Beyond the Hype

Lots of Hype, Little Substance – where AI actually helps

The chatbot is the least interesting part of AI in real estate. Integrations of large language models (LLMs) should provide helpful tools connected to existing applications; they shouldn’t attempt to replace human judgement but rather assist a professional throughout their work.

The true work for AI is behind the scenes: it involves the tasks of keeping rent separate from operating costs during context retrieval, locating the relevant lease clause, and helping the user with various tools. AI and Agentic AI prove its value when they link a business question to the documents, data, and systems required to create a result that an asset manager can review and utilize.

The hype starts when a fluent conversation is mistaken for a finished business process. A chat window alone is not progress. What matters is whether the work produced by the LLM leaves the portfolio team in a better position to act.

Connecting the question to the system in ICRS

LLMs do hallucinate and have no memory; therefore, the relevant context has to always be provided for AI. The ICRS Nuxxor AI’s RAG approach does context retrieval throughout the ICRS application, therefore always resulting in relevant and recent responses from AI. For rent roll questions, Metamagix’s AI RAG application can pull relevant documents and passages along with the references of the documents themselves for review. In addition to that, ICRS AI can also execute SQL queries and retrieve information from the databases by further augmenting its responses. The professional can always review the surrounding contracts or documents and make any relevant amendments to those documents as needed.

Trusting AI with access control or any security matters is not the best approach when integrating LLMs, as AI can easily be deceived. In ICRS Nuxxor AI, access control and security in general are handled by application logic, not delegated to the model. The application determines whether the user is authorized to perform a requested action or provide information.

  • LLM (Large Language Model)
    An artificial intelligence model trained on large amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like language. Examples include Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude.
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
    An AI architecture that combines a Large Language Model with information retrieval. It enhances responses by accessing relevant external data sources or documents before generating an answer.
  • SQL (Structured Query Language)
    A standard language used to create, read, update, and manage data stored in relational databases.
  • MCP (Model Context Protocol)
    An open protocol that enables AI models to securely connect to external tools, data sources, and applications, allowing them to access additional context and perform actions beyond their built-in knowledge.


metamagix’s DATransformer and Reporting custom tool

ICRS Nuxxor AI can interface with many tools; it can email reports, generate visualisations, create and edit Excel and Word files, and access outside data such as Eurostat. In addition to widely available tools, it also has many custom tools to interface with the ICRS application. For example, ICRS already has automated imports, data checks & reports. ICRS Nuxxor AI has its own integration to request any of the reports available in the ICRS and give it back to the user for review.

Another tool ICRS Nuxxor AI has access to is DATransformer, with the help of which it can suggest transformations, correct the suggested rules, and save them. The MCP server can then apply those rules on compatible files, without prompting the AI to infer the mapping again. The value is in both outputs: a usable file and a definition of the transform that explains how to transform the data.

In conclusion

The goal of connecting LLMs to the application should be to allow more natural interactions with the application and to automate routine processes in an agentic way. ICRS Nuxxor AI is able to pull a report, transform a file, or answer a rent roll question not because the model is smart, but because it is connected to the systems where the data actually lives. The integration is intelligent, not the conversation.

That connection to real systems is what separates a useful AI product from a demo. A stand-alone chatbot can summarize a lease. So can an analyst within 10 minutes. The difference is when the same question triggers a database lookup, retrieves the source document, and provides a formatted result the professional can act on without switching between three applications. That is where the time is saved and where AI deserves its place in daily workflow.

For real estate professionals evaluating AI tools, the question should never be “how smart is the chatbot?” It needs to be, “what systems does it actually get to, and does it make my work faster?” The technology is ripe for adding real value in commercial real estate, but it will only be when it is wired into the infrastructure behind the interface. Everything else is just conversation.

Digital Synergy for the Real Estate Industry

The integration of real estate and facility management achieves new heights: A strategic partnership between metamagix and the pit Group has enabled a networked software offering that provides companies with full transparency in their real estate portfolio, supporting smarter planning, investment and operational decisions.

