Buying building technology can be a full time job. The problem is, there's almost never someone dedicated to navigating the vendor marketplace. We've interviewed directors of sustainability, VPs of operations, and managers of operational technology. It's clear that buying new technology for their smart building programs is just one small sliver of their responsibilities. â Moreover, it hasn't been easy to wade through the vendor swamp. Many technology vendors over-promise their capabilities, and overstate their experience by conflating phrases like Al, machine learning, digital transformation, and decarbonization. â If you try to use a search engine like Google to shortlist your options, you end up with apples-to-oranges comparisons of vendors offering almost the same thing while they assure you it is exactly what you're looking for. â Nexus Labs is here to help buyers complete vendor selections to help accelerate their smart building technology adoption.
And we're doing it for free.
For years, Nexus Labs has been accelerating the adoption of emerging technology to combat climate change and improve the experiences of building stakeholders through our educational content around how to buy building technology. The Smart Buildings Buying Process has (at least) 10 stages to implement a successful project.
At Nexus Labs, we can particularly help with 2 stages:
Preliminary Market Research (Strategy)
If you feel like you've got a good grasp on the problem you are trying to solve, but you're not sure what category of technology is best to solve the problem, we can help you determine where you should be looking.
Shortlisting Vendors (Procurement)
If you're already convinced what category of technology can solve your problem, but have been stifled by the depth of the vendor swamp, we can help clear the waters and help determine a smaller list of 2-4 potential vendors that really fit your needs.
What's the catch?
We can hear the skeptics coming in when we say the word free. But we believe these vendor evaluations benefit the industry as a whole in a number of ways.
We're allowing buyers to learn from other buyers
Once one evaluation is done, we will use the data to help other buyers get through similar challenges.
We're providing accelerated feedback to vendors
When vendors can understand why their product was disqualified in a shortlisting process, they're more likely to develop something buyers actually want.
We're building a one-of-a-kind building technology marketplace
As we complete a vendor selection, we're aggregating the data into our vendor marketplace, so we can help accelerate the adoption of truly useful technology on a large scale.
How does the process work?
Step 1
Nexus Labs interviews the buyer (you!)
We have built our platform around educating buyers on understanding what outcomes, for whom, you're looking for in a technology prior to shopping. We start by making sure we understand what you're looking to get out of the new tech deployment. At this stage, we will work with you to ensure we're on the same page about what categories of vendors will get you to where you want to be.
Step 2
Engage Vendors
Through the Nexus Marketplace, we have an extensive list of vendors offering products in any smart buildings category. We will engage the vendors in this category for you, with a curated list of questions relevant to your needs. â As always, this data will come back to us in an apples-to-oranges fashion, and we will do the work of normalizing the data so you can get a list of dozens of potential options down to just a few worth reaching out to. In our latest vendor selection, we were able to take a list of 40 potential vendors down to just 2, based on what mattered to the buyer. â By allowing all communication to the vendors to go through Nexus Labs, you avoid the never-ending bombardment of business development cold calls and check-ins that typically come with just one click of the "learn more" button on a vendor's website.
Step 3
Present Results
After normalizing the data we get from the vendors, we hand the data back to you, and you get the final determination of what is best for your organization. â This can be just what a buyer needs to get "unstuck" in the vendor swamp. With a better feel for which vendors' offerings cater to your real needs, the path to a pilot and a potential full-scale deployment is closer than ever before.
With teams from these amazing companies and students from many more, you'll join in a world class network of industry change-makers.
The Nexus Labs online courses offering is a hybrid between an on-demand model and a cohort-based model. We know that students have busy lives and they want the flexibility to learn on their own time. We also know that they value meeting like-minded people and connecting with them as they learn. So we've designed an experience to give you the best of both worlds: On demand + Community.
Educational Content
5 modules of video lessons, following the curriculum outline above.
Community Chatroom
Your fellow students (and your instructors) are always available 24/7 in the chatroom for connecting, asking questions, and getting feedback.
Zoom Workshops
Weâll meet live once throughout the program so you can ask questions, hear from subject matter experts on that weekâs material, reinforce the lectures, and meet your peers.
