtual Power Plant

James Dice

"We pay $10 billion per year for balancing the grid using natural gas, peaker plants, etc. when we could be paying that to households for those services instead."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

The humans of smart buildings: our "buyer" personas

James Dice

Today’s newsletter is part 2 in a series about the humans we wrap around the tech stack to form the smart buildings ecosystem. Here’s a summary of the series: Part 1: The two sides of the ecosystem: buyers and sellers—where do you fit? (last week) Part 2: The humans of smart buildings: our "buyer" personas (today)

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
min read

🎧 #136: Innovation and case studies of grid-interactive efficient buildings

James Dice

Episode 136 is a conversation with Cindy Zhu, Director of Grid Services at Prescriptive Data. We primarily cover grid-interactive efficient buildings, or GEB, my second least favorite acronym in our industry (behind SPOG of course).

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
min read

January 2023 Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

The ecosystem: where do you fit?

James Dice

Buildings (and the industry supporting them) are transformed by humans and organizations of humans. Today’s newsletter kicks off a series about the humans we wrap around the tech stack to form the smart buildings ecosystem. Here’s where we’re headed:

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
59
min read

🎧 #135: Transforming the market, with regulation and without

James Dice

Episode 135 is a conversation with Cliff Majersik, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Market Transformation, a nonprofit that’s focused on regulatory and nonregulatory ways to push the economy toward decarbonization.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
10
min read

Why we invested in WattCarbon

James Dice

Last fall, we launched the Nexus Labs Syndicate and started off with an investment in Xeal. Today, I’m excited to announce our second investment in WattCarbon!WattCarbon, led by Nexus Pro member McGee Young, allows energy consumers to offset their energy use on a time and locational basis from renewable energy projects, demand response dispatch, and electrification projects sourced from their own communities, turning local buildings into decarbonization assets.Our investment was part of WattCarbon’s $4.5 million seed round led by True Ventures, with participation from Village Global, Jetstream, Not Boring Capital, Keiki Capital, Greensoil PropTech Ventures, and others.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
49
min read

🎧 #134: The building operator's role in decarbonization and digitization

James Dice

Episode 134 is a conversation with Comly Wilson, CMO at Enertiv. I enjoyed this one because I believe in a lot of what Comly was saying about workflows being the key to decarbonizing buildings. And not just decarbonization, really implementing any new technology or changing the way things are done in any way requires you to start with the way people work currently and meet them where they’re at.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

New white paper: The 5 Vital Roles

James Dice

Our latest white paper summarizes the five vital roles that every smart building program needs on the team. We talk a lot about the flashy new technology required for smart buildings. But we must always remember that when we're changing how things are done, it's people that make it happen.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
81
min read

🎧 #133: How the building automation supply chain works (and when it doesn't)

James Dice

Episode 133 is a conversation and history lesson with Leroy Walden, a veteran of the building automation system integrator ecosystem in Atlanta, Georgia. We unpacked how the building automation supply chain functions, including the roles of the manufacturers, distributors, and integrators responsible for controlling HVAC systems in major metropolitan areas. And of course, we talked about the downsides and opportunities of that status quo when it comes to implementing smart building technologies. And as we’ve talked about in the past HVAC controls are one silo in the building that operates similarly to the other silos, so the insights in this conversation are applicable to access control, lighting, electrical products, etc.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Founder Note
Article
min read

Where we're headed in 2023

James Dice

First, we must acknowledge what I believe is the giant elephant in the room: ME.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
74
min read

🎧 #132: Refrigerants: the Cinderella of the Decarbonization Movement

James Dice

Episode 132 is a conversation with Tristam Coffin, Co-Founder of Effecterra. We started, as usual with Tristam’s background which includes heavy experience in the grocery vertical. But our main focus here is on sustainable refrigerants. We’ve spent a long time covering how the buildings industry needs to decarbonize by electrifying heating systems using heat pumps, but we and the industry as a whole have overlooked the elephant in the room: the GWP of refrigerants themselves and how they contribute to climate change and every organization’s progress toward net zero. Or, as Tristam said, refrigerants are like Cinderella: they haven’t been invited to the decarbonization ball.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