In today’s data-centric real estate industry, the focus lies on consistency and efficiency. The new partnership between metamagix and the pit Group brings two established software solutions – the real estate controlling and reporting system ICRS and the comprehensive facility management software pitFM – closer together. The aim here is a seamless data flow between strategic real estate management and operational facility management.

“Companies no longer want isolated solutions, but end-to-end processes,” emphasizes Randolph Kepplinger, co-founder of metamagix. In practice, only some areas – such as facility management – are often digitized. However, well-founded budgeting and forecasts require data from both worlds. This is precisely where the cooperation comes in.

The interface between ICRS and pitFM enables automatic synchronization of property data. “If I enter a major refurbishment in ICRS, it is also visible in pitFM – including the schedule and investment volume,” explains Martin Gilly, another co-founder of metamagix. Conversely, technical information such as maintenance cycles or room data can be transferred directly from pitFM to financial planning of ICRS. For instance, a user can switch from the contract view in ICRS to the room details in pitFM with one simple click.

For Robert Umshaus, Managing Director of the pit Group, the collaboration is a natural progression: “Our customers – such as property management companies – have repeatedly expressed a desire for commercial extensions. Instead of reinventing the wheel, it was clear that we needed a strong partnership.” Thanks to the integration with metamagix.ICRS, pitFM now also provides information on rental units and rental contracts – valuable data for business decisions.

“In companies, technical facility management and strategic asset management are usually in different departments, which also exchange their data using Excel. Together, we create a better basis for decision-making for specialists in real estate management,” says Umshaus.

The benefits for customers are manifold: planning errors and data inconsistencies – such as different floor space details in separate systems – will be reduced. The common data standard creates a “Single Source of Truth” for operators, owners and investors. “This means that these two solutions are not black boxes, as it is often the case with business software. With the common data interface, we enable the transparent transfer of data within our customers’ IT landscape,” emphasizes Kepplinger.

In the long term, the partners metamagix and pit Gruppe see potential for a modular end-to-end system that starts with either ICRS or pitFM, depending on customer requirements – and can be expanded to include the functions of the other if necessary. Because one thing is certain: the future of the real estate industry lies in networked processes – and in strong partnerships.

pit Gruppe – Your Experts in Digitally Planning, Constructing, and Operating Real Estate

The pit Group is a software and service company focused on digital facility management, with locations in Austria and Germany. Originating from Ing. Günter Grüner GmbH, which merged with the German manufacturer pit-cup GmbH in 2020, the group now serves clients in industry, public administration, healthcare, and FM (Facilities Management) services. At the core is the “pit” product family, a leading solution for CAFM (Computer-Aided Facility Management) and BIM (Building Information Modeling). The group is increasingly operating under the joint name “pit” and plans to rename its Austrian company by the end of 2025 to create a unified, strong market presence.

Stabilization and Recovery Expected

The returns on investment funds in the real estate sector are considered a stable source of income, even though this market has seen a strong outflow of capital over the past two years. The investment form of real estate investment funds can include commercial properties, residential properties, office buildings, shopping centres or hotels, for example. Investors benefit from the gains from rental income and the increase in the value of the property. The investor risk is often reduced through diversification, for example with different local locations or property types.

A quick review at the market figures of the Association of Austrian Investment Companies (VÖIG) for recent years shows relatively stable growth in the domestic property investment fund market amid a persistently low interest rate environment – until 2022. Since then, higher interest rates have put pressure on financing costs for real estate projects and returns on fund. As a result, there have been significant capital outflows from this market over the past two years as investors have shifted to other asset classes. The total volume of real estate investment funds in Austria shrank by almost 1.4 billion euros in the previous year alone. Family offices – which manage assets for wealthy families with real estate solutions, among other things – had purchased assets at relatively high prices due to the boom in yields. After all, demand has been high for many years and, as we know, this determines the price. In den letzten zwei bis drei Jahren wurden andere Anlageformen wieder attraktiver. Under the pressure of capital outflows, many family offices had to sell their real estate properties for much lower prices.

Having the right tools at hand for strategic decision-making in the dynamic of the current economic challenges can make all the difference. For example, metamagix.ICRS provides the necessary precision in real estate asset and portfolio management for family offices. Various reports, current portfolio reports, property overviews and cash flow data are retrieved from a single system.