Activities & Time Commitment
Self-paced content
(20-30 minutes per module for 5 modules)
Interactive video workshop on Zoom
(1 hour)
Reflections and interaction in the chatroom
(15-20 minutes per module for 5 modules)
Testimonials For Nexus Labs Courses
If you donât go on this journey with us, please, learn this from someone.You spend a significant chunk of your life working to make buildings better.
Donât hold yourself back because youâre missing the technology piece. Itâs not rocket science. Itâs a skill, like anything else. And it's not all that difficult, once you get the basics down.Donât learn this from scratch. Follow the guidance of someone whoâs been down the road before and made the mistakes. I made those mistakes so you donât have to.
If youâre ready to ride this tidal wave of smart building technology, weâd be honored to support you as you grow your career.
âI loved all the lessons... they're very informative and to the point. In the beginning, I was a little skeptical about how it would benefit myself and our organization, but later it became clear. We are facing the same issues you described.â
Chad Ruch
Course Student
"Smart Buildings Awareness offered a refreshing perspective. No jargon, no fluff. Just the right mix of theory and real-world insights."
Firstname Surname
Smart Building Technology COO
âI have never been part of an education with such a complete overview of a challenging situation. It was worth every penny!â
Mandi Wedin
Founder + CEO - Feroce Real Estate Advisors
âAnyone senior in CRE would be better informed about smart buildings after doing this course. Best value = seeing through the BS often written about smart buildings.â
Firstname Surname
Smart Building Technology COO
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Testimonials
âI have never been part of an education with such a complete overview of a challenging situation. It was worth every penny!â
âI think setting a holistic and programmatic approach is super valuable. The offerings, touched systems, and potential roadblocks are quite numerous so finding a way to navigate it all in an organized way is critical.â
âI had an assumption there would be a deeper dive into actual controls, hvac, etc -- but after running through the course -- I'm not sure that is the intent here -- there are more focused courses for the stuff which probably are a peer to this course which pulls it all together.â
âThis was a great course! Â It really helped me to understand why it was critical for the IT and OT side need to work together during the construction and operational phases of a building. Â I better understand the business challenges and how to work with clients to help solve their challenges. â
âUnique in that it really was accessible and useful to many different levels of expertise and roles across the industry, covering policy, product, building operator, consultant, etc.â
âAnyone senior in CRE would be better informed about smart buildings after doing this course. Best value = seeing through the BS often written about smart buildings.â
"I loved all the lessons... they're very informative and to the point. In the beginning, I was a little skeptical about how it would benefit myself and our organization, but later it became clear. We are facing the same issues you described."
"Itâs the general tone that strikes me most. Itâs a kind of pragmatic âyeah, thatâs cool tech but what problem does it solve?â message that reminds me of how Tristan Harris demystifies the broader tech world. Iâm particularly enjoying the break-out rooms by the way."
"As a SaaS vendor in this space, what you teach definitely has to be implemented in our go-to-market strategy and approach to customers."
"The course has been helpful in getting our team moving on our Smart Building Strategy. And the people participating and the networking opportunities are one of the biggest benefits of the course for us."
"Learning a lot and very much enjoying the course. Evermore convinced about âknow your customerâ and âjobs-to-be-doneâ being the essential starting point of âeverythingâ in smart buildings. I'm a happy customer."
âTrue to the name, itâs a great foundation course for someone in the industry to get a bigger picture of what's happening in the facilities management / buildings and provides some structure to think about how they can go about evaluating opportunities and set them up on how to innovate.â
âThe course does an excellent job of identifying the different pieces you need to keep in mind to solve a Smart Buildings problem (Stakeholders, Business Case, etc.), while still balancing the fact that all of those pieces are interconnected and affect each other.â
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FAQs
How long is the course?
The Nexus Labs courses offering is an annual access subscription. For one annual fee, you get access to this course, Smart Building Strategist, plus all the other courses we're working on releasing soon. That means you'll have access to this course for one year from the day you purchase the subscription.
For Smart Building Strategist, we recommend budgeting about 12 hours to work through the self-paced content, then another 6-12 hours per year for workshops and connecting in the chatroom.
What are my other options for learning this?
There are plenty of other programs, books, and resources out there. Email us at hello@nexuslabs.online and weâll even send you some to check out.