Kickstart your learning this year

James Dice

I'm back after taking a few weeks off for R&R and some exploration off of my normal beaten path. I can't think about smart buildings 24/7/365, can I? Before we talk about smart buildings, I have some carveouts to share from my explorations:

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

Nexus Labs' Year in Review

James Dice

2022 Review: As we celebrate the holidays and start to wind down the year, I'm reflecting on the progress we've made in accelerating the transition to digital and decarbonized buildings.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

The commissioning agent

James Dice

We need a coordinated and systematic approach to testing and verifying that all of a building's systems are working together properly. That’s where the commissioning (Cx) agent comes in.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
min read

🎧 #131: Google's BOS Program & Creating Software-Defined Buildings

James Dice

Episode 131 is a conversation with Kathy Farrington, Digital Buildings Lead at Google. This is the 4th episode in our Google series, which unpacks different facets of their global smart buildings program and dates back to 2020. This one with Kathy is probably where we should have started because as she shares, she was involved from the beginning when it was just a side project she focused on with her 20% time.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
min read

The Network Manager

James Dice

The Network Layer is a vital part of a smart building's infrastructure. It is: ...a dedicated layer with its own hardware, software, standard operating procedures, and key stakeholders who take responsibility for doing it right. It should be converged, monitored, maintained, and have redundancy.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
11
min read

It's Time to Rethink Physical Access Control

Lee Odess

The access control industry is in the midst of a transformation. This transformation is the difference between a $10B industry, which focuses just on security, and a $100B+ total addressable market.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
61
min read

🎧 #130: Allianz's smart buildings program and the importance of the BOS

James Dice

"For us, it's simpler to work with applications that go on top of the BOS because we can control the information being accessed. Without the BOS, transparency is limited, which limits the number of use cases.By adding this data layer, we're dramatically increasing transparency and the possibilities of what else can easily be added on top."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
10
min read

Your November Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Hey friends, Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you ti

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
13
min read

The MSI

James Dice

As we celebrate the holidays and start to wind down the year, I'm reflecting on the progress in our industry in 2022. One definite area of progress is defining the specialist roles needed to make smart buildings successful. In this series, we're summarizing five vital roles that every smart building program needs on the team.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
72
min read

🎧 #129: Decarbonizing New York City through Local Law 97

James Dice

“The tools that have always been successful at instigating change are benchmarking and performance standards. Let's use those tools and evolve them to better fit the needs of today's definition of a high-performance building, which includes the carbon aspect, grid interactivity, and occupant responsiveness."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
12
min read

The Design Consultant

James Dice

One definite area of progress is defining the specialist roles needed to make smart buildings successful. In this series, we're summarizing five vital roles that every smart building program needs on the team. We talk a lot about the flashy new technology required for smart buildings. But we must always remember that when we're changing how things are done, it's people that make it happen. Here are the five roles we're going to cover:

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
59
min read

🎧 #128: James McGinniss on DER technology and the future of electricity consumption (Replay)

James Dice

“The grid is starting to look a lot like the internet. These IOT devices are distributed, digital, user owned and operated nodes. They can buy from the grid, they can sell from the grid, they can respond dynamically.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
12
min read

The Smart Building Champion

James Dice

We talk a lot about the flashy new technology required for smart buildings. But we must always remember that when we're changing how things are done, it's people that make it happen. Here are the five roles we're going to cover: The Smart Building Champion The Design Consultant The Master Systems IntegratorThe Network ManagerThe Commissioning Agent

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
68
min read

🎧 #127: CRE Market Talk #1 with Mandi Wedin and Joe Gaspardone

James Dice

“Don't spend your time with the laggards who don't yet see the need for (smart building technology). When they see it they'll find you. Go find owners with a need and then meet that need."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
15
min read

Energy efficiency thinking is outdated

James Dice

The word “decarbonization” was everywhere. The green building community is undergoing two shifts: (1) from valuing energy efficiency to valuing the amount of carbon emitted and (2) from valuing “green” materials to valuing the amount of carbon emitted to get them in the building. The decarbonization push is underway beyond that conference… It's industry wide. Let’s focus on the first shift today: What does it mean to shift from energy to carbon?

