Moneyball for Building Owners


Moneyball tells the story of the shift in thinking that delivered remarkable ROI for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. It is an apt model for building owners: What investments in building performance produce optimal lifecycle profitability?

Before Moneyball, evaluating baseball talent was largely subjective (just like assessing building performance). Supported by traditional stats such as batting average, scouts judged a player based on observation—“The kid’s got a good swing and a good eye for the strike zone” kind of thing.

Sabermetrics, the Moneyball system, changed that. It introduced new, objective, performance-based formulas for valuing a player’s contribution to his team. Experienced, expert human judgment remained the deciding factor, but Moneyball eliminated much of the individual scout’s guesswork.

Armed with this knowledge, the A’s knew where to invest their scarce payroll to get the greatest ROI. Because the approach clearly works, it has since spread to every team.

Now ECON gives building owners their own version of Moneyball. You will know:

  • The actual performance characteristics of each building, not only the operating systems, but also the envelope elements such as windows, doors, insulation, etc.
  • Where the improvement opportunities lie, prioritized by ROI, your business objectives, and current circumstances (capital budget, tenancy, tax incentives, manufacturer incentives, neighborhood factors, etc.)
  • The specific replacement/upgrade recommendations, including installed cost

And you can generate an updated set of recommendations or “what-ifs” whenever you need them throughout the life of the building.

That is why we call it Moneyball for Building Owners.