However, we believe that if your goal is to level up and shortcut that learning curve, Smart Building Strategist is the #1 choice in the industry.
What if Iâm a true beginner, with no prior knowledge of the industry or technology?
We get this question all the time, so you're not alone here! The course is designed to be beginner-friendly, so you shouldn't worry about being in over your head from a technical standpoint. Through the first 6 cohorts, we've had over 100 true beginners and they all had 100% glowing reviews of the course.
One thing we recommend you know before you jump in: Most of your fellow students will not be 100% beginners, so sometimes beginners say they're apprehensive to ask "dumb questions". We'll do our best to make you feel comfortable and there's always the option to send your questions in a private chat with me, other instructors, or other students.
What will I do inside the program?
Youâll watch the training videos.
Youâll show up to Q&A calls, youâll ask questions. Youâll take action on your team projects, using the excellent templates and examples we provide you.
Youâll get to know the other rock star changemakers in our private group.
Youâll share your wins and cheer on your peers.
Tell me more about the live workshops...
Was there a question in there? Just kidding...
Each instructor in our Courses offering hosts quarterly live workshops on Zoom. These are recorded in case you can't make it. If you're on a different time zone, the instructor will rotate the timing so that you can make a few live sessions per year.
These workshops are designed to allow you to meet your fellow students. They're also designed to review and explore one of the course's key frameworks. The instructor will bring a real like example that you'll apply each framework on.
You'll have fun, learn, and connect!Â
What about office hours?
Of course! Each course instructor hosts monthly office hours on Zoom so you can ask questions and have a discussion with the experts.
Don't forget that you can also ask your question in our chatroom whenever you'd like too.
Do I need to recruit building owner/management support to be able to participate in the program?
No, you do not. We have a case study that you can use to test out the frameworks in a realistic scenario. That said, the frameworks are structured so they can and should be applied to the real world, so you have that option too.
Will I pay back my investment?
Great question. In week five of the program, students learn how to create the business case for smart building technology. At the core is the return on investment (ROI), which needs to be rock solid.
You should absolutely do the math on Nexus  Smart Building Strategist too. Calculate the ROI just as diligently as you would expect a building owner to do when evaluating cutting edge tech.
Hereâs some food for thought for that calculation. What if just one idea, tactic, strategy, relationship, template, or tool led to just one of these results:
Your salary goes up
Your company wins more projects
You can charge higher rates
You waste less time
Your projects have fewer change orders
Youâre more educated on how to buy technology from your vendors
You build a better network that you can lean on next time you get stuck
You build a better career plan
What if I want my money back?
If the topic of a refund is top of mind, please donât enroll. This is for people who know they want this. That said, we know this is a major financial investment. And we will do everything in our power to make sure you feel supported, and that you succeed. Customer satisfaction is our #1 goal, and we want this decision to be 100% risk-free, so you can focus on learning. If you decide the course didn't deliver on its promise for any reason, just let us know by the end your first two weeks and as long as you've made an effort we'll refund your payment.
Can you help get reimbursed by my employer?
Need help getting reimbursed by your employer? Most large organizations, and many smaller ones, will reimburse tuition for professional development. You can request funding with our handy proposal template.
"I was concerned that my company wouldn't pay, but it was actually an easy ask. I found it was well worth the investment and know my company agrees." â âCohort 1 student
"Nexus Labs offers a great way for new hires in the building tech space to get up to speed on the trends and terminology as well as the challenges facing our sector. We recently enrolled a new biz dev hire in the program and it really helped them as well as saved our team hours for training time. They were in good hands with James and learned from the other students as well. Well worth it!â â âShannon Smith, CEO of PointGuard
Do you have scholarships?
Yes, we do! Nexus Smart Building Strategist isnât just a business for us. We believe that making this training available to as many people as possible is critical to our future. That is why weâre now offering a select number of needs-based scholarships. Apply here.
Other questions?
Email us at hello@nexuslabs.online
Ready to unravel the mysteries of smart buildings?
Enroll now and embark on a journey of discovery. Your learning experience begins when you do. No hype, just insights. Click below to start your Smart Buildings Awareness adventure.
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