Oct 11, 2022
Summary: In the sixth episode of Season 10 of thePropcast, host Louisa Dickins is joined by Zachary Denning and Jerremy Spillman,co-founders of Hank. JLL’s recently acquired AI-powered virtualengineering platform for buildings.
Zach and Jerremy share how Hankis helping the commercial real estate world reduce emissions andassist clients in their transition to net zero. The guests discussthe geographical differences surrounding the adoption and consensusof technology that they have noticed since Hank successfullyexpanded to Europe.
In this episode you’ll hearabout the ever changing appetite for efficiency within commercialreal estate, how technology can help real estate meet itssustainability goals and what the future holds forHank.
Resources:
Shout Outs:
Key Insights From This Episode:
- You could put a Ferrari engine into a building,but if you don't know how to drive it you're not going to getanything out of it - Jerremy
- If you’re not able to satisfy both theownership and the investor level as well as the property level,you’re never going to have a successful product -Jerremy
- We’re driving a culture of execution, everybodyon the team is on the same mission to drive revenue, if we’re notdriving revenue then we’re stagnant - Zachary
- I figured out that smart buildings aren’t sosmart, machine learning is the future of this industry -Zachary
- Why not be inside the largest, most progressiveproperty management ownership firm in the world? There's no morestrategic partnership than that - Zachary
About Our Guests:
Zachary Denning:
Zachary Denning earned his degree in mechanical engineering andhas always had a strong aptitude for software development. In his+10 years in the smart buildings industry, he was able to identifyand solve core building engineering challenges using appliedmachine-learning and AI – Eventually leading to the development ofa new market, virtual engineering. Zach has grown the Hank virtualengineering team to over 50 members under JLL and together they’repushing the boundaries of machine-learning in building operationsto maximise client value.
Jerremy Spillman:
Over the last 12 yearsJerremy has worked inthe clean tech space ranging from utility DSM program management tobattery powered electric vehicle charging stations. Mostrecently Jerremy co-founded Hank, an A.I. powered HVAC managementtool for commercial office buildings. Hank was recentlyacquired by JLL Technologies as a key tool to meet their aggressivesustainability goals.
About Hank:
Recently acquired byJLL, Hank is a virtual engineering platform powered byartificial intelligence (AI) that autonomously optimises themanagement systems of commercial buildings to deliver increasedcomfort, air quality and energy savings.
Hank’s system applies machinelearning and AI to solve many of the commercial real estate (CRE)industry’s largest operational challenges, including HVACprogramming inconsistencies and energy and equipment performanceinefficiencies. Its cloud-based platform optimises energyefficiency, air quality, maintenance costs and tenant comfort -ultimately delivering increased net operating income (NOI) to realestate investors.
About Our Host
Louisa Dickins
Louisa is the co-founder of LMRE, which has rapidlybecome the market leading global PropTech recruitment platform andsearch consultancy with operations across North America, UnitedKingdom, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
To promote the industry she isso passionate about, Louisa set up the Global podcast‘The Propcast’ where shehosts and invites guests from the built environment space to joinher in conversation about innovation.
About LMRE
LMRE is globally recognised for leading the way inReal Estate Tech & Innovation talent management.
From the outset our vision wasto become a global provider of the very best strategic talent tothe most innovative organisations in PropTech, ConTech, SmartBuildings, ESG, Sustainability and Strategic Consulting.
At LMRE we are fully committedat all times to exceed the expectations of our candidates andclients by providing the very best advice and by unlockingexclusive opportunities across our global network in the UK,Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.
Timestamps:
[2:04] Zach: Can you tell usabout your career journey to founding Hank and also how you knowJerremy?
- I started out as a mechanical engineer in thesmart building industry. I learnt that the owners of buildingsrarely know which control systems are in their buildings despitethese softwares generating savings. I taught myself machinelearning and realised that it has the ability to solve theseproblems in a long term capacity.
- I won a grant and spent time developing asoftware that proved that machine learning could drive substantialsavings in buildings and we can generate huge economics forclients.
- I went out fundraising through several channelsand that’s when I met Jerremy and pulled him in as co-founder andCRO, and this carried us to JLL.
