Advertising Article.
Sense Monitoring Company specializes in safety solutions for the use of large flat roofs.
Interview with Artiom Komardin, Vice President of Sense Monitoring Company, engineer and winner of the 2022 Construction Wizard Award
Keeping up with the times the brand introduces new solutions and offers an advanced tool that provides commercial property managers with access to immediate information. As Artiom Komardin, Vice President of Sense Monitoring, emphasizes – we are constantly developing and doing everything we can to ensure that our customers can rest easy.
What is your history and experience in roof surface protection?
It all started in 2012, when I encountered the problem of maintaining flat roofs in winter. Then the idea for a solution to improve safety and automate the current process was born. However, it took more than five years to refine the idea and launch the new product, and then we officially launched in 2017. Since then, we have expanded our offerings with more proprietary products and roof safety services, which we have delivered to more than a hundred clients in Poland and Europe. We currently protect more than 3,000,000 sq. m. of flat roofs.
How large an area are you able to handle? Are there any limits?
So far, our largest segment has been warehouse and industrial facilities, often located in logistics parks or economic zones. I can mention Polish and foreign clothing brands, present in almost every shopping mall, which during the pandemic strongly focused on the e-commerce channel and built huge warehouses. With the knowledge that these companies care about the security of their building operations, we have also targeted commercial facilities. Our recent projects include large-format stores and shopping centers, where visitor safety is a top priority.
What types of risks do roofs with significant areas face today, and which ones do you deal with most often?
Almost everyone rightly associates snow with the dangers of flat roofs. However, in the retail industry there have been several serious accidents due to water on the roof. It is enough to mention the incident in Gniezno in 2012, where during a downpour the roof of one of the shops of a shopping center collapsed during the opening hours. Such are the effects of climate change. We are dealing with more violent rainfall and hail than we used to. Our mission is to educate both architects and managers in this area to avoid serious consequences. Another danger, but also an opportunity, are photovoltaic installations on rooftops. Here we provide the service of assessing the load-bearing capacity of the structure along with the safe deployment of the panels during the continued operation of the building.
How does your offering address the risks mentioned? To what extent are you able to support owners and managers of commercial properties?
Let’s start with water on the roof. In order to monitor whether it is flowing off the roof properly and not accumulating excessively, we have developed Sense DSW (from Water Storage Detection) sensors. They record water levels and alert the manager to check the patency of drains. Another solution is Sense S-One sensors, our flagship system for monitoring roof structure deflections from snow. It is also applicable for roof development with photovoltaic panels, when manual snow measurement is impossible. An important issue is the roof snow removal instructions that every large-scale building should be equipped with. The guidelines are prepared comprehensively, individually and taking into account the current legislation by the Sense Monitoring team of experts.
Moving with the times, you have developed an application called Sense Smart Roofs also known in the industry as Smart Roof. What opportunities does this solution offer potential customers and what needs does it address?
The current times are called the era of instant, or “right here, right now.” While it used to be possible to wait for a technician to go to the roof and deliver a report after a few hours , now everyone needs information immediately. Sense Monitoring Company fulfills this need with a mobile application called “roof on your phone”. The manager can check the condition of the roof at any time, without leaving his warm office or home. In addition, the property manager receives SMS, email and Push notifications, not only about the condition of the roof, but also about weather anomalies. Everything is done to prepare in advance for any dangerous weather conditions.
Why is it worth cooperating with Sense Monitoring? Which aspects of cooperation do you particularly highlight when talking to potential contractors?
Our mission is to become a world leader in the industry by learning about our customers’ needs and building tailored solutions. We add to this professional service and the quality of our products and services. As a team of experts, we are constantly developing, improving our products and developing new solutions. We are most pleased with the recommendations of business partners. Whisper marketing is the best confirmation that we are worth working with.
And what is the situation in the context of green roofs, such as the desire to install photovoltaic panels or implement so-called green roofs?
Renewable energy sources, RES, ESG, sustainable and green building have permanently entered the industry slang, and our solutions fit perfectly into this trend. For investors planning PV installations on their roof, we offer a roof load-bearing audit. In this type of study, we check the current structure and installations, make static calculations and choose such a scheme of panel placement that the roof can still be cleared of snow in the future. Incidentally, we suggest the previously mentioned Sense S-One monitoring system, which can inform about invisible loads, such as snow and ice under the panels or the weight of the green roof substrate when soaked with water. And that’s how we came seamlessly to the exploitation of green roofs. [Laughs]
What is the amount of financial outlay that customers should expect if they want to take advantage of the solutions you offer?
It all depends on the size of the roof and the number of buildings under it. We price each property separately, looking for the best solution for the structure. However, we try to make the system pay for itself after the first snowy winter. How do we do it? Well, our system reduces the number of snow removal actions, as well as the number of repairs to the roof after snow removal. However, not everything is converted into money. The safety of people, as well as the reputation of companies, has a completely different dimension, and repairing a reputation can take longer than repairing a roof. We do everything we can to ensure that our customers can rest easy, knowing that the safety of their roof is being taken care of by advanced technology.
