On Thursday, Sino Group—one of Hong Kong’s leading developers of residential, retail office and industrial properties— and Ping An Smart City jointly announced the official launch of a new real estate technology (proptech) initiative, PropXTech.
PropXTech is a five-month-long program, set to kick off in February 2021, that will foster promising technology companies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area with the aim of developing innovative technology solutions for the real estate industry. The program is set to kick off in February 2021, with an initial cohort of four to eight preselected proptech companies.
The global smart cities market, of which proptech is part, is expected to double from a market value of $410.8 billion in 2020 to $820.7 billion, a CAGR of 14.8 percent, spurred on by increasing government initiatives, and the development of 5G and NG (narrowband)-IoT technologies. Data released this month from ResearchandMarkets suggests the highest compound annualized growth rate will emerge from the Asia-Pacific market, due to a rising adoption rate of IoT technology.
The organizers of PropXTech are looking for innovators in targeted technology areas. These include geospatial technologies, drones, business process, robotics, smart city, smart home, smart buildings, modeling, data analytics, AR/VR, IoT, big data, machine learning, and sensors for applications in real estate.
The proptech initiative will be led by Ping An Smart City’s Technology Innovation Center team, a technology company under China’s Ping An Group that develops infrastructure construction using cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, blockchain and artificial intelligence to “optimize governance system(s), improve business environment and public service.”
To date, Ping An Smart City has launched more than 230 programs in more than 115 cities across China, and six countries and regions in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Program participants will receive intensive training and workshops, gain access to Sino Group’s innovation ecosystem to develop pilots and proofs-of-concept, and test and fine-tune their solutions in a real-world environment. The program will culminate in a project showcase event, where developers can connect with investors and affiliate partners such as Shanghai-based market venture capital firm Gobi Partners.
BrainBox and AMP in Asia-Pacific deal
This week, BrainBox AI, a Montreal-based company that uses artificial intelligence to develop autonomous controls for HVAC and air conditioning, scored a major deal with Sydney’s AMP Capital, one of the largest investment managers in the Asia Pacific region, with $129.5 billion in managed client assets.
AMP will deploy BrainBox AI technology across its entire managed real estate investment portfolio, which includes over 40 central business district office buildings, retail and logistics buildings in Australia and New Zealand. While BrainBox AI already partners with more than 30 partners globally, and its technology is included in more than 40 million square feet of commercial real estate across five continents, AMP Capital is the first company to integrate autonomous HVAC across an entire property portfolio.
The news comes just weeks after BrainBox AI announced a deal with Hong Kong’s Sunland Cleantech, which will resell BrainBox AI’s technology across the Asian market.
“In an ever-evolving commercial real estate market, companies around the world face mounting pressure to address environmental concerns while maintaining low running costs to ensure they can deliver the highest possible returns to their shareholders and investors,” said Sam Ramadori, President at BrainBox AI. “Our partnership with AMP Capital is a great example of how BrainBox AI can help a real estate owner, anywhere in the world, make their portfolio fully autonomous and achieve levels of efficiency that are only possible with AI.”
BrainBox AI works in collaboration with research partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Quebec’s Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), and educational institutions including Montreal’s École de technologie supérieure (ETS) and McGill University. It says its autonomous HVAC technology generates up to 25 percent reductions in building energy costs in less than three months, a 20-40 percent reduction in carbon footprint, and a reported 60 percent increase in occupant comfort. Its technology can be installed in 2-3 hours, and does not require the installation of sensors.
“We are delighted to adopt this cutting edge technology to reduce our carbon footprint and make our buildings a more comfortable place for our customers to work or visit,” said Daniel Lepore, Head of Asset Technology at AMP Capital. “For too long, air conditioning systems have been too slow to react to changes in the weather, wasting energy and costing both the environment, tenants and investors. Now, we won’t have to wait for customers to pick up the phone, the system will respond before there is even an issue. This exciting initiative is also another step towards reducing our carbon footprint, taking us ever closer to our Net Zero Carbon aspirations and delivering our 2030 Sustainability strategy.”
