by Rob Murchison, CEO

Hidden Costs Impact Your Bottom Line

In commercial real estate (CRE), owners watch their rent rolls like hawks. They track income, push renewals, and raise rates, all in pursuit of higher returns. But while rent rolls go up, operating costs quietly drift—rarely challenged, rarely optimized, and too often accepted as “just the cost of doing business.”

That’s where the real value leakage happens.

If you own or operate CRE buildings, there’s a good chance you’re losing money; not in big, obvious ways, but quietly, every single day. Most portfolios leak value through underperforming systems, unnecessary spending, and hidden risks: death by a thousand paper cuts.

A chiller cycles far more than it should. High energy bills get nominalized. A damper stays stuck open, and nobody notices. Vendors check boxes on maintenance logs, then arrive two weeks later for an emergency call.

Each one seems small, but across a portfolio, they become six- or seven-figure losses that compound every year. And here’s the worst part: as an owner or operator, you keep budgeting for these inefficiencies like they’re inevitable. They’re not!

At Intelligent Buildings, we uncover these “invisible” costs every day. Owners want control, but traditional approaches make it difficult.

That’s why we built IntelliNet Optimize—a service designed to expose what’s hidden, fix it with you, and stop the bleeding before it hits your bottom line.

And the best part? You don’t have to buy or learn another new technology.

IntelliNet Optimize Turns Hidden Costs Into Realized Savings

If you’re a CRE owner or operator, IntelliNet Optimize is your path to ongoing cost savings, not a one-time report that gathers dust. We find the hidden costs quietly draining your budget and show you exactly how to cut them now.

Here’s the truth: there’s a whole industry built on expensive finding but not fixing. Engineering firms charge tens of thousands for one-time audits that end with a long list of recommendations…and then they walk away. Software firms convince you they have the best technology since sliced bread, but you buy it only to soon realize you’ve bitten off more than your team can chew. You’re left holding the bag, trying to figure out how to implement changes across complex systems without clear guidance.

You don’t need another report. You need a partner.

That’s Where Our IntelliNet Optimize Service Is Different

We don’t add any tech to your buildings; we only need what you already have. As CRE tech experts, we get right to work through tech-enabled service. We (not you) x-ray building data, use advanced analytics to pinpoint inefficiencies, and pair that intelligence with our deep knowledge of how buildings work. The result? A clear, tactical plan to achieve real savings, and a team that actually helps you do it.

Take one example: at a one-year-old building, we are driving down operating costs through IntelliNet Optimize, and we found that all the air conditioning units were turning on at nearly the same time every morning. No one had ever noticed, but the data told the story. By simply staggering those start times, we uncovered over $28,000 in annual savings from demand peak management alone.

And we don’t stop there. IntelliNet Optimize is built as an ongoing service, not a one-time event. We meet with your property team regularly, review actions completed by our service, and lock in those savings for the long term. No extra fees. No guesswork. Just results that compound over time.

Because fixing problems once isn’t enough—staying optimized is where the real value lives.

IntelliNet Optimize Helps Your Vendors Perform Better, Too

Let’s face it, buildings are already complex. Then layer in all the people who touch them: mechanical contractors, lighting vendors, energy service providers, automation specialists…and the list keeps growing.

They’re all doing their part to maintain the building, but optimizing it? That’s a different challenge.

That’s Where IntelliNet Optimize Changes the Game

As a tech-enabled service, we help your vendors work smarter. Before they even show up, working with us, they can see how systems are performing, spot anomalies, and plan their work more efficiently.

We don’t replace your vendors; we make them more effective. Here’s how:

1. We collect and analyze real-time building data for a specific system, such as a self-contained unit (SCU), to identify optimization opportunities before onsite maintenance.
2. We collaborate directly with your vendors so fixes are coordinated and aligned while they are on site.
3. After work is done, we compare fresh performance data with the baseline, showing what improved, what didn’t, and what still needs attention.

The result? Vendors stop chasing symptoms and start solving root causes. You gain visibility, accountability, and savings that actually stick. When operational alignment improves, so does your net operating income (NOI), because optimized performance is just profitable.

Optimize Your Building Today

The reality is simple: buildings drift. Performance slips, systems degrade, and inefficiencies creep in, quietly draining value year after year. A one-time commissioning study can’t fix that, and property management teams don’t have the desire or time to become CRE tech experts.

IntelliNet Optimize can.

Our ongoing service is always curious and never satisfied that we have captured all the savings your buildings are capable of, boosting NOI and enhancing your tenants’ experience. It’s designed for simplicity. All we need from you is basic building info and secure remote access, then we handle everything, working with your team to decide and act. You don’t need to learn new technology. We’ll find what’s hidden, optimize what matters, and keep it that way.

Don’t leave money on the table.

Uncover your savings—and your building’s true potential—with IntelliNet Optimize.

It can happen in weeks, not months. For a nominal investment, start seeing results in 30 days.