Falcon Flash November 2008
Dear Customers and Partners,
Autumn was hot, but not just because of the financial crisis in the real estate industry. It became clear at the Conference for Infrastructure Lifecycle Management (ILM) that the challenges are great but they can be met. conject made a real smash at the opening ceremony of the new Munich offices and put building tycoon Dr. Jürgen Schneider on the hot seat. Most viewed it as a daring move, some found it outrageous – but whoever is familiar with conject also knows that we like to move off the beaten path. Besides, Schneider appeared on Günter Jauch’s show four weeks later...
Please read on to learn more about these and other topics, as well as new projects and some useful product tips in this Falcon Flash, which will also be the last issue of this year. You’ll be hearing from us again in December with an energetically loaded idea for Christmas! Be ready to be surprised – once again.
Kind regards, Elke Tonscheidt
Contents of this Falcon Flash
Dr. Jürgen Schneider: A look at the real estate markets of today and tomorrow?
Is he a modern-day Robin Hood or simply a “no-go?” A building tycoon in any case and a polarizing individual as well: Dr. Jürgen Schneider showed up at the official opening of conject’s new office in Munich and feelings ran high. “They’ve got a lot of nerve,” was one of the comments of the 300 guests. Others also found it a bit daring – but ultimately a success and precisely this: consequent conject.
Surprise guest Schneider, whose “peanuts” in the 1990’s amounted at the time to a mountain of debt on the level of 5 billion DM, took questions from the excellent attorney, Prof. Horst Franke, senior partner of HFK Rechtsanwälte, a law firm specialized in building law. He asked 74-year old Schneider about the real estate markets of today and tomorrow. According to Franke, the real estate sector is no more susceptible to “criminal acts” than other sectors – but the biggest problem however is: “The value of a property is not only hard to assess, it also fluctuates greatly due to countless other external factors.”
Inviting Schneider was a bold move. “Having a convicted real estate investor attend was not an easy decision for us to make,” said conject CFO Philip von Ditfurth. “Ultimately we were convinced that he isn’t trying to gloss over his mistakes and we felt that he had paid his price.” conject stands for transparency – this interview also provided new insight.
Schneider himself sees today’s world undergoing dramatic change not the least of which due to the financial crisis. What banks today are at least in part responsible for borders on being criminal and is a breach of shareholders’ trust. Even if he doesn’t like to view himself as a major “bank critic,” the quote from his book “Bekenntnisse eines Baulöwen” (Confessions of a Building Tycoon) still rings true today: “At that time I learned a bitter lesson that lasting success in a free market economy was due not so much to real accomplishments, but depended more on position and power.”
Photos from the event here.
US Troops are moving – Restructuring program for 630 million Euros
“In this type of multi-project involving several hundred persons, the building agency must have a handle on everything at all times. Since 2002 the conject online platform has been making this possible with its structured document management. An “electronic” file, controlled access options, secured data transfer to and from every PC workstation in the world – and with unlimited memory – have all become indispensable for us.”
(Klaus Gerstendorff, head of the building agency in Grafenwoehr)
Project: Military construction and infrastructure measures totaling 630 million Euros will be carried out by 2013 as part of the restructuring of US troops in Grafenwoehr. In addition to the military infrastructure, the massive planned construction includes other common use facilities as well as housing and recreational facilities for approx. 3,500 soldiers and 5,000 family members.
Total construction volume: 630 million Euros (for roughly 50 new buildings and 100 rebuilds)
Total project duration: 2002-2013 (planned)
Project participants: over 700 project participants in 130 partial projects on the conject Platform
Example project: construction of 12 new quarters for the troupes with a construction volume of 11 million Euros each
Senior housing industry – Challenges of social responsibility
“conjectPM’s user-oriented pricing model helps us realize 4 to 5 senior housing properties annually: every staff member can work on as many different projects as needed simultaneously at no additional cost. With use of the ‘conject Data Room’ we now expect to benefit from more effective processing and a higher yield in the sale of our properties.”
(Mr. Kapfhammer, project director, BG Planen und Bauen)
The company: BG Immobiliengruppe has been active since 1998 as a specialized project developer, investor and service provider in the senior housing industry. They cover the entire value-added chain involved in a senior housing property. BG Planen+Bauen is both general planner as well as project manager in projects realized by BG Gruppe.
Example project: construction of the Wolfratshausen nursing home
Project scope: approx. 20 million Euros
Duration: 18 months
Participants: 45 persons from 15 companies
Infrastructure Lifecycle Management based on RICS standards
“As a RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) member, we assume responsibility for all of our business activities and guarantee transparency in our working methods and the results of our work. For this reason we use conject’s project management software. The overview of the current project status which we and all project participants receive through online access to all documentation and conversations ensures our high standard of quality. We also handle projects for foreign investors and are able to give them the option of operating the conject Platform in their own language.”
