Green Tech: David Walsh of CIM On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact On The Environment
An Interview With Jilea Hemmings
We make buildings more comfortable for tenants and patrons, we reduce the effort it takes for building managers to deliver those outcomes and we do it by reducing the energy consumption of the building and its impact on the environment. In order to make a positive impact you need to focus your energy on where it can make a real difference. I’m aiming to solve that problem for large buildings because the opportunity for energy efficiency and emissions reductions are huge and will make a material impact to the world. If you want to make a difference, pick something that will make a difference. Marketers might call this finding an addressable market but it’s really about knowing where you can make a difference.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing David Walsh.
David Walsh is one of Australia’s fast rising visionaries using innovative technology to transform the property and major building sector and helping the industry achieve net zero emissions. David Walsh, founder and CEO of CIM, is the creator of a world leading building analytics software solution. Building analytics technology, pioneered by Australia’s vibrant startup sector, can quickly and cost-effectively cut carbon emissions and play a critical role in curbing climate change.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in Templemore, which is in County Tipperary in Ireland. My Dad was a civil engineer and my Mum was a pharmacist. The family had run a retail business in town for over 200 years so the Walsh name is well known there. Growing up my family really instilled in me the importance of education and always being completely honest and transparent when dealing with people. Their focus on business integrity and education were hugely influential in my business journey.
The closeness and importance of family is a massive part of who I am today. While travel has been limited because of the pandemic, I’ve missed many important family occasions and events back in Ireland — even though I’m now a naturalized Australian citizen. My brother who leads CIM’s Ireland team and the friends I made growing up are still part of my social and professional circles today.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Through the early 2000s, business had been successful. But when the GFC hit in 2009, I lost everything. But, rather than shrink into a corner, I looked at the lessons I learned about planning, recovery and resilience and came to Australia.
As a young man, I had come to Australia and backpacked my way around the country. I loved the country and its people, so when life in Ireland threw me some curveballs, the attraction to Australia returned.
At the time, I had just $5,000. But my wife and young family embraced the adventure and we arrived here but had nowhere to live. We managed to rent a leaky apartment and scrounge up furniture that had been left out on the street.
Having a background in computer science and property I spotted the gap for technology and automation to dramatically improve building efficiency and sustainability. In 2015, I started CIM, bootstrapping the company with only $1,300.
I worked on the business during the day and took a job at night paying $38 an hour to stuff satchels for a freight company to support my family while spending the days writing the first pieces of software that would ultimately become CIM’s PEAK platform.
I wouldn’t wish the sort of challenges the GFC created for me and my family on anyone. But they’ve helped me build resilience and understand the importance of great family and friends, and having a plan to move forward when adversity strikes.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are two people that have made a huge difference to me. The first is my father. He instilled in me the idea that you can do anything. He reminded me that education was super important. His encouragement to get a degree was instrumental in getting me where I am today. My degree in computer science has given me the tools I needed to really dive into technology and start building CIM.
From a business perspective, CIM’s chairman David Wright has been hugely influential and supportive. He encourages my entrepreneurial drive, but gives me wisdom to ensure I do the right things in a way that’s good for the company. He provides advice within the guardrails of good governance. His experience is a perfect foil for my entrepreneurial tendencies.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Those who say they can and those who say they can’t are both right.”
Attitude is everything. When you approach a situation and are defeated before you start, there’s little chance that you’ll succeed. Going into a situation with a positive mindset maximises the chance that you’ll achieve the best possible outcome. It might not be the perfect outcome but it will be far better than what you’ll get if you start thinking the situation is hopeless before you start.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I’m not a patient person by nature. But that impatience means I push forward and want everything to go faster. So, I’d say my impatience has been an asset.
But the other side of that impatience which I use as an asset is optimism. I see possibilities and opportunities and expect to reach them. Sometimes, I underestimate the time and effort it will take but I look at what we can do rather than what we can’t do. That old story about people who see a glass that’s half empty or half full — I see the opportunity of filling the glass and go for it.