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
77
min read

🎧 #126: Decarbonization from the trenches

James Dice

“There is another use case for smart building systems and for BAS, and it is critical input data for designing low-carbon systems for your building that if you don't have that data, you are not going to design your systems properly. They will probably be oversized and a lot more expensive than they need to be compared to as if you had good data to design on."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
11
min read

Why we invested in Xeal

James Dice

It's been a month since we launched the Nexus Labs Syndicate and I'm excited to announce our first investment!Xeal provides hardware and software to real estate owners looking to provide EV charging as an amenity for their tenants. We're honored to join Keyframe Capital, ArcTern Ventures, Moderne Ventures, and others in Xeal's $40M Series B round.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
80
min read

🎧 #125: Sara Neff on the roadmap to absolute zero carbon

James Dice

“A building can only run as efficiently as its engineer knows how to run it. Unless you have an engineer-first mindset, none of your energy efficiency efforts is ever really going to reap the rewards."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
12
min read

Your October Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Hey friends, Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you ti

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
10
min read

New funding for decarbonization

James Dice

A big shift is happening in financing for decarbonization projects in the United States. In my private conversations with real estate sustainability and ESG leaders, I've learned this is one of the top things on their minds.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
76
min read

🎧 #124: Tearle Whitson Tells the Inside Story of Microsoft's Smart Buildings Program

James Dice

“We can have all the technology in the world but dropping it into a building doesn't magically transform it. It ultimately is a tool. Your people can be empowered by this tool but it will never do everything for you. You have to set objectives, lean in and embrace the technology. You have to train your people and build the organization in a structure that supports it."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
9
min read

Why you're underestimating M&A

James Dice

So I decided to seek out some expert guidance from outside the core Nexus audience—what might people be missing by dismissing M&A as a transformational force? Enter: Proptech Bankers. They believe consolidation is inevitable; it will play a key role in fixing the current technology fragmentation in the smart building market; and any landlord or proptech company not currently in consolidation conversations is missing an important opportunity to control their destiny.Their answer as to why M&A will be key in fixing fragmentation is at the link below, along with feedback on what's happening around M&A in the current market and what startups should expect in the near and distant future.Why M&A will be key in fixing fragmentation

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
8
min read

Thought Leader: Why M&A will fix fragmentation in Smart Buildings

James Dice

TL;DR: We spoke to Proptech Bankers about the current state of proptech M&A. They believe consolidation is inevitable; it will play a key role in fixi

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
84
min read

🎧 #123: October 2022 M&A Roundup with J³

James Dice

“There's definitely still venture capital money out there looking for great companies, especially in the smart building space. As long as you have a clear thesis and value proposition and your tech addresses a need of a building owner/operator, you're going to pass this deeper diligence with flying colors."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
6
min read

The Lens: Measurabl + Wegowise

James Dice

Hey gamechangers! Welcome to The Lens, a monthly-ish recurring series where I unpack the strategy and context behind the news in as few words as poss

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
9
min read

How can analytics go mainstream?

James Dice

“It’s not first to market that wins, it’s the first to cross the chasm.”—Geoffrey Moore

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
61
min read

🎧 #122: Matt Ellis on The New Business Case for Decarbonization and Why Platforms are Vital

James Dice

"Real estate owners buy and sell assets and drive yield. So we needed to reframe little "e", the discussion on electrons, and expand into big "E", environmental social governance. Doing so helped the real estate owner understand not commodities, but yield and risk in return."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
54
min read

🎧 #121: Stacy Smedley on the Road to Zero Carbon Construction and Where Technology Fits

James Dice

“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."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
9
min read

The most important data for smarter buildings

James Dice

What's the most important type of data for creating smarter buildings?I'd argue that for every type of building except data centers, it's occupancy data.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
14
min read

Your August & September Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss.These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.Enjoy.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
79
min read

🎧 #120: Fixing Offsets and Decarbonizing Buildings with McGee Young

James Dice

Disclosure: Nexus Labs Syndicate is an investor in WattCarbon. “They're doing the same thing they did last year, but now it's called decarbonization. But the reality is, is that they are decarbonizing buildings. The work that we've been doing for 20 years is the right work to be doing we just don't have a metric to measure ourselves against and a way to value that work."