As explained by experts, the market has now bottomed out. According to VÖIG, investment companies once again generated significant net growth in the market totalling around EUR 3.1 billion last year. These are not record increases as in some previous years, but the upward movement is noticeable.

The real estate market as a whole, including project developments and purchases by private individuals and real estate companies, also grew in the year before. Private investors traditionally prefer smaller tickets and buy with higher equity ratios, according to commercial real estate expert CBRE. Yields on office and logistics properties stood at 5.00 per cent at the end of 2024, while retail properties were slightly above the previous year’s figure of 4.60 per cent at 4.70 per cent. Due to high demand, prime yields for residential properties fell to 4.25 per cent in December. Technological innovations are also improving efficiency, and sustainable real estate investments continue to gain in importance. Investors and fund managers are increasingly focusing on ESG criteria to secure their investments.

A market analysis by Walter Senk in the Bau & Immobilien Report in January also sees signs of a recovery in the market subsequent to a ‘massive hangover after a long party’ in relation to the cyclical interest rate rally of recent years. Although a ‘fundamentally pessimistic attitude towards the economy will continue into 2025’, market players are quoted as saying, many assume that ‘the entire economy will calm down and recover again this year’

Investors with a strong equity base and financing partners such as family offices and real estate private equity will have an advantage over institutional, risk-averse investors. The residential property market in particular is experiencing renewed momentum as a result of the relaxation of the KIM regulation. Low interest rates are also fuelling the enthusiasm for new projects. Walter Senk also recalls the backlog in real estate development due to the construction freeze in many places as a result of the tense situation. Austria’s real estate giant BUWOG is now starting to build new residential projects again after a break. BUWOG’s investment offensive totals around 229 million euros and will see the start of construction on three projects with over 1,000 flats by the summer.

Randolph Kepplinger, Managing Partner at metamagix, also shares the optimism that the property market will grow more strongly again in 2025: ‘We are noticing that our customers and interested parties are once again planning investments and pushing ahead with the digitalisation process. Projects that were postponed last year are now increasingly being tackled. For family offices in particular, there are favourable opportunities for acquisitions and portfolios are being expanded. This also increases the need for digital portfolio management.’

Sources

https://www.voeig.at/voeig/internet_4.nsf/sysPages/investmentfondmarkthistorisch.html
https://www.cbre.at/press-releases/talsohle-durchschritten-oesterreichischer-investmentmarkt
https://www.report.at/bau-immo/24423-optimismus-trotz-harter-realitaet

The Modern Real Estate Solution Attests its Worth: The Focus Lies on Cashflow


When valuing a property for investment purposes, it is important to assess a number of key figures. For small real estate companies, indicators such as net rental yield, cash flow or the ratio of price to income or rent may be sufficient. Larger companies, on the other hand, require a more thorough analysis of their liquidity. Modern solutions have made the risk analysis of potential real estate investment easier than ever.

A scenario analysis takes into account various macroeconomic developments, such as inflation and cost scenarios. It then allows for assumptions about how purchase and rental prices will develop.


A general cost development includes the construction of a building or renovations due to the inflation rates, where companies naturally have no room for manoeuvre. Vacancy periods after the end of rental contracts are also essential for the cash flow calculation. When do my contracts end? How long will the rental units be vacant? What level of new letting is realistic?


In the commercial sector, there are usually regulations on abatement periods, graduated leases and incentives for renting. An appropriate cash flow model maps all these factors and automatically warns of deviations and an impending income gap.

What are good tools for analysing cash flow?


Of course, a cash flow calculation also works on an Excel basis, albeit usually only to a limited extent. The classic spreadsheet calculation is certainly suitable for the rough calculation of an individual investment. For example, the question of how worthwhile it is to renovate a house or which of two projects is economically more lucrative. However, Excel reaches its limits when it comes to liquidity planning across a larger portfolio. Automated industry-level tools are then required.


The cash flow module of ICRS, for instance, calculates the cash flows for subsequent years in the ‘best’, ‘base’ and ‘worst’ case scenarios for each property based on rental contract data and various assumptions. 


