Proptech Firm Embue Gets Bigger Adoption by 2Life

As the frog once sang, it’s not easy being green. In commercial real estate, there are two ways of taking that: reducing carbon footprint to improve ESG standing and also reducing costs at a time of inflation to retain more folding green in the profit column.

That, presumably, is why affordable senior housing company 2Life Communities is extending its use of building management and control software from Embue. The cloud-based platform for multifamily building portfolios provides, according to a spec sheet, “real time building information and control” for multifamily owners and managers. An interesting approach is a list of properties in a portfolio, each with a brief summary and indication whether there is something requiring attention.

2Life has already been using Embue’s systems in two of its Boston-area properties, Brown Family House and Coleman House. Now the company “will standardize on Embue for future development, renovation and retrofit projects across its growing senior and senior affordable housing portfolio to make the buildings more energy and operationally efficient, to reduce carbon emissions and to improve resident comfort.”

Last week the Biden administration indicated that it wanted to “to modernize building codes, improve climate resilience, and reduce energy costs.” 

“Modern building codes and standards provide a range of smart design and construction methods that save lives, reduce property damage, and lower utility bills—for example, by ensuring that roofs can withstand hurricane winds, that construction materials are resistant to flood damage, and that insulation keeps heating and cooling costs low,” the White House argues.

Embue claims that its products can make buildings “more cost efficient to own and operate, reducing energy costs by up to 25% or more, and making staff 30% more efficient on key tasks.” It’s unclear whether these upward bounds are typical or unusually high and, if so, what realistic numbers for building owners and operators might be.

Embue says that it “gives owners and managers visibility and control of every apartment, common space and piece of equipment in the building.” But that would likely require either compatible hardware or installation of its own, which includes various sensors, monitors, thermostats, leak detection and shutoff valve controllers, and other Internet of Things enabled devices that could transmit information over the Internet and receive commands.

Skepticism in place, though, it is also true that the real estate industry is rarely on the cutting edge of profitable technology use. This concept of remote monitoring and control of devices has been in place in manufacturing facilities for decades.