AirAdvice partners with NorthWrite on building energy efficiency

AirAdvice, which sells energy and air quality diagnostic technology, announced Thursday it will partner with NorthWrite Building Management Solutions to add ongoing monitoring and verification technology to its benchmarking product.

"We see benchmarking as an on-ramp," said Jim Crowder, Portland-based AirAdvice's CEO and president. "It's understanding how your building performs."

The partnership with Minneapolis-based NorthWrite will allow AirAdvice to expand its offering to building owners to include a regular schedule of energy use and performance monitoring. AirAdvice works through channel partners such as contractors and HVAC technicians to market its technology which is sold under the brand BuildingAdvice.

AirAdvice, founded in 1999 to tap the market for residential air quality monitoring, expanded into the commercial market in 2006 and learned that owners of commercial buildings cared more about monitoring energy use than monitoring air quality.

Crowder would not disclose revenue figures for AirAdvice, which has 20 employees and is backed by angel investors, but said that the commercial division has grown briskly in recent years as building owners looks to reduce their expenses in a tough economic climate.

"Sometimes a bad market is a good thing," he said. "The new raising rents is lowering operating costs."