With a scoring and rating module, additional macroeconomic data such as the unemployment rate, economic development in a region and population development can be incorporated into the prognoses. The latter is particularly interesting for “Location Scouting” but is also a topic for risk assessment. Data on economic and population development comes from Eurostat, for example. The Austrian web map service HORA also provides data on the risk probability of flooding, hail or earthquake, which can be incorporated.

Real Estate Investments: Actively Mitigate the Risks

Like any investment, real estate projects are also subject to the possibility of losses. Vacancies, unforeseen expenses and market fluctuations can turn a promising investment into a financial burden. So what are some simple points to bear in mind here?

The location and the expected income are key factors for the profitability of a property. An important warning signal for possible risks are, for example, ‘’overrent’ or ‘underrent’. Overrent refers to the portion of the rent that is above the market average rent rates. Overrent is agreed, for instance, to compensate for structural facilities utilised by the tenant that were built by the landlord. However, if there is no obvious reason, possible causes should be investigated. After all, rental income that suddenly promises a 50 percent increase in income cannot be expected in the long-term. They are neither sustainable for ongoing operations nor do they provide valid data for the valuation of the property.

The recent insolvency of the real estate company Signa-Holding and possibly inadequate risk and scenario analyses by investors is not the first case where the value of properties has presumably been inflated by increased rents. There was a similar case of damage to a private bank – with far lower rental income from a villa. In 2012, this project alone resulted in eight million euros damages to the company.

Why Portfolio Monitoring is Cool

So what can protect against unpleasant surprises? The alarm bells of a portfolio management system usually warn property owners, investors or managers. A comparison with standard market rents alone helps. The tools have a cash flow and forecast calculation that calculates the profitability of a property even in different scenarios, for example, a weakening economy or rising interest rates – whether the expected income will continue to cover the interest burden, known as the debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR). It is a classic KPI for the future viability of a business model.

Active Portfolio Monitoring (APM) helps to achieve greater independence: the APM module of ICRS, a property management tool, saves work by automatically monitoring changes and developments across all assets in a portfolio as an assistant. The system notifies users by e-mail in the event of anomalies. This could be a sudden increase in vacancies or a rise in rents above a certain percentage. Asset managers can also define rules for their own requirements and – if they wish – utilise a comprehensive set of predefined rules that can be easily activated.

A scenario analysis takes into account various macroeconomic developments, such as inflation and cost scenarios. This allows assumptions to be made as to how purchase prices and rental prices will develop. In terms of location criteria, for example, purchase prices in suburban or rural locations are currently falling more sharply. Property prices in central locations, on the other hand, are relatively stable. These are important factors for portfolio management, which ideally should be broadly diversified. A distribution of ‘prime’ and less expensive locations, a distribution across different cities and countries, but perhaps also different types of property use depending on a core strategy are often recommended. The bottom line is that investments should not be concentrated in a single type of property in just one region. However, the larger and more diverse portfolios become, the more important it is to use management and analysis tools to avoid clustering – similar to an equity portfolio. 

Document Management Made Simple: Example tools

In some cases, developers of document management systems (DMS) specialise in the real estate sector by mapping typical business processes and data structures in the software. As a rule, however, property management companies use standard solutions that can be found in other business sectors. At the end of the day, what matters is the openness for linking with other systems.

Here is a quick overview of common DMS and solutions that we know well and use ourselves:

NextCloud is a user-friendly and easily customisable collaboration tool. It does not meet every special requirement, but covers the most important document management functions in the cloud service’s office suite environment. NextCloud is compatible with other applications, allowing companies to manage their data securely even with their own business and industry-specific legal requirements. In terms of security, the cloud platform differs from many comparable DMS providers: with login monitoring with machine analyses, automatic blocking in the event of brute force attacks, watermarks and file access controls, end-to-end encryption (with a system-wide recovery key for admins if users forget their password) and a variety of release mechanisms. Accessibility modules for fonts, contrasts and support for keyboard-driven operation and screen reader devices is a finishing touch.

