Felicite Moorman remembers receiving a call from a multifamily property manager whose building was struggling with its thermostat system. “For one thing, the system wasn’t designed for multifamily; for another thing, the system had very little property management control capability,” she recalls.
The year was 2013, and Moorman was CEO of BuLogics, which specializes in providing wireless solutions for the Internet of Things. Her company had just launched StratIS, a wireless access, energy, and automation control, whose app gives property owners and managers the ability to create setbacks on thermostats and heating systems.
In short order, StratIS has made an imprint on the market. In 2014, it established a partnership with Jonathan Rose Companies, a green real estate policy, development, project management and investment firm, through which StratIS installed its pilot systems. Last year, StratIS struck a partnership with the door hardware manufacturer Schlage, which had introduced its Schlage Control Smart Locks that are designed for multifamily property owners, and whose ENGAGE technology enables lock control from the cloud via mobile applications that are compatible with StratIS’s access platform.
By late November 2015, StratIS had at least one of its products in 72,000 multifamily and hotel units in between 250 and 300 buildings. Moorman tells BD+C that between 14,000 and 20,000 of those units are student housing built by American Campus Communities. StratIS’s products also found their way into student housing developed and managed by Campus Apartments.
StratIS markets its software through distributors, integrators, and installers. “We give them something extra to sell,” says Moorman. She adds that StratIS’s products are relatively easy to install in new builds or renovations, with minimal resident disruption. “We precommission everything, which cuts down on the [complexity] of installation. I also test everything on my seven-year-old, and if she can’t use it, we try to figure out what happened.”
Property managers have the option of allowing renters to download StratIS’s thermostat-control app as part of their lease agreement.
Moorman says the next horizon for StratIS could be key cards, although she concedes there is far greater potential liability using this kind of technology for access into multifamily homes than in hotels. Longer term, Moorman sees opportunities for StratIS developing access- and HVAC-control products for the single-family housing market, which she acknowledges will be more competitive.
Related Stories
| May 29, 2012
Reconstruction Awards Entry Information
Download a PDF of the Entry Information at the bottom of this page.
| May 24, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Entry Form
Download a PDF of the Entry Form at the bottom of this page.
| May 2, 2012
Building Team completes two additions at UCLA
New student housing buildings are part of UCLA’s Northwest Campus Student Housing In-Fill Project.
| May 2, 2012
Public housing can incorporate sustainable design
Sustainable design achievable without having to add significant cost; owner and residents reap benefits
| Apr 27, 2012
GreenExpo365.com to offer webinars on EPA’s WaterSense Program
Architects and builders interested in developing water-efficient buildings invited to attend free sessions featuring experts discussing water-efficient building practices.
| Apr 19, 2012
KTGY Group’s Arista Uptown Apartments in Broomfield, Colo. completed
First of eight buildings highlights unique amenities.
| Apr 6, 2012
Batson-Cook breaks ground on hotel adjacent to Infantry Museum & Fort Benning
The four-story, 65,000-ft property will feature 102 hotel rooms, including 14 studio suites.
| Mar 27, 2012
Precast concrete used for affordable, sustainable housing in New York
Largest affordable housing development in the nation will provide housing for close to 500,000 people.
| Mar 19, 2012
Mixed-use project redefines Midtown District in Plantation, Fla.
Stiles Construction is building the residential complex, which is one of Broward County’s first multifamily rental communities designed to achieve LEED certification from the USGBC.