(Michael Ehret and Stefan Klein, managing partners of ehret+klein GmbH)
The company: ehret+klein GmbH is a project developer based in Starnberg. The main focus of their project work is on comprehensive infrastructure lifecycle management. Here the company banks on opportunities for sustained value growth in real estate investments. Concentration is on mixed-use commercial property and specialized properties designed for health, hotel, recreational and cultural purposes. Currently ehret+klein GmbH processes a total project volume of around 200 million Euros.
Example project: construction of the 5-star Travel Charme Ifen Hotel in Kleinwalsertal
Investment volume: around 37 million Euros
Michael Söll in Dubai: “We need fast and modern project management systems!"
Michael Söll has arrived in the Arab world. He and his teams are working non-stop here in Dubai, 24 hours a day, day and night. He’s familiar with the Palm, the man-made mega-project in the sea of this desert country, and not just from photos; he’s at work there. His business is ‘down to earth’ in the truest sense of the word – Söll’s company German Concrete Works (GCS) has been providing buildings with floor screed for 16 years. Not only in Germany, but also in Istanbul and Doha – and since 2007 on site in Dubai as well. He is working closely here with German and British partner companies - Putzmeister and Flowcrete.
Having a degree in engineering, he is convinced that: “conjectPM is also very important for small/medium-sized enterprises.” It is hard to get an overview of numerous projects, of the increasing number of project participants and of the flood of documentation using standard products. “This is why the conject Platform has been the optimal solution for us for years and has made a major contribution to our success,” Söll says. As a result he is able to generate an overview, keep control and saves time as well as manpower. “This is a decisive factor particularly for our international business activities,” the senior project manager adds. When the most important strategic partners and suppliers come from Germany and England, then the time factor is particularly important in the Arab world as well. Whoever is as fast as possible and able to exchange information and documentation reliably has an absolute edge here.
His experience has shown that whoever builds in the Emirates faces less skepticism than at home in Germany. “Here movers and shakers who get things done are in demand.” Thus everything moves at a faster pace: “Today a call comes in: ‘We need you.’ Tomorrow negotiations begin and the day after we get started." This is a standard scenario for this engineer. “And that’s why we need a fast and modern project management system particularly here!”
Söll sees the only challenge in the generation gap. “When senior managers are somewhat unfamiliar with computers and software, they prefer to put their trust in tried and tested communication channels and filing systems.” The project manager feels that something must change here: since most PM systems aren’t that hard to use. It is often only a question of being willing and able to get used to something new.
In his private life Michael Söll is also at ease in "special places and in special buildings," for example on a wellness vacation in Switzerland. After so much work, it is a welcome break which he likes to spend with his wife and two children. And when there’s time he likes to go skiing – but on ‘real’ mountains. The tiny hills in Dubai’s indoor ski slope might be nice for tourists but not for a passionate skier...
conjectPM Product Tip
Did you know that...
...conjectPM offers many new functions to search simply and efficiently for documents and their content, for example, so that you:
...can also find textual contents in scanned documents?
...can search for keywords globally in documents, conversations and drawings?
...can instantly recognize whether or not the results of the search are correct through the colored display of the relevance and the reason for the relevance?
...don’t have to even consider whether singular or plural form, past or future tense, single or compound words and still be able to find everything?
...can specify periods for the search to influence both relevance and search performance?
You will find more information on conjectPM here.
conjectFM/conjectCM Product Tip
Did you know...
...with conjectFM you can also use a table to make a cube?
A particularly elegant and universal method of analysis is provided by the multidimensional data cube, which uses the result of a tabular evaluation to implement mathematical functions on data series (derive sums, means, frequencies), to freely vary relationships of data to one another and to display them online.
If the initial view provides a distribution of the type of use, then the same data cube can be used to illustrate the distribution of area allocated by cost center by changing the angle.
The variation options are unlimited and, using the linked business chart, clearly illustrate dependencies and relationships, which otherwise would be time-consuming to generate with complicated analysis tools.
Just how does this work with conjectFM?
Requirements for a table to be used to represent a data cube:
1. The table was generated with either BuiSy 6.5 or a newer version.
2. The table contains at least one column of numbers.
3. The table was saved under the rendition type ‘Cube.’
Then call up this list and change the view.
For more information on conjectFM contact Claus Ludewig.
...today a comprehensive standard release has been activated for conjectCM?
This contains an array of comprehensive improvements – to both the content as well as visual aspects. What really catches your eye is the completely revised user interface.
The following features were further implemented in the new release:
- Advance payments and their release can now also be carried out on an itemized basis.
- DIN 276 2006-11 is available.
- New GAEB DA XML 3.1 import of services is possible.
