EDGE Next and Sense by PHYSEE merge to accelerate energy transition in real estate.

Next Sense, the new entity resulting from the merger of two software companies, additionally raised capital immediately after this merger to accelerate the mission of data-driven sustainability of real estate even further. EDGE Technologies, the parent company of EDGE Next, invests in this mission together with Timeless Investments, SHAPE Capital and Job Dura, shareholders in PHYSEE. Last year, parties worked confidentially on one platform that better maps and reduces energy waste of the infinite number of square meters of office space.

• Real estate is responsible for 37-40% of global CO2 emissions.
• Of the offices in Europe, only 3% currently meet the emission standard of the Paris Climate Agreement.
• In the Netherlands, 55% of office buildings do not meet the already mandatory label C standard.
• At this rate, the European real estate sector will not achieve the CO2 reduction targets for 2030 and 2050.
• EU Taxonomy strengthens the energy transition, but also leads to stranded assets, resulting in vacant buildings.
• Next Sense's integrated AI platform provides a detailed analysis of current energy and space use to comply with stricter CSRD guidelines in annual reports.
• In addition, the platform uses building physics algorithms to limit energy consumption to 70kWh per square meter, defined as parisproof and required by the climate agreement.The decarbonization need of the real estate industry has been indicated as one of the more complex challenges to solve in the energy transition. The European Union, as part of the HORIZON program, has made it clear that real-time simulations on digital building twins are necessary to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. With the launch of Next Sense, this is the chosen approach of all parties involved. The platform will help owners to collect data from their buildings, by using simulations to create a clear roadmap for their portfolio to become Paris-proof and reduce energy consumption of every square meter through AI-based building control logics.
  

Ferdinand Grapperhaus, CEO at Next Sense, explains why the merger of two individual software platforms is necessary for the commercial real estate market to meet its environmental goals more quickly: "In a saturated market, blinded by offers from single-point solutions, this merger not only brings together two companies and products, but also connects two missions, networks and customer bases to increase joint impact. 2030 is just around the corner, so there is no more time to waste. Neither for us, nor for our clients.”

There is an urgent need for standardized solutions to decarbonize the built environment. As the leading shareholder driving this merger, Coen van Oostrom, Founder and CEO at Edge, believes Next Sense is ready to drive a sustainable transformation of commercial real estate: “The global market urgently requires a unified and standardized approach to reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings. Next Sense is ready to fulfil this critical need. I’m confident that all stakeholders engaged with Edge will eagerly welcome the next-generation software platform designed to support them in tackling this huge challenge of decarbonization confronting us all."

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