by Rick Szcodronski, Chief Product Officer, Willow We are quickly moving towards a world where AI agents help solve the resource and skill constraints facing facility operations while reducing ballooning energy costs. But successfully disrupting the status quo in how facilities in the built environment have been operating for the past few decades starts with … Continued

From hospitals and airports to stadiums and university campuses, organizations in the US lose on the order of $50 billion annually due to unplanned downtime in their facilities. This figure includes mechanical equipment failures in HVAC systems, outages, process disruptions, emergency repair costs, and downstream impact. Consider the chain reaction triggered when a single air … Continued

The Joint Commission (TJC) accredits 22,000+ organizations including 4,000+ hospitals. For many, the survey remains one of the most demanding operational challenges in healthcare. It’s difficult to maintain continuous readiness across clinical operations, facilities management, life safety, and emergency preparedness. The standards are rigorous, expectations are high, and consequences of noncompliance are significant. But the … Continued

Every commercial building functions as a complex ecosystem, constantly generating data across systems and assets. Willow helps organizations harness this crucial raw data and transform it into contextual intelligence and measurable operational outcomes. As a companion experience, Willow Copilot gives stakeholders a conversational way to answer questions that matter. Willow Copilot simplifies daily workflows. Technicians … Continued

From badge swipes for building access to Wi-Fi connectivity logs with device and user-identifiable information, facilities constantly generate sensitive data. This spans areas like occupancy, energy usage, maintenance, and asset performance. While it’s critical for optimizing operations, reducing costs, and enhancing occupant experience, it also introduces security risks if not properly protected. Security incidents and … Continued

Fast, data-driven decision-making is essential in understanding how buildings, operational systems and maintenance teams are performing. Today, thousands of data points from equipment health to energy usage to contractor performance make managing properties feel like navigating a labyrinth. Traditionally, pulling this data together for planning and action has meant time-consuming reports and manual analysis. But with … Continued

Refrigeration cases and cooling systems consume roughly 1.3 quadrillion BTUs annually, accounting for about 7% of all commercial energy use in the U.S. From pharmacies and retail stores to healthcare labs, refrigeration ensures safety, compliance, and operational continuity. Yet, these systems are complex, energy-intensive, and can account for up to half of a facility’s total energy footprint. When refrigeration … Continued

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is critical when thousands of people gather in environments like airports, hospitals, university campuses, and stadiums. These spaces experience rapid fluctuations in occupancy, which can lead to spikes in CO₂ levels and other pollutants. Traditional HVAC systems often operate on fixed schedules or assumptions, making it difficult to respond dynamically to … Continued

In modern building management, Willow offers Skills, intelligent rules that monitor and analyze asset performance. Insights are the actionable results these Skills generate. Together, they are vital for identifying issues or optimizing operations, and ensuring a safe, efficient environment. Buildings can now evolve from reactive monitoring, overcoming challenges like missed inefficiencies and delayed responses to … Continued

Did you know that Americans spend approximately 90% of their lives in indoor environments? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency first shared this finding back in 1994 with the National Human Activity Pattern Survey and since then, the figure has inched upwards. A more recent study published in 2024 in the Journal of the American Planning Association shows … Continued

In today’s facility operations, increasing operational efficiency requires the most powerful lever available: workforce productivity benchmarks. Metrics such as First-Time Fix Rate (FTFR), technician utilization, and repeat visit reduction directly influence cost and performance. Customer data shows that labor costs can account for up to 80% of operating budgets. With nearly 50% of skilled professionals … Continued

The energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation as both buildings and grids evolve towards bi-directional energy exchange. At the heart of this shift is the first step of grid awareness, where buildings monitor and understand their energy usage, and balance loads internally for power optimization. Over time, we envision all buildings becoming grid interactive, … Continued