- An assistant supports you in the linear and s-curve distribution in cash flow planning.
A further highlight: Reports can now also be sent to conjectPM and are available online there to all authorized persons from anywhere.
Find out about all improvement in detail in the current conjectCM Release Notes here.
“Greed trumps common sense” – ILM 2008 addresses the situation in Dubai
The ILM 2008 was also marked by the financial crisis. “At least it’s no longer referred to as the real estate crisis,” was the tone among the 500 in attendance. Even if the alarm has sounded for the construction industry, the sector is nevertheless well positioned, as was shown at the conference at the end of October in the Düsseldorf Maritim Hotel. Here persons from the industry and politicians discussed viable solutions in particular for those companies active both in Germany and abroad. And it was clear that the emerging markets have been hit as well – in Dubai “greed has trumped common sense,” as logistics expert Dr. Roland Zibell put it succinctly.
More than 40 speakers and hosts presented projects and/or properties with a promising future. Buildings with excessive energy costs will have trouble finding a buyer or a renter in the years to come. Rising electricity, natural gas and oil prices are ensuring that ancillary costs will no longer remain an issue just to insiders. Investors and developers involved with office properties today have already come to see opportunities for optimization in many properties. An increasing number of intelligent façade systems, concrete core activations, geothermic or photo-voltaic facilities are being integrated. Germany still plays a leading role here because sustainable properties are a lucrative investment and will remain so. Many agreed with the chairman of the board at HOCHTIEF Construction AG, Henner Mahlstedt, who said: “In hard times people don’t want to put their money into spurious orders, bets and options." Now in particular it makes twice as much sense to discuss the perspectives in the construction and real estate industries. And, according to Mahlstedt, they are still positive despite all the turbulence: “Without our sector there would be no streets, no schools, no opera houses, no hospitals, no office buildings, no industrial facilities, no shopping centers and also no homes, and: This infrastructure requires constant maintenance, management and revitalization. There’s just no way around it.”
The situation in the emerging markets in particular was discussed in the closing round hosted by Ruprecht Eser, former front man of ZDF’s ‘heute-journal.’ People readily agreed with North Rhine Westphalia Minister of European Affairs Andreas Krautscheid: “Now is the time to separate the men from the boys.” German engineering know-how is still in demand abroad, but the warnings signs are extremely clear. Logistics expert Dr. Roland Zibell had harsh words to say: “Avarice for fast money has begun to ruin the market. Greed has trumped common sense and has become a problem for the real economy, in other words for commercial and industrial enterprises and service providers that can hardly find any affordable space or properties.” Nevertheless, companies in Europe can be successful. This was confirmed, for example, by Michael Zimmermann, whose architectural office is currently building the large mosque in Algiers. This project was also presented at the ILM.
The Program Committee will be determining the date of the ILM 2009 in the coming weeks.
More information under www.ilm-forum.com
Looking for sales talent with a bit of experience under their belt
Kindergarden, first love, school, studies and sales experience: you should have all of that already behind you. You have probably already realized that our colleague Monika Lamberth is taking care of the sales professionals of tomorrow. But we would like to see you here much sooner. If you have experience in sales, either with or without any management experience, then get in touch with us.
But if that’s too much sales and not enough Facility Management for you, then you should apply for the position of FM Product Manager in the Duisburg inland port. But remember; only whoever applies can actually find his or her dream job – you can apply here…
Spectacular glass louvers – an architectural and energy-saving innovation
- Taufik Kenan, Berlin
In the middle of this year the administrative building of a pharmaceutical company was completed in Constance based on the designs by Petzinka Pink Architects in Düsseldorf. From the very start of the competition, the owner found the energy-efficient and flexible concept as well as the creative workmanship extremely important. The energy-saving objective consisted of meeting the primary energy requirements for the facilities' air conditioning, as well as for electricity needed for ventilation and illumination with 100 kWh/m2 net floor space.
Thermally activated floors and ceilings provide the basic heating and cooling. Additional radiators in front of windows are unnecessary due to triple glazed facades, thermally insulated pillars and exterior wall panels.
The exterior sun shading system consists of rotating glass louvers and is a distinctive architectural and energy-saving feature of the building.
With the vertical 1.35-meter wide and one-storey high elements, one can see the outside world at any time of day since the 1.5 mm thick, slightly slanted louvers are only briefly parallel with the façade. They alter their position according to the angle of incoming sunrays as well as depending on rain and wind conditions. The office floors with around 500 workstations are organized into a closed double-loaded corridor form around the internal atrium. The floors are connected with four central staircases, each rotated by 90 degrees, with utility shafts. The offices are arranged in a 1.35-meter grid and divided by a system of flexible, partially transparent partitions.
For more news from the real estate industry, please visit industrieBAU-online.
