What started out as a consulting assignment ended with the installation of a new intelligent building platform, incubated by a leading engineering design firm, into two high-rise office buildings in Chicago.
The IoT-enabled platform, which unites a building’s various workflows, is from Cohesion, a company launched in August 2018 after being spun out from Environmental Systems Design (ESD), which has been at the forefront of designing intelligent buildings. The two buildings in which Cohesion’s app is now live are owned by The John Buck Company, a Chicago-based real estate services developer.
John Buck had initially hired ESD to upgrade the technology in different buildings within the developer’s portfolio. After John Buck asked about possible vendors, ESD decided that it would develop the app itself, according to Laura Hagan, Cohesion’s director of marketing.
She explains that the two buildings—the 35-story, 807,000-sf 151 North Franklin, which opened in 2018; and the 48-story 1.12-milliion-sf 155 Wacker Drive, which opened in 2009—are rigged with I-nodes, little black boxes that, she says, act like routers that connect different systems. The I-nodes transmit data to Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, which in turn supports the app.
One of Cohesion’s software partners is Iotium, whose product integrates with and connects systems already in the building.
Building occupants can use Cohesion's app to gain more direct access to a building's amenities. Image: Cohesion
Cohesion’s software provides building occupants with comprehensive and direct access to their building’s amenities, information, and documents. It also provides a single interface for occupants to take actions, such as reserving parking spots and bike storage, or viewing the availability of equipment in the building’s fitness center.
Select tenant companies have chosen to launch mobile credentials and/or building visitor management functionalities. So, for example, if a tenant invites a guest to a meeting in the wired building, Cohesion would streamline the process by setting up the appointment, alerting security and relevant parties about the guest, and would send an email to the company upon the visitor’s arrival.
All 13 tenant companies at 151 North Franklin and the 40 tenant companies at 155 Wacker are using the app. When a new tenant comes into the buildings, they are onboarded onto the app.
“The real estate industry is experiencing significant technological disruption, and our solution benefits all stakeholders across the operational lifecycle—from owners to tenants,” says Thru Shivakumar, Cohesion’s CEO. “By connecting all the systems and human interactions in a building, we can provide the most powerful insights to deliver efficient and sustainable building operations,”
Cohesion charges the building’s management a setup fee and a monthly service fee. “It’s up to them whether they want to pass along those costs to the tenants,” says Hagan.
The new company is currently in fundraising mode, and is expected to close its latest financing round in June, at which point it plans to hire 35 employees over the following 12 months. (Cohesion currently operates with a 24-person team located in Chicago and Banaglore, India.) Hagan says that, including John Buck, Cohesion has commitments from three developers across eight buildings.
It also has an innovation pipeline to develop new uses for its app, possibly including building performance analytics.
Related Stories
| Apr 2, 2012
EB-5 investment funds new Miramar, Fla. business complex
Riviera Point Holdings breaks ground on $17 million office center.
| Mar 27, 2012
Skanska hires aviation construction expert Bob Postma
Postma will manage Skanska’s nationwide in-house team of airport construction experts who lead the industry in building and renovating airport facilities and their essential features.
| Mar 21, 2012
10 common data center surprises
Technologies and best practices provide path for better preparation.
| Mar 20, 2012
Stanford’s Knight Management Center Awarded LEED Platinum
The 360,000-sf facility underscores what is taught in many of the school’s electives such as Environmental Entrepreneurship and Environmental Science for Managers and Policy Makers, as well as in core classes covering sustainability across the functions of business.
| Mar 20, 2012
New office designs at San Diego’s Sunroad Corporate Center
Traditional office space being transformed into a modern work environment, complete with private offices, high-tech conference rooms, a break room, and an art gallery, as well as standard facilities and amenities.
| Mar 13, 2012
China's high-speed building boom
A 30-story hotel in Changsha went up in two weeks. Some question the safety in that, but the builder defends its methods.
| Mar 12, 2012
Improving the performance of existing commercial buildings: the chemistry of sustainable construction
Retrofitting our existing commercial buildings is one of the key steps to overcoming the economic and environmental challenges we face.
| Mar 7, 2012
Firestone iPad app offers touch technology
Free app provides a preview of Firestone’s Roots to Rooftop Building Envelope Solution with an overview of all the products from ground and stormwater management solutions, to complete wall panel and commercial roofing system applications.
| Mar 6, 2012
Gensler and Skender complete new corporate headquarters for JMC Steel in Chicago
Construction was completed by Skender in just 12 weeks.
| Mar 2, 2012
By the Numbers
66 skyscrapers to built in China over six years; 1,000 questions in the Modern Architecture game; 21,000 new jobs.