The open-source software Alfresco, on the other hand, provides a wider range of functions for document management and is particularly exciting for development departments that want to set up or customise individual business processes and applications. Alfresco offers a flexible and open platform that can work with various programming languages, frameworks and standards. Alfresco also supports collaboration in teams, integration with other systems such as email or ERP and the use of cloud services. NextCloud and Alfresco are perfectly suitable for creating processes and structures on a greenfield. However, both applications are weak on the reporting and controlling side, which is essential for real estate companies in particular.

SharePoint from Microsoft 365 likewise supports collaboration in project teams and departments with dynamic, customised websites. The strength of the solution clearly lies in its integration into Microsoft’s Office application world, but its versatility means that it lacks the focus offered by dedicated DMS solutions. SharePoint is a platform with a broad set of functionalities for the exchange and sharing of content and documents internally in company networks as well as for web-based communication and provision of content outwards. Specialised process management for archiving or document workflows may require additional applications that dock onto SharePoint. The bottom line is that Microsoft fulfils the basic tasks of a document and content management system and offers low-threshold access to efficient document management, especially for users in the M365 universe.

As a member of the software provider’s business software family, the ELO ECM Suite is not only a versatile solution for content management with document management functions, workflow automation that can be customised to suit individual requirements, revision-proof archiving with clear filing structures and collaboration tools. Its user-friendliness, and scalability characterise it – with use in small companies up to corporate groups – and the possibility of integration with other applications such as SAP, CRM tools and e-mail – in particular Microsoft 365. The highlight of ELO is the automatic classification of documents that allows user to find content in no time. In addition to that, a mobile extension of the suite offers enough functions to process documents on the move, including an approval workflow.

DocuWare, on the other hand, is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized companies – with typical DMS functions such as the automatic capture, indexing and archiving of documents, the versioning and history of changes, the search and recovery of documents, adherence to compliance requirements and integration with other applications from the ERP or CRM world. The solution is available both in the cloud and as an on-premises installation and can be customised relatively freely to meet specific requirements. It is easy to use and supports team collaboration and communication by offering location-independent functions such as comments, notifications and approvals.

The cloud giant Amazon Web Services also offers its own DMS: Amazon WorkDocs offers document creation and collaboration in the cloud. Thanks to centralised storage on the AWS infrastructure, access is possible from anywhere and from any device – with one click from Windows Explorer or via the WorkDocs Drive desktop application. A relatively comprehensive API can be used to develop customised document processes linked to third-party applications. For instance, a dedicated approval workflow supports sharing, forwarding to one or more users and approvals in hierarchical structures – each adapted to the company’s organisation. Authorised users can be added relatively easily, for example using IP approval lists to activate a user base via IP addresses. With the integration into other web services such as Amazon WorkSpaces, workspaces are created and used in the cloud for collaborative work on documents.

Openness That Scores Points

One argument in favor of using a DMS is sometimes the shared use of the solution by partners such as property management companies, estate agents or construction and trade companies. A central folder for a property can then contain all documents for the various user groups. They only have access to the parts that are relevant to them. In the past, documents had to be sent individually, but now only one central filing system is required, including automatic notifications to users. Another advantage is that the data remains securely stored in its own operating environment, and the “host” can now also specify the structure and format of the content.

With its ICRS core solution and the various modules, metamagix covers the needs of modern, digitalised asset and portfolio management for real estate management. The central task of the platform is the evaluation of data, analyses and reporting in order to provide an overview and transparency of buildings and facilities. In addition, ICRS docks into communication with property management companies and efficiently collects the required data material in a single location via technical interfaces. Above all, this replaces the current manual transfer of data from one system to another. By digitising and automating these processes, real estate management specialists can focus on higher-value tasks. The platform can also be used to automatically create so-called “events” – for example, a monthly report that is automatically generated and sent to an email distribution list.

The metamagix team already has a lot of experience with workflow tools such as N8N, which can be used to link processes to project management platforms across cloud environments. ICRS itself has numerous reporting functions, and integration with common business intelligence products and visualisation tools – such as Qlik Sense or Microsoft Power BI – is also guaranteed.

As a general recommendation: as soon as more than one person enters and maintains data, a professional document management solution is worthwhile. The right time for this may also be when the effort required to find content and allocate information to the right places has noticeably increased.

Digitalization of Real Estate Companies: Where does my company stand?