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
13
min read

Introducing: the Nexus Labs Syndicate

James Dice

Today we're launching a new project here at Nexus Labs. Some of you will say, "What took you so long???". Others will say, "WTF?". This newsletter answers both of those questions, plus it invites you to participate in the fun. Commercial buildings owners are now required to digitize, decarbonize, protect the health of occupants, and provide those occupants with a great user experience—all while realizing the business results of each of the stakeholders involved. And all of this change is only happening faster and faster. 🤯They need to level up.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
75
min read

🎧 #119: How service robots fit into the smart building ecosystem

James Dice

“We see an expansion of robots doing 80% of a job in the service sector, allowing humans to do what's complex." —Greg Scott Welcome to Ne

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
62
min read

🎧 #118: Simplifying decarbonization with Aaron Block

James Dice

“There's a lot of complexity that goes into building a technology that simplifies things for people." —Aaron Block Welcome to Nexus, a ne

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
11
min read

The 8 GEB enablers

James Dice

This edition of the Nexus Newsletter is brought to you by enVerid Systems and Montgomery Technologies. Hey friends, "Grid-interactive efficient buil

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
78
min read

🎧 #117: 4 Steps to Sustainable Indoor Air Quality

James Dice

“We can accomplish both sustainability and IAQ, but we need to think holistically. And we need to think in terms of layered strategies and framewor

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
10
min read

The IDL's role in simplifying 'smart'

James Dice

As Passive Logic's CEO Troy Harvey said recently, buildings are the most complex things humans make. Complexity is one of the reasons why the intelligence of buildings lags behind more simple objects.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
59
min read

🎧 #116: Integrating "Smart" Into the Construction Process with Charlie Buscarino

James Dice

“In the beginning of their journey to a smart building, many of our clients are wondering what they need to buy to check the box. We've flippe

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
8
min read

API-first companies

James Dice

Longtime listeners to the Nexus podcast know my favorite question: Why is the technology in buildings so far behind? I love asking it because I keep getting different, but insightful answers, which help us understand the obstacles we need to collectively overcome to make smarter buildings. However, after asking it dozens of times, there’s still one answer I believe in but haven’t yet heard: Our industry is behind because we don’t yet have enough API-first companies.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
70
min read

🎧 #115: The role of the smart building consultant with Bruce Duyshart

James Dice

“My 80/20 rule is that it's 20% of technology—and there are a lot of technologies in a smart building. And it's 80% about people and human engineer

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
9
min read

The 3 types of MSIs

James Dice

Each month, the Nexus Pro community comes together for our member gathering. Think: dozens of smart buildings nerds networking on Zoom! 🤓At our June 2022 member gathering, Andrew Knueppel of Cushman Wakefield presented his thoughts on procuring vital master systems integrator (MSI) services for a client. This presentation resonated with lots of our members (including me!), and today I want to share Andrew's insights more broadly. As a reminder, there are no certifications or standards or minimum qualifications to be an MSI. You simply submit a bid on MSI work and if you win, you call yourself the MSI. For buildings owners, this can be confusing!

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
51
min read

🎧 #114: Decarbonized Buildings Require Better Energy Modeling Tools

James Dice

“I don't know as much as a tax consultant by a long shot, but for most cases with TurboTax, 90% of the cases, I was good. The 10% of the cases, I'm

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
13
min read

The Lens: Sparkfund acquires EPX Group

James Dice

Welcome to The Lens, a monthly-ish recurring series where I unpack the strategy and context behind the news. (Normally, these deep dives are exclusive to members of Nexus Pro. Enjoy!)For Volume 10, let's talk about Sparkfund's acquisition of EPX Group. This acquisition has not been previously publicly announced, meaning this is BREAKING NEWS brought to you by Nexus Labs! How exciting…Volume 10 post brings together our recent coverage of M&A activity in decarbonization software and continues our series on the growth and importance of platform business models in the digitization and decarbonization of the buildings industry.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
58
min read

🎧 #113: The Data Required for The Third Phase of ESG

James Dice

> “Why isn't everybody that's using energy accurately collecting data on the source of their energy and also the use of their energy? And then saying,

