The role of the property manager was strengthened during TecnoEdificios 2015 with lectures focused on the importance of their work, as well as advice on best practices in different situations.
By Alejandra García Vélez
Panama. With very positive results, the most recent version of the Congress and Commercial Exhibition for property managers and operators, TecnoEdificios, ended on June 5. The exhibitors were a fundamental component for the building managers present, who knew elements of great utility for the performance of their functions. Building Management spoke to some of them about these tools.
The integration of systems was one of the most commented topics by the visitors, who showed interest in implementing this type of solutions to improve the performance of their buildings.
Aditel Sistemas is one of the companies focused on this field. Founded in 1997, Aditel is an integrator service center that provides, among other things, services and equipment of control network products with an emphasis on the use of open protocols such as Lonworks and BacNet.
Gisele Sosa, commercial director of Aditel Sistemas Mexico, said that one of her main objectives during the event was to publicize the benefits of Lonworks technology, to which they had an excellent response from the attendees.
"They ask us a lot about automation projects that already exist in their buildings and that they want to integrate them. It catches our attention because at that point in the project the integration of the systems becomes a very complicated task compared to if from the beginning the design proposes the automation systems with open standards".
For its part, the automated systems integrator, specialist in energy saving and audio-video systems, Integrated Solutions Group (ISG), shared information on solutions under BacNet systems, home automation, intelligent conference rooms and energy monitoring.
Pascuale Caló, sales manager of ISG, pointed out that currently solutions can be offered where the client saves 30 to 35% in energy billing, thanks to the integration of the different equipment at the level of security cameras, air conditioning, lighting control, etc.
"The visitors have been professionals in the sector involved in the needs of their organization and mainly oriented to an efficiency of the equipment they have and a reduction in operating costs," he said.
Another company with a focus on systems integration, in this case starting from the field of security, is Mobotix (Silver Sponsor). This company is recognized for being a software company with the development of its own hardware in the area of high-resolution IP video surveillance solutions.
Francisco Peral, director of business development for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, explained that by concentrating on high-resolution decentralized solutions with a strong focus on the issue of automation, each camera is made fully self-sufficient and can be integrated through other elements to offer additional functions such as opening and closing doors or activating alarms.
"Many of the people with whom we had the opportunity to talk do not know technologies like ours, they talk about cameras that is what everyone more or less knows but when we start talking about automation because they begin to generate ideas to be able to apply this type of solutions in projects in which they are working", Peral said.
In the field of security, the company SSYC (Platinum Sponsor) was also present, a company specialized in the commercialization of security equipment and systems, with a wide catalog in the area of closed circuit TV (CCTV), access control, alarms, among other products, among which its brands HIkvision and ZKTeco stand out.
SSYC spokespersons noted that "as an SSYC company it sees a new business opportunity in a market segment that is not the usual one for us. TecnoEdicios opens the doors to potential customers who need technological solutions".
Although integration was a prominent theme during the two days of the event, it was not the only issue that aroused the interest of visitors, issues of sustainability and energy efficiency also dominated the agenda.
In that field, High-Prestige stood out for its offer of air conditioning products with an environmentally friendly approach. This was announced by Mariana Araujo, commercial manager of High Prestige, who explained that energy saving is really their strength and stressed that although they are a company originally from Mexico, they are currently expanding into new markets.
"People are very concerned at the moment about taking care of their pocket and when air conditioning investments are made, the most important thing is to take care that consumption is as low as possible and that the return on investment is as fast as possible. This can be achieved by choosing the right technology."
Another novelty that attracted attention was the medical equipment exhibited by the company MSSP Consultores. This company implements efficient solutions in management systems for the prevention of accidents in companies and / or horizontal property, occupational risk prevention plans, construction safety, emergency evacuation, contingency, emergency response plans, as well as technical training in first aid, CPR and AED.
In addition to the above, they are distributors of the Zoll Medical brand. In fact, during the event they exhibited automatic external defibrillators in order to position these equipment as a tool that helps in the reaction to first aid emergencies in companies.
José Iván Rodríguez, CEO of the company, explained that "at this fair we are working with defibrillators to get them out of the hospital area and take them to companies, industry, supermarkets, and all kinds of spaces, hoping that it will be a tool to save lives."
"The visitors were initially surprised to see medical equipment, but once we explained the importance of having a defibrillator in their properties they were capturing the idea and it caught their attention," added Rodríguez.
The design, development and management of telecommunications infrastructure also had its space within TecnoEdificios. T.E. Global, a company belonging to the TEISA Paraguay Group, shared information on the design, development and management of telecommunications infrastructure, value-added services in structured cabling, fiber optic blown by microducts, design, development of datacenters, IP telephony and call centers.
Jaime Eguez Gill, director of TE Global, explained that "we have been working a year ago on solutions for multipurpose buildings from the point of view of optimizing technical spaces and using optical cables to carry signals more efficiently."
On the other hand, we find Thallus Innovation, an international multidisciplinary engineering company that provides electrical infrastructure and air conditioning solutions.
Alejandro Hernández, director of sales and marketing at Thallus Innovation, said that its main focus as a company is to integrate systems that ensure the highest quality and efficiency. "We believe that a good design should contemplate all the needs including the possibility of energy saving and cogeneration," he said.
Regarding their participation in TecnoEdificios, Hernández pointed out that during the event they shared some of their most innovative proposals within the solutions in cogeneration through photovoltaic cells in polycrystalline material, which improve the absorption of solar rays maximizing generation on the same surface. To this they added their proposal for backup and energy storage to complete the cogeneration offer, using equipment of very high capacity and efficiency.
In addition, they presented electrical distribution solutions for buildings from the substation to the internal panels, all these products including communication capacity with intelligent monitoring and control systems.
"The visitors were very impressed by our proposals and mainly by the capacity to save energy and cogeneration. Within this, we have already received requirements to work on specific projects in Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica."
Finally, in addition to the technological offer, TecnoEdificios also had the presence of important companies dedicated to the administration and management of properties. One of them was MTS Total Administration, who are a real estate consultancy with a trajectory of 4 years in the Panamanian market and 15 in the Colombian market, 600 employees and international coverage, which provides its clients with the best international practices in real estate services such as Property Management, Facility Management, Consultancy, Project Management.
Training
On the side of the lectures, there were many and varied topics that were addressed, although always with a focus on improving the practices of land management. One of the talks that generated the most impact was that of "The importance of the Facility Manager in the design and construction stage", dictated by Diego Cordovez.
The main focus of this theme was to highlight that the operation of a building must be visualized from the beginning of the project to avoid inconveniences in the future, or additional costs for subsequent adaptations. The invitation was for Facility Managers to join the architects and designers to combine the aesthetic aspect with future functionality to avoid accounting and tax impacts, at the level of security or logistics caused by designs that do not take into account crucial aspects of daily operation.
Another important conference was the "Good management practices for the management of facilities" given by Claudia Robledo of the company MTS. Among the points that Robledo highlighted as good practices for companies or people in charge of property management are points such as insurance, having policies and procedures in place, keeping a good file, continuous strategic planning, having a management plan, budget, management policies and procedures, maintenance routines, demands on contractors, among others.
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