Saving time and costs with Guard Cloud

Hans Gaarder Eiendom is one of the largest real estate companies in Larvik. The company owns and operates approximately 50,000 square metres of commercial real estate distributed across 22 buildings. Recently the company took action to make their property management smarter.

”Previously it was difficult to maintain control over all the technical systems in the buildings. We did not receive alerts about errors, and had to log onto VPN solutions and remember many different login details to view the status of technical installations. It was time-consuming and cumbersome. The information was fragmented and difficult to work with,” begins Property Manager Jan Erik Holhjem of HG Eiendom.

Full overview at all times

Holhjem contacted a number of companies for help. The goal was to get a system that consolidated the most important operational data and automatically alerted them if something was amiss.

”We have succeeded in doing that together with Guard. Now I always have full control over all the buildings and receive automatic alerts if something is amiss. The solution helps us operate cost-effectively and make well-informed decisions,” says Holhjem.

He showcases a dashboard where, for example, ventilation systems, camera surveillance, energy monitoring systems, electricity meters and other important technical information are gathered. So far HG Eiendom and Guard have connected as many as 350 data points from 50 different technical installations to the cloud.

Tommy Brurberg Hansen of Guard Automation believes this is a good example of how small steps can make the operation of commercial property simpler and smarter.

”This is a simple solution that retrieves, standardises, structures and presents important operational data. The platform is very flexible. For example, new technical installations can easily be added, and we can expand the system with automation. The most important thing is that HG Eiendom now has full control at all times,” says Hansen, who believes more property managers could benefit from having a platform that provides security and full control over all operational data.

”Often operations staff have to deal with many different systems that present data in different ways. This makes it confusing, difficult to measure the effect of various measures, and makes daily life more troublesome than it ought to be,” Hansen adds.

Can manage the buildings from the other side of the world

Holhjem and the operations technicians at HG Eiendom also have an overview and the ability to control the buildings using a user-friendly app on their phones. Previously the company often had to physically visit the technical rooms in the buildings.

”As long as I have internet, I can control the buildings using my phone from the other side of the world,” smiles Holhjem.

Saving time and costs

The property manager sees several clear benefits from the solution from Guard:

”We save an enormous amount of time and can resolve issues faster than we could previously. This leads to more satisfied tenants. With better control it is also easier to make the right decisions, and we reduce costs,” says Holhjem, providing an example:

”Some time ago there was an error in a ventilation system. The heat recovery unit had stopped working, which caused the electric boiler to go into overdrive. Just over a week passed before we discovered the error, and the electricity bill was already several tens of thousands of kroner higher than normal. If we had the Guard system, we would have received an alert immediately and could have saved large sums. Now that we have a better overview, I am certain that maintenance costs will also be reduced,” says Holhjem.

An easier workday

He recommends Guard to others who own or operate commercial real estate.

”The solution from Guard has made my workday much easier. An important point is that we have not installed new equipment to collect the information. The operational data is retrieved through our own network and transported to the cloud. This has made implementation seamless and cost-effective. With this solution we are ready to meet new needs. Also, they are friendly people who understand the challenges and truly care that the system works,” Holhjem concludes.