The Germans are coming (and they want $1.4M)

Image borrowed from Brownstoner

The internationally recognized U.S. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system has so far been dominating the country’s property development industry. But hold your houses everyone, because there’s a new kid on the green block. Rumor has it he’s better, greener, and most definitely more German.

Passive House Institute, founded in Darmstadt, Germany in 1998, is now making its way into the U.S. market. The comprehensive Passive House system utilizes natural resources, e.g. free solar energy is captured and applied efficiently. Other design concepts such as high performance triple-glazed windows, super-insulation, airtight building shells and balanced energy recovery ventilation help to ensure significant reductions in energy use and carbon emission. The result? 60-70% less energy use and 90% less heat than comparable buildings. For those who struggle with the numbers: that’s a lot.

Well on its way to conquer our much greener neighbor in the east, Passive House has certified more than 25,000 buildings in Europe. In the U.S., only a fairly embarrassing number of 13 buildings have made the cut so far. Recently, however, American developers, builders and designers who specialize in LEED-certified buildings are now turning to Passive House design. Haus96, a four-unit condominium redevelopment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, is the latest addition to the Passive House family. Architect Ken Levenson believes that this project is the start of a new trend in Brooklyn. “What’s happened is a lot of the LEED buildings and green buildings in general are still using way too much energy,” he says. And he might just be right, because there’s already a dozen sustainable projects and many more about to begin construction.

Perhaps Mrs. Merkel should forget about that whole single currency issue and focus on expanding this green trend way beyond the borders of Brooklyn. After all, there are billions to be saved. And reportedly, millions to be made: the first floor three-bedroom unit is listed for $1.4 million. Juicy.

Visit The Real Deal for more details.

NEW MODULE: BuildingLink’s Employee TimeTracker puts an end to punch cards

Ever heard of biometric authentication, or the amazing Digital Persona fingerprint scanner? It sounds all fancy, but it’s the easiest and most straightforward solution to keep track of employees' times. Because trend sensitive as we are here at BuildingLink, we know that punch cards are going out of fashion. With BuildingLink’s TimeTracker, all you need is your finger. Easy!

So, how exactly do you use this clever device? BuildingLink’s TimeTracker gives you four different options:

1. “One-tap” clocking in and out.
2. Clock in and out with confirmation.
3. Clock in and out tracking breaks.
4. Clock in and out using a separate monitor.

25 managers are currently enjoying not having to ask “Where were you between 9.35 and 10.15 yesterday morning?” Why don’t you give it a try too? We know, we know - this is when you wonder: “How much does this cost?” The answer is nothing. All you have to pay for is the actual fingerprint reader. As for the rest, that comes with. Voilà!

Watch the video and let our support superstars Nikki and George show you exactly how it works.

 

Nikki & George Demonstrate TimeTracker from Jerry @ BuildingLink on Vimeo.

KeyLink begins third production run with nothing to improve

Two years ago, in June 2010, BuildingLink introduced KeyLink, BuildingLink’s complete electronic key security hardware/software solution designed to organize your sets of keys, prevent unauthorized access, and provide a fully-documented audit trail of all key activities.

We’re now in our third production run of this comprehensive and intuitive key solution system, and we now have 175 buildings enjoying complete key security.

Before giving the go-ahead for our third production run we sat down, put our heads together and asked ourselves: “What can we do to improve KeyLink this time?” Awkward silence followed. Baffled looks were exchanged. Heads were scratched. Walls were stared at. Blanks were drawn. Then finally, we realized: there was nothing to add that could make the product better. Whoops! We had just built it too damn well - there were no missing links. We're happy to announce that our third production run is now going full steam ahead!

While our third KeyLink generation is in the making, let’s take a look at some interesting numbers, shall we?

1 million is the number of keys removed since we first launched KeyLink.
63,224 keys were removed in July 2012.
9,579 is how many miles KeyLink travelled to be installed in Singapore.
1,344 is highest number of key slots any building has.
1000 is the number of text messages sent out on a daily basis, notifying residents that a key has been removed.
39 is the biggest order placed by one company.
13 is the number of software updates we’ve rolled out during this two-year period.
0.5 is the average number of daily calls to our support team regarding KeyLink.
Lastly, 0 is the number of security breaches reported since installing KeyLink.

You’d think making your life easier would be boring to us by now. Yeah, right. Try us. No, literally - try us. Visit our Keylink website or call 1(877) 501-7117 for more information.