Digitalization can improve efficiency, transparency and profitability in real estate management, just as services for landlords and tenants. How well is a company already set up for this? Some core areas in an office organization give a good indication of this.

1. Communication and Workflow

While email and telephone still dominate in most cases, these channels are often already directly integrated into customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Supplemented by chat or a messaging and collaboration platform such as Microsoft Teams or Slack, traditional email is expected to be replaced gradually – at least internally within the organization. Social media such as WhatsApp or LinkedIn are already part of the communication world in offices today, including automated chatbot-colleagues who can answer simple questions and, if configured accordingly, can access documents and information. Any integration of these different channels brings huge benefits for efficiency in the workplace.

2. Analyses and Application Landscape

The purchase or sale of assets, listings and letting – many core processes in the real estate industry have often been carried out manually up to now. The challenge is to make these processes simpler, more user-friendly and more efficient. The classic data transfer format used by property management companies is Excel. Those who are already one step ahead automatically import information on operating costs, rental income and other budget items into their property management system via data interfaces. If the processes for transferring property data are digitalized and perhaps also automated, there is nothing to stop you from enhancing efficiency in the area of analysis. With reporting directly from Excel or your own analysis software that accesses the data warehouse, regular reports can be created and perhaps even automatically made available to customers or management.

3. A Secure Workspace

Digitalization in the real estate industry also means implementing the state of the art in security issues.

  • Are critical data and documents sent openly by email?
  • Are they encrypted?
  • Is there an alternative and secure data transfer?

The issue of logins and passwords for applications is of crucial importance for the security of user accounts and the integrity of data. The “single sign-on” concept provides standardized login data and secure role and rights management for access to multiple applications. In the background, professional password management is important to ensure the use of strong passwords and to keep a clear overview of onboarding and the deletion of user accounts when an employee leaves the company. In recent years, many companies have established the option for employees to access their workplace remotely (“remote access”). Working from home increases job quality and saves time – access via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) must be just as secure.

4. Data Flow and Documents

Do you still receive your documents by email? Do you use shared folders or solutions like Sharepoint or is there a document management solution in the company? A central system such as a data warehouse or a document management solution (DMS) is a key pillar of efficient processes. The efficient handling of documents in particular, the scanning of paper mail, the automated forwarding of mail or the transfer of the content of digital documents to a central repository, is enormously helpful in day-to-day business. For the best possible collaboration and overview at a document level, shared folders with appropriate rights and roles for different users are ideal. Instead of sending documents to the circle for additions or edits, several users have access to a current version and can track changes that are visible in the document history. Another advantage of this concept is that formatting often automatically converges to a standard if appropriate templates are provided.

Of course, the efficiency gains from a central data platform also depend on the size of the company. Standardized templates and a transparent database are often found only in companies with dedicated controlling roles in the team. In smaller companies, there may be only a single specialist responsible for data management and evaluations. This can result in a plethora of lists and statements that make it difficult to obtain an overview of the current status per se. Who corrected the data and when was the change made? Bundling knowledge with a single person can lead to a company risk. If a colleague leaves the company, their takeover sometimes starts from scratch. With ten or twenty properties, the effort for new tenant lists and the overview of any arrears and outstanding items is certainly possible. However, if the portfolio to be managed is larger, it would be necessary to go beyond Excel and continue to use it in a self-explanatory manner.

The basis of stability in asset management depends on the setup of data communication – from companies that generate information to a central recipient – usually the company that owns the property. This setup is by no means just technical, not only with the data interfaces. Communication processes must also function here: Who needs to be informed when software is updated? When and to whom should a change or personnel in an organisation be communicated? This is important if data is also transferred manually, at least in part, and new colleagues may first have to familiarize themselves with the system. Trivial processes, such as the creation or renaming of cost fields such as “elevator 1”, “elevator 2” – if data fields are changed on the rental or operating costs side, this has an impact on the reports in the administration. And in the best-case scenario, everyone knows about it.

In more and more companies, the role of a data steward is to keep an eye on data flow and quality assurance, administer the central systems and relieve the burden on asset management.