On Thursday, Sino Group—one of Hong Kong’s leading developers of residential, retail office and industrial properties— and Ping An Smart City jointly announced the official launch of a new property technology (proptech) initiative, PropXTech.
PropXTech is a five-month-long program, set to kick off in February 2021, that will foster promising technology companies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area with the aim of developing innovative technology solutions for the real estate industry. The program is set to kick off in February 2021, with an initial cohort of four to eight preselected proptech companies.
The global smart cities market, of which proptech is part, is expected to double from a market value of $410.8 billion in 2020 to $820.7 billion, a CAGR of 14.8 percent, spurred on by increasing government initiatives, and the development of 5G and NG (narrowband)-IoT technologies. Data released this month from ResearchandMarkets suggests the highest compound annualized growth rate will emerge from the Asia-Pacific market, due to a rising adoption rate of IoT technology.
The organizers of PropXTech are looking for innovators in targeted technology areas. These include geospatial technologies, drones, business process, robotics, smart city, smart home, smart buildings, modeling, data analytics, AR/VR, IoT, big data, machine learning, and sensors for applications in real estate.
The proptech initiative will be led by Ping An Smart City’s Technology Innovation Center team, a technology company under China’s Ping An Group that develops infrastructure construction using cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, blockchain and artificial intelligence to “optimize governance system(s), improve business environment and public service.”
To date, Ping An Smart City has launched more than 230 programs in more than 115 cities across China, and six countries and regions in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Program participants will receive intensive training and workshops, gain access to Sino Group’s innovation ecosystem to develop pilots and proofs-of-concept, and test and fine-tune their solutions in a real-world environment. The program will culminate in a project showcase event, where developers can connect with investors and affiliate partners such as Shanghai-based market venture capital firm Gobi Partners.
BrainBox and AMP in Asia-Pacific deal
This week, BrainBox AI, a Montreal-based company that uses artificial intelligence to develop autonomous controls for HVAC and air conditioning, scored a major deal with Sydney’s AMP Capital, one of the largest investment managers in the Asia Pacific region, with $129.5 billion in managed client assets.
AMP will deploy BrainBox AI technology across its entire managed real estate investment portfolio, which includes over 40 central business district office buildings, retail and logistics buildings in Australia and New Zealand. While BrainBox AI already partners with more than 30 partners globally, and its technology is included in more than 40 million square feet of commercial real estate across five continents, AMP Capital is the first company to integrate autonomous HVAC across an entire property portfolio.
The news comes just weeks after BrainBox AI announced a deal with Hong Kong’s Sunland Cleantech, which will resell BrainBox AI’s technology across the Asian market.
“In an ever-evolving commercial real estate market, companies around the world face mounting pressure to address environmental concerns while maintaining low running costs to ensure they can deliver the highest possible returns to their shareholders and investors,” said Sam Ramadori, President at BrainBox AI. “Our partnership with AMP Capital is a great example of how BrainBox AI can help a real estate owner, anywhere in the world, make their portfolio fully autonomous and achieve levels of efficiency that are only possible with AI.”
BrainBox AI works in collaboration with research partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Quebec’s Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), and educational institutions including Montreal’s École de technologie supérieure (ETS) and McGill University. It says its autonomous HVAC technology generates up to 25 percent reductions in building energy costs in less than three months, a 20-40 percent reduction in carbon footprint, and a reported 60 percent increase in occupant comfort. Its technology can be installed in 2-3 hours, and does not require the installation of sensors.
“We are delighted to adopt this cutting edge technology to reduce our carbon footprint and make our buildings a more comfortable place for our customers to work or visit,” said Daniel Lepore, Head of Asset Technology at AMP Capital. “For too long, air conditioning systems have been too slow to react to changes in the weather, wasting energy and costing both the environment, tenants and investors. Now, we won’t have to wait for customers to pick up the phone, the system will respond before there is even an issue. This exciting initiative is also another step towards reducing our carbon footprint, taking us ever closer to our Net Zero Carbon aspirations and delivering our 2030 Sustainability strategy.”