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
9
min read

Supervisory control from the 1980s

James Dice

A wide gap has grown between (1) what technology is capable of and (2) what the average building automation system (BAS) is capable of. Simultaneously, building owners are demanding better performance out of building systems—a level of performance that’s extremely rare, perhaps impossible, with the old technology. Consider a few use cases from recent conversations and projects:

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
50
min read

🎧 #112: Demystifying 'Zero Trust'

James Dice

> “Complacency is no longer a viable option. If you're looking around and you're seeing your third parties getting carte blanche access to your networ

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
13
min read

Your July Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you time and allow you to catch up on the whole month. Then you can dive deeper wherever you’d like.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
5
min read

New white paper: Nexus Lore

James Dice

We've been building up our Lore (a body of traditions and knowledge) on the subject of smart building technology for the last 2+ years. I know this because our (particularly) nerdy terms and acronyms—IDL, ASC, etc—are gaining steam and showing up in specifications, investor pitch decks, and conference agendas around the world.Part of my job as the founder of this amazing community is to help define and curate our Lore. So today, I'm sharing our white paper on the core concepts that come up again and again in this newsletter, on the Nexus podcast, in the Nexus Foundations course, and in Nexus Pro gatherings, and in the community chatroom.

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
61
min read

🎧 #111: Tenant apps: the why, what, and how with Prasan Kale

James Dice

> “I was building buildings. I was running a large portfolio. And the number one brick wall I kept running into was technology silos. There were 8 to

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
10
min read

What's a Building OS?

James Dice

Hey friends, Last week, I asked my LinkedIn followers a difficult question: "What is a Building Operating System?" [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
53
min read

🎧 #110: The evolution of the access control system with Lee Odess

James Dice

> “In 1973, the value proposition was to keep bad people out. If no one has been shot in your building, it's working. That still remains, but the indu

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
60
min read

🎧 #109: Demystifying wireless technology for CRE

James Dice

> “One perspective is I don't see wires anymore. Still, in the backend, there are lots of wires and there are lots of different wireless connectivity

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
7
min read

"This framework is incredible"

James Dice

“This framework is incredible for understanding the difference between technologies.” —Nexus Foundations student Hey friends, In Module 4 of the

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
87
min read

🎧 #108: Mid-2022 M&A Roundup with J³

James Dice

> “The environment that we've been in for many years and that we are currently in and heading into is very relevant for what's going on in the space,

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
8
min read

Part 10: The Messy Middle

James Dice

Today, we're wrapping up our series on Nexus Lore: the core concepts that come up again and again in this newsletter, on the Nexus podcast, in the Nexus Foundations course, in Nexus Pro gatherings, and in the community chatroom.If you want to start at the beginning, check out our white paper with all 10 parts: Nexus Lore. Lore is never written by one person, so send us your feedback for v2!

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
49
min read

🎧 #107: Balancing Embodied and Operational Carbon Emissions

James Dice

> “As we draw down the operational carbon side of things, our embodied carbon piece of the pie is going to be closer to 50% of overall carbon emission

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Founder Note
8
min read

Part 9: The Apps We Need

James Dice

Today, we're continuing our series on Nexus Lore: the core concepts that come up again and again in this newsletter, on the Nexus podcast, in the Nexus Foundations course, in Nexus Pro gatherings, and in the community chatroom.If you want to start at the beginning, check out our white paper with all 10 parts: Nexus Lore. Lore is never written by one person, so send us your feedback for v2!

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Article
Nexus Pro
10
min read

Your June Member Digest [Nexus Pro]

James Dice

Hey friends, Welcome to the Nexus Pro member digest… a collection of recent highlights you shouldn’t miss. These digests are designed to save you ti

🎧
📣
⭐️ Pro Article
⭐️ Pro Article
Podcast
68
min read

🎧 #106: A day in the life of a digitized, decarbonized building

James Dice

> "I like the buildings industry because it's a physical manifestation of our values. A building that is truly net zero, set up to have composting, el

Get the renowned Nexus Newsletter

Access the Nexus Community

Head over to Nexus Connect and see what’s new in the community. Don’t forget to check out the latest member-only events.

Go to Nexus Connect

Upgrade to Nexus Pro

Join Nexus Pro and get full access including invite-only member gatherings, access to the community chatroom Nexus Connect, networking opportunities, and deep dive essays.

Sign Up