Important Interfaces

Document management in the real estate sector typically also includes rental agreements, floor plans and plans of facilities and individual rental properties, photos and descriptions – it is a bundle of document formats that are usually also sent by email. Even if a folder structure and shared folders can be used to a certain extent, email is not a suitable medium for complete listings, overviews of property features and tracking.

“Which property has the highest operating costs relative to income?” “How long did it take from the time of a complaint until a repair was completed?” Document management solutions are available on the open market that provide answers to such questions. More important than the manufacturer’s name, when choosing a solution, it is more about the possibility of networking with other applications. Does the system support WebDAV? With the cross-operating system standard for sharing, copying and moving documents, even in the cloud, data islands are history – data can also flow to other applications. The same applies to the REST API (it stands for “Application Programmable Interface”), a set of rules for applications in distributed systems and web services. If the REST API supports full-text search, scanning and versioning, it is suitable for the automated transfer of data and also for accessing data that is stored in different systems. Templates and standardization of folder structures are significantly simplified with the API.

With the technical interfaces, the connection to the e-mail program is also child’s play. An example of the integration of a DMS with the email client: “Extract the attachment of an email with the name x and the keyword y in the email and store it in drive folder z.” If you want to be particularly smart, you can assign “tags” to your properties and rental objects. As soon as these codes appear on invoices or real estate exposés, these documents are automatically assigned to the project.

The Tools for Document Management

Occasionally, manufacturers of document management systems specialize in the real estate sector by mapping typical business processes and data structures in the software. However, management companies use standard solutions that can be found in other business sectors. It is the openness for integration with other systems that counts.

Demand for Residential and Office Space with Sustainability Criteria

In Austria, an energy performance certificate (EPC) must be presented when renting, leasing or selling a property – for instance, to a bank when financing a condominium. The obligation to provide information on the energy condition of the building also applies to real estate advertisements. The energy certificate describes the electricity and, above all, heating requirements and can be designed differently depending on the building regulations of the individual federal states.

There is also a further trend toward resource conservation in the office sector, as tenants are increasingly asking for ESG-compliant space. In addition to environmental issues, the ESG “social” part is also a criterion – from offering children’s playgrounds through community spaces to affordable rents (the latter is not a top priority for all landlords, for obvious reasons).

From a landlord’s perspective, sustainability can also mean a purposeful choice of tenant structure. For example, real estate funds sometimes decide to exclude tenants from areas such as prostitution or arms dealing from their portfolios. There are now also discussions about this with regard to companies in the petroleum industry and even car repair shops.

Both perspectives – the tenant’s perspective and the landlord’s perspective – are welcome subjects in annual reports. Commercial tenants who choose green office properties benefit, and operators who implement ESG measures score points. For instance, an owner of a business park can claim an investment in rooftop photovoltaic systems as a green investment. At the same time, the asset in question is turned from a brown building to a green one.

Although the taxonomy ordinance was passed two years ago, measures and effects from it are still in flux. The legal text, which is about 400 pages long, provides the specifications – however, companies are only working their way up to the regulation in practice. Everybody wants to take green investments under their wing, and especially on the owner’s side, the possibilities for improvements in the ratings are discussed in different ways.

But what options do real estate operators have to encourage tenants to manage commercial property in a sustainable manner? Landlords are increasingly relying here on so-called “green leases” – in principle, these are sustainability clauses in the lease agreement. Depending on the type of building, they may require ecological building materials in structural changes, environmentally friendly cleaning agents and water conservation in facility management, or caps on the use of heating and cooling systems.

In many places, the industry is striving to convert customers to green leases when they renew a lease. For new leases, it’s almost standard. It’s a win-win situation: owners demonstrably ensure green income this way. Moreover, leased-in companies save resources for the good of their bottom line and the environment. It also gives facility management companies the opportunity to position themselves positively in the marketplace. Green leases are important to landlords for another reason: part of the clauses is access to tenants’ energy consumption data. This is necessary to be able to calculate the complete CO2 balance of a building.

The bottom line is that real estate funds must now prove to their institutional investors which parts of their assets are actually classified as green. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) also aims to achieve uniform quality and comparability in sustainability reporting. With the CSRD coming into force at the beginning of the year, more than 50,000 companies in the EU are now obliged to report sustainability figures according to the new standards. Small and medium-sized companies will follow.

