Melbourne-based Blue IoT has won an international facilities management award for its smart building platform Encompass Blue.

The platform won the Highly Commended Award of Excellence in FM 2020 at the Global FM (Facilities Management) Awards. Global FM’s members include the Facility Management Association of Australia and the International Facility Management Association.

Blue IoT pitches Encompass Blue as a smart cities platform suite that reduces energy costs and carbon footprint. It is designed to help facilities managers supervise and manage HVAC, lighting, hydraulics and other systems, and optimise health and safety in a sustainable manner from any device, anywhere. It integrates other open applications, wireless sensors, controllers, remote monitoring, automation and predictive maintenance capabilities.

The platform won the award for its use in the management of seven, 20-year-old HVAC systems in an office building owned by the City of Greater Dandenong. This enabled a 47 percent reduction in HVAC energy usage in the building, according to Blue IoT.

Nicholas Burt, CEO at the Facility Management Association of Australia, said: “As the building sector looks for innovative ways to decarbonise, Blue IoT has developed an advanced platform that will help facilities managers improve environmental performance, while also reducing costs.”

Blue IoT lists Equinix, Newcrest Mining, Accor and The University of Melbourne as some of its clients.

Blue IoT is a sponsor of the IoT Festival.