Finally, I’ve worked hard on developing greater empathy and that has made me a great judge of character. When I meet new starters at CIM, I intuitively have a gut feel on if someone will be a good fit for what we are trying to achieve.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on the planet and the environment. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?
There is pressure mounting globally and on Australia’s property sector to achieve net zero emissions. In the quest to reach zero emissions and meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) obligations, instead of spending huge sums on new generation, carbon offset contracts and replacing older equipment, it’s possible to massively reduce emissions and reduce costs. Optimising building performance and finding efficiencies is a key element in achieving these goals.
The building sector is one of the largest contributors to climate change, accounting for 30–40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With building analytics technology, this sector has the biggest opportunity to quickly and cost-effectively cut carbon emissions and play a critical role in curbing climate change. Australia is leading the world in showing how this can be done.
Optimizing the performance of buildings and transforming building operations by combining building analytics, machine learning and technical engineering into real-time, data-driven insights, the sector can dramatically maximize efficiency, reduce energy consumption and improve environmental performance. It’s not about adding new hardware — a key element of the government’s energy policy — but in using software to be much smarter about the energy we already consume.
How do you think your technology can address this?
CIM is the creator of a world leading building analytics software solution. Building analytics technology, pioneered by Australia’s vibrant startup sector, can help to quickly and cost-effectively cut carbon emissions and play a critical role in curbing climate change.
The innovative solution uses analytics and machine learning to optimize the performance of buildings and transform operations. This dramatically maximizes efficiency, reduces energy consumption and reduces environmental impacts. It’s not about adding new hardware, but using software so building owners and managers can be much smarter about the energy being consumed. Software can significantly reduce the negative impact we’re having on the environment.
The systems consumers and tenants don’t see that keep large buildings such as offices, shopping centers and airports, cool in summer and warm in winter, operate lifts and escalators, and lighting account for more than 60% of a building’s total energy consumption. But as much as a third of that energy is wasted due to malfunctions, performance degradation and improperly tuned controls.
Operational building performance can be improved by reconfiguring how equipment is used. By applying intelligent, data-driven tools in the right place it’s possible to detect these opportunities for improvement. The cost savings are not just operational. When a building improves its energy and emissions rating, it becomes more attractive to potential tenants, giving owners a market advantage.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
When I started CIM, I’d just arrived in Australia and needed to do something to start my new life. I realized that the world was missing a trick — buildings use lots of energy but there was no way to really understand where that energy was being wasted and how to make a difference. The impact of this far exceeded anything I’d originally imagined.
It’s that original spark, of trying to have an impact and make a difference to the world, that keeps me passionate and motivated. I could sell CIM tomorrow and never work again. I’ve had those offers. But I want to do this and keep making an important difference to the world and ensure we help save the planet for future generations.
How do you think this might change the world?
Australia can lead the world in leveraging data to run the built environment more efficiently and help the property industry achieve net zero emissions. We can show other countries how optimisation and efficiency are the new income.
In the quest to reach zero emissions and meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) obligations, instead of spending huge sums on new generation, carbon offset contracts and replacing older equipment, it’s possible to massively reduce emissions and reduce costs.
For many building owners, the road to zero emissions has been paved by renewable energy. But energy consumption can be reduced significantly by optimizing what you already have. Energy use and emissions can be reduced, without the need to add millions of dollars worth of solar panels — which have their own environmental cost for manufacture, transport and installation.
In today’s world, it is possible to collect very granular data about the operation of every piece of plant and equipment. That data can be analysed using powerful algorithms developed by experts who understand the built environment intimately and how every piece of the puzzle fits together.
Buildings can be operated far more efficiently and energy use can be drastically reduced. When the operation of an asset is optimised, it is not only more energy efficient but it can be operated for longer periods at its optimum. Assets last longer because we can better understand how they are wearing rather than simply replacing it when it’s ‘too old’.