EU Taxonomy and the Danger of “Stranded Assets”

With a share of 40 percent of total energy consumption, Europe’s building stock has the highest energy consumption across all sectors. The “European Green Deal” has now laid the foundation for climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. Austria initially wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent by 2030 – measured against 2005 levels. In the country, the building sector is also seen as having great potential for savings, especially through thermal renovation measures, by dispensing with fossil fuels in newly constructed buildings and by switching to renewable energy sources in existing buildings.

So what investments and economic activities are green and environmentally sustainable? In June 2020, the European Union adopted the so-called Taxonomy Regulation. It defined a set of rules to guide investments in sustainable projects. After all, the energy transition is primarily a financing transition, as changes in the real estate sector are always driven by investors.

While the private housing market has so far been largely exempt from the legal requirements for achieving climate targets, the focus of political measures lies on institutional investors and larger companies. Public funds, for example, have to meet certain quotas for “environmentally friendly” investments. Pension funds that invest in real estate (as an alternative to the stock market) for stable asset provision have also set targets in this regard. This gives momentum to energy efficiency measures and smart building concepts. But it also entails risks. If a building’s taxonomy rating is poor, there is a risk of investors bailing out. The building may no longer be tradable. Currently, this applies roughly from energy efficiency class F (annual energy consumption of 160 kWh and more per square meter) – if a building stock cannot be economically renovated. The asset is then considered stranded.

Property owners and managers are currently most interested in these questions: How can I make my product as green as possible? What measures should I take to achieve this – such as integrating renewable energy? And how can I prevent the stranding of properties that emit too much CO2? This is what companies active in the real estate market are dealing with. Two factors are working against each other here: the legal requirements for energy efficiency and the economic viability of measures to improve this balance.

Many companies document the rating of their properties themselves – in Excel or via ESG modules (“Environmental, Social, Governance”) of asset and portfolio management tools such as ICRS. And there are other sources of help in the industry: The German initiative ECORE, for example, focuses on ratings for existing buildings. The name stands for “ESG Circle of Real Estate” and was created with a tool of the same name in a collaboration between consultants and companies from the real estate and finance industries. The members, including many major players in Germany, have developed their own scoring standards for the sustainability of real estate portfolios. ECORE does not only aim to assess the risk of real estate but also to compare the “performance” of buildings and portfolios. The platform and service is one of the best-known initiatives on the market, but corporate customers must de facto commit to it.

The British counterpart “GRESB Real Estate Assessment” operates a more open model that can also be mapped in third-party software tools. GRESB can also be used to assess existing portfolios across asset classes and locations – also on the basis of standardized indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative. This provides an international standard for sustainability reports in a wide range of areas – not just buildings.

Partnership with blue auditor – portfolio management and ESG management solutions for the commercial real estate market

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with blue auditor – provider of a management tool for sustainability in buildings and real estate portfolios. This collaboration opens up exciting opportunities for both organizations as we work together to create exceptional value for our customers.

blue auditor’s ESG management tool for real estate assets and portfolios provides holistic and overall performance monitoring and improvements for ESG management, most importantly EU Taxonomy, CO2 stranding assessments, climate risk analysis, green building certification and various ESG reporting.

blue auditor and metamagix created an API interface to streamline the exchange of ESG-relevant data.

“We are happy that our customers can now benefit from the seamless integration of their portfolio data and ICRS capabilities with the ESG expertise available on blue auditor”, says Martin Gilly, Managing Partner metamagix.

This brings several advantages to both metamagix´s and blue auditor´s clients: Leveraging the data of real estate portfolios held in ICRS can be sent to blue auditor with the click of a button. Once analyzed, selected ESG-related KPIs can be reported back to to megamagix´s platform where the data can be directly integrated in operational processes, reporting and planning.

Wolfgang Lukaschek, Managing Director blue auditor, added: “Integrating metamagix and blue auditor provides the best of both the portfolio management and ESG management solutions to the commercial real estate market.”

We look forward to offering the market the possibility to seamlessly integrate data for sophisticated real estate management and provides real value to our users.

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