Robot buildings: Rudin launches tech startup to monitor properties’ energy use

The Rudin family’s new tech startup aims to equip buildings with the brainpower to reduce energy use and costs.

The new company, Prescriptive Data LLC, provides a building with a “brain,” an operating system that can monitor the weather, electricity use, elevator use and recommend ways to reduce energy use, the Wall Street Journal reported. The operating system, dubbed Nantum, was launched by the owners of Rudin Management Company — but is a separate entity —  and is set to be unveiled this week at a conference in San Jose, California.

The company is considering pegging annual fees of 7.5 to 8 cents a square foot, the Journal reported.

Though the startup has considerable competition in the arena of smart building technology, its founders say that no technology has yet adequately connected a buildings’ various systems to save energy. So far, the Rudins have invested $5 million in Prescriptive Data. Its competitors in the smart building tech space include Senseware Inc., Aquicore Inc. and KGS Building LLC.

“A lot of platforms were collecting data and weren’t showing you how to deal with it,” Zach Aarons, co-founder of MetaProp NYC, a seed investment firm, told the newspaper. “So then software companies popped up to help you analyze what’s coming out of your buildings.”

The system is expected to save landlords roughly 50 cents a square foot in energy-related costs. [WSJ] — Kathryn Brenzel