At the end of October, our team gathered in New York City with the Building Ventures Innovators Network, the BVIN, for our annual fall summit. Our audience—more than a hundred building industry professionals committed to championing innovation in our sector—kept these conversations going with thought-provoking questions that fueled our Q&As and spilled over into our networking breaks and our evening reception. As always, our team left the summit inspired by the passion in the room and motivated by the driven, dedicated individuals with us on a mission to create a better built world.
Mosaic CEO Salman Ahmad, YegaTech President Samaneh Zolfagharian, Placer Solutions Director Nate Fuller, UpCodes CTO Garrett Reynolds, and Building Ventures General Partner Travis Connors during the AI panel at BVIN Fall Summit 2024.
At the BVIN Fall Summit, we made an exciting surprise announcement for one of these driven, dedicated individuals. We presented Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer for BXP Jim Whalen with the Building Ventures Innovators Award in recognition of his commitment to supporting building technology and innovation, as well as fostering and growing a thriving smart building community, particularly in Boston. Jim has been a wonderful member of the BVIN and friend to our team here at Building Ventures, and we were glad to recognize his work—and relieved we were able to pull off the surprise.
Drawing new lines in NYC
On Thursday, October 26, 2024, we hosted the BVIN Fall Summit at The Standard, High Line in New York City. We gathered the BVIN in our home city of Boston in both 2022 and 2023, but heading back to New York—where many of our team members are traveling regularly—was important. With 1 million buildings, 780 million square feet of office space, and the tallest skyline in the US, New York City stands alone as an epicenter for construction technology and proptech alike.
With the aim of celebrating our location, we bookended the day with opening and closing keynote speakers who could offer insider views of the full building lifecycle in the city, from design and construction to operation and experience. To kick off the day, we heard from Eric Macfarlane, P.E., the first Deputy Commissioner for Infrastructure of the Department of Design and Construction of New York City. Macfarlane and his team are responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of roadway, sewer, water main, sidewalk projects, and more in all five boroughs of New York City. Currently, the DDC manages a capital portfolio of more than 800 projects in various phases, from planning, design, and construction, valued at more than $29 billion. With this oversight, Macfarlane was able to share the sheer magnitude of the challenges his department faces—not the least of which is safeguarding the city’s coastlines from the unpredictable impacts of climate change—as well as the crucial role that technology places in support of his mission to drive the transformative changes needed to address these challenges.
Eric Macfarlane, P.E., Deputy Commissioner of the DDC for New York City, delivering the opening keynote address at the BVIN Fall Summit 2024.
After our day of programming and networking, Michael Rudin, the Co-CEO of Rudin Management Company, delivered our closing keynote. Rudin oversees the daily operations of more than 15 million square feet of commercial real estate in NYC, making it one of the world’s largest privately owned real estate companies. In his address, Michael shared his perspective as an owner, his vision for commercial real estate, and an exclusive insider view of the company’s latest project, 350 Park Ave, a project with incredibly ambitious sustainability goals that is sure to make its mark on NYC’s ever-evolving iconic skyline.
Honoring Jim Whalen at the BVIN Fall Summit 2024
In addition to our keynote speakers, we had sessions exploring the front lines of AI innovation in the built environment, the fine line of balancing sustainability with growth, and the challenges of holding the line with cybersecurity. Our own Jesse Devitte moderated the cybersecurity fireside chat with John Jacobs, Chief Information Officer at JE Dunn, and Jim Whalen. Jim and John described how as buildings and job sites have become increasingly digitized and connected, this has amplified the threat level of cybersecurity attacks. Over the course of the conversation, they touched on the various strategies they have deployed to safeguard their mission critical infrastructures. After the lively exchange, Jesse thanked John and Jim for participating—and invited Heather Widman to the stage to help announce the Innovator Award.
The Building Ventures Innovator Award honors individuals who have driven meaningful change to create a better built world. Jim’s impact on the industry and his profession includes spearheading cybersecurity measures we heard about during the panel, but that’s only one example of his commitment to driving innovation across nearly every facet of building technology.
A core belief of ours at Building Ventures is that we can’t create a better built world alone—that’s why the BVIN is so important. With the Building Ventures Innovator Award, our aim is to not simply honor exceptional practitioners, but even more so highlight people dedicated to working as a community to usher in a better built world. Jim is an original BVIN member, and he has participated in almost all of our events since we launched the network in 2018. Additionally, Jim has championed our portfolio companies and served as a trusted advisor to our team. While we love to celebrate our team’s long-standing relationship with Jim, we know that this support is also a reflection of Jim’s character. At BXP, Jim has consistently advocated for the next generation of leaders, including current Chief Sustainability Office Ben Meyers (another BVIN member who credits Jim’s support in his career advancement). And beyond BXP, Jim is involved in a number of charitable organizations. For all of his work at BXP, and his admirable approach to supporting people and innovation in our industry, we were thrilled to honor Jim.
Building Ventures Partner Heather Widman presented BXP SVP and CTO Jim Whalen with the 2024 Building Ventures Innovator Award.
Plus, Jim is a native New Yorker turned Bostonian, so we knew this was the perfect setting. For all of these reasons, our team was thrilled to honor Jim with the Building Ventures Innovators Award at our BVIN Fall Summit 2024.