The cheapest energy in the world is energy you don’t use. While it’s important to explore and take advantage of new energy sources such as solar or wind, wouldn’t it be better if we simply used less energy? When we use less energy we not only reduce carbon emissions but we reduce the need to build new energy generation assets. Even the production of wind, for example, has an environmental cost. Those pylons require massive concrete bases and concrete is the third largest carbon emitter on the planet behind the USA and China.
We have the opportunity to dramatically improve the way buildings operate and, in turn, protect the planet and create a better world for future generations.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Honestly, no.
What we’ve been able to do at CIM is take data that was completely opaque and not only expose it but make it usable. If you think about your local shopping mall, there are escalators and elevators, heating and cooling systems, regular and emergency lighting and lots of other equipment that’s designed to make life for tenants and patrons as safe and comfortable as possible while ensuring that energy wastage is reduced and the risk of equipment failure is minimized.
When an orchestra plays, each musician may be playing a different set of notes. But we only hear beautiful music when each player works in a coordinated way with the others and a conductor guides everyone. Our software lets a building owner or manager understand how all the equipment in a building is operating, whether any of it is out of tune from the others and if there’s a risk of failure.
It’s hard to see a downside coming from that.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
The best technologies solve problems for people and make their lives better, easier and more joyful. Sometimes, that means thinking ahead of the market for what it will need or for something that the world doesn’t yet realise it needs. Steve Jobs often quoted Wayne Gretsky, saying he wanted to skate to where the puck will be and not where it is today. When it comes to making a positive social impact, it’s about more than satisfying shareholders today.
With CIM we looked at how many people we can help directly. For us, that means helping 2.5 million facilities managers globally that manage the world’s premium A Grade building assets. These people have incredibly complex jobs and, until now, haven’t really had the tools to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.
By helping those people, we have a broader impact. Every time someone walks into a shopping mall, airport, office tower or some other large building they are comfortable and safe. So, once you address whether your tech can help someone directly, look at whether it can have a broader impact. One facilities manager, for example, can impact the comfort and safety of thousands of patrons and tenants. And they can do it in a way that makes the planet more habitable for the next generation and those that follow.
The best way to reduce carbon emissions is by simply using less energy. Renewable technologies like solar and wind are great and we should look to use them more and more. But if we can actually reduce the amount of energy we use, then we can do two things. We can reduce the emissions we make today and we can reduce the need to build new power plants. Even a wind farm has an environmental impact. Those pylons need a huge amount of concrete to keep them from tipping over. And that concrete has a huge environmental cost. Concrete production makes more carbon emissions than the USA and China.
So, that’s really three things. We make buildings more comfortable for tenants and patrons, we reduce the effort it takes for building managers to deliver those outcomes and we do it by reducing the energy consumption of the building and its impact on the environment.
In order to make a positive impact you need to focus your energy on where it can make a real difference. I’m aiming to solve that problem for large buildings because the opportunity for energy efficiency and emissions reductions are huge and will make a material impact to the world. If you want to make a difference, pick something that will make a difference. Marketers might call this finding an addressable market but it’s really about knowing where you can make a difference.
Finally, make your change something that gives people positive results and makes their life easier and better. It’s hard to bring people along for the journey if it’s unpleasant. With CIM we have made our technology into something that building owners and facilities managers, whether they look after one building or a portfolio, can use as a tool that makes their roles much easier.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
How you do anything is how you do everything. You can’t change the world if you can’t change your own habits. You need to make decisions that are in the best interest of both yourself and the planet. We know what’s right and wrong for the world — be the change you want to see. Your behaviour will affect people around you and good behaviour is contagious. You’ll impact the people around you and they can impact those around them.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Dr. Andrew Huberman. He’s a neuroscientist and ophthalmologist based at University of California in Berkeley. I’m a bit of a neuroscience nerd. I like to understand the mechanics of happiness and high performance and getting the most out of myself in a balanced and sustainable way. Andrew’s podcast is incredibly informative and doesn’t dumb down the science while making it understandable and accessible.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Please visit our website and blog: https://cim.io/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
It was a pleasure to participate, thank you for the opportunity!