[4:15] Zach: How long did ittake you to develop the software?
- The first year I spent developing a solidfoundation for the software so I had a product that I could testthe market with. I received a grant in year 2 and by testing themarket, proved that it had improved the comfort within buildingsdramatically.
- By the end of year 3, we had viable proof ofthe product and concept and therefore the ability to go out andfundraise.
[6:02] Jerremy: What has it beenlike since your introduction to Zach?
- I started my career in sales so since meetingZach it has been really exciting understanding the new market thatthere is for technology and quickly picking up the nuances in theindustry.
- This completely new way of managing the largestenergy consumer and cost driver in a building has made me reallypassionate about what we’re doing with Hank.
[7:47] Zach: Can you explain alittle bit about what Hank is?
- The Hank product itself is a true machinelearning virtual engineer, we don’t do any physical work inbuildings or have an onsite team.
- Hank enables engineers in buildings to do theirjob more effectively and not have to worry about changingsetpoints, tuning systems in or working with a variety of differentstakeholders to solve their problems.
- We work alongside existing smart buildingsystems that are already in place, we drive a saving on energy ofat least 15% and sometimes as much as 50%.
[11:50] Jerremy: How does Hankhelp investors meet their sustainability goals?
- Hank is a Software-as-a-Service, so there is noreplacing of controllers, we just drive what is already in place toits highest efficiency and that allows them to build theirsustainability plan for the future.
- If you’re not able to satisfy both theownership and the investor level as well as the property level,you’re never going to have a successful product.
- We have utilised the data and found that we canfix comfort without sacrificing energy and we can save energywithout sacrificing comfort.
[16:06] Jerremy: How did youracquisition by JLL Technologies come about and what does it meanfor your business?
- We align well with JLL because our number onepriority for meeting sustainability is carbon reduction which JLLsucceeds in with all of their vendors.
- Adding JLL’s property management team to ourvirtual team adds an additional level of expertise anddifferentiates us from other management services.
- Zachary: For us to be primed to grow, the moststrategic partnership we can use is to be inside the largest andmost progressive property management firm in theworld.
[22:05] Zachary: What corevalues do you have in your business?
- We’re driving a culture of execution, everybodyon the team is on the same mission to drive revenue, if we’re notdriving revenue then we’re stagnant.
- We have a very transparent approach, we have amentality that we’re building this together and all have an equalvoice.
- When we bring people on board they canindividually see the impact they’re making and that drives themtowards our common goal of producing revenue and growing as abusiness.
[24:49] Jerremy: Now you haveexpanded to EMEA, what are the differences you have seen betweenthe US and Europe?
- Europe is far more advanced and focused onemission reduction which has helped us fit in straight away. Theyhave helped us learn what property teams and investors are doing topush sustainability efforts and what the US needs to do toprogress.
- Buildings in Europe already have theinfrastructure in place with other smart technologies that we canintegrate into, to feed our machine learning models and producemore data.
- The market in EMEA is ready for a solution likeHank, whereas in North America we’re having to get the marketready.
[28:02] Zachary: What is nextfor Hank?
- We’re in the midst of a complete redesign of anew user interface, we want to give our customers a new evolutionof what building automation can be without an additionalcost.
- We want to push forward on evolving thisproduct whilst proving everything to our customers comes under onesubscription with no additional fees, we want them to know thatthis is just an inherent part of our service that we will continueto improve.
L – Touch onthe main lessons you have learnt throughout yourcareer.
Jerremy: As long as you have gothard work and dedication you are always going to push thingsforward.
M - Please givea mention to anyone / product / service.
Zachary: Rob Baker, he was an internal JLL employee thatgravitated towards our team, he was a project manager and now he isinvolved in everything, he has been phenomenal to workwith.
R – What hasbeen the most rewarding aspect of working in PropTech?
Zachary: Watching this productcome to fruition and having Jerremy’s team and our operations teamexecute it successfully.
E - What areyou excited about in the future of Proptech?
Jerremy: I’m excited forProptech and sustainability to become the norm in the real estateindustry.
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