As one of many industry-related niches in digital signage, the construction sector is certainly untapped. After a couple of conversations with various individuals within that industry, I have come up with several reasons why small digital signs would be helpful for those in construction management.

Those who work in construction are mostly likely familiar with the United States Green Building Council. The Green Building Council has something called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which is an internationally recognized green building certification system. The system provides for third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies for water efficiency, energy savings, CO2 emissions reduction, stewardship and resource sensitivity, and improved indoor environmental quality. From the org's website:

LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

LEED is flexible enough to apply to all building types – commercial as well as residential. It works throughout the building lifecycle – design and construction, operations and maintenance, tenant fitout, and significant retrofit. And LEED for Neighborhood Development extends the benefits of LEED beyond the building footprint into the neighborhood it serves.

There are three separate tiered levels of LEED qualification for every sector of building including: commercial interiors, core and shell, retail, new construction, healthcare, homes, and neighborhood development. The three tiers of certification are bronze, gold, and platinum. Each tier offers a differing level of compensation for the organization

How can digital signage be of assistance?

Increasing LEED points is a big deal for companies looking to be at the forefront of the environmental movement, but more importantly, the compensation available is nothing to be scoffed at. Thousands of dollars are given for those who can meet and exceed point levels and expand their business as an environmental leader.

We are currently working with two separate entities who are using digital signage to pull information from a live, updating database to display statistics on how well the team is doing on a "real-time" basis. This gives them real-time stats on what they can improve on to increase their LEED level of certification.

Small form-factor signage can also act as a method of educating builders on specific nuances of the LEED program. The sign can give daily tips on improving operations and give them a reason to change methods and performance. Using digital signage in this fashion would be similar to the signs used in manufacturing facilities for improving operations and performance. Those familiar with the industry know that manufacturer's use the screens with a similar motivation in mind.

There are currently 41 countries using LEED and the opportunities for improvement and compensation are vast. Using digital signage to increase LEED points is a way to effectively measure the ROI of a digital sign squabbling about the "sales lift" of a retail location.

Certified Distribution Partner set to swiftly increase SpinetiX sales, marketing, dedicated product training, customer and partner support

Lausanne, Switzerland and Beijing, China, January 12 2010: Strengthening its reputation for technology and innovation, Swiss digital signage manufacturer SpinetiX has appointed Beijing-based Avopo Technologies as Certified Distribution Partner (CDP) for China.

Avopo will distribute the award-winning SpinetiX HMP100™ Hyper Media Player. The HMP100 is the world’s first ever Hyper Media Player to be introduced and is able to completely replace PC based digital signage platforms. It utilizes open software standards, has an amazingly small footprint with a very practical feature-set.

“Not only will Avopo increase the accessibility of our HMP100 to Chinese companies, they will manage and develop the Chinese partner and customer channels. This includes the provision of dedicated customer-based training at their Beijing demonstration center, events support and project support for a wide variety of customers and markets in regional Chinese territories,” says Nikola Knezovic, Vice President of Sales of SpinetiX. “The partnership with Avopo Technologies is an exciting part of our business strategy to increase and strengthen our presence in China. We’re very excited about the huge potential of this market including the increasing demand for digital-out-of-home installations! With a proven track record in digital video and multimedia for large projects, the highly-experienced Avopo team is perfectly placed to take advantage of the current and future market conditions.”

The two companies have already gained some ground and Chinese market acceptance. Avopo and SpinetiX’ jointly exhibited at InfoComm China in November, 2009 where the HMP100 Hyper Media Player made its first ever debut. The bundled HMP100 player and HMD digital signage management software caught many visitors’ attention and some great leads and follow-up activity took place.

Excited about the potential of this product for the Chinese market, the last word goes to Alvin Guo, President of Avopo Technologies who says: “This new partnership is a very exciting opportunity for us and our Chinese customers. We are adding the SpinetiX’ solution to our already enviable Internet and wireless content management and display product ranges. We’ve also already demonstrated success at InfoComm China and working with the SpinetiX sales, engineering and marketing teams moving forward, I’m sure that both companies will ensure that a strong foundation is laid for a very exciting and successful future!”

About Avopo Technologies

Avopo Technologies was founded in early 2008 with its original name as ART Technologies. Initially it ventured into the provisioning of digital video solutions for surveillance to enterprise customers in China. Following the new investment injected in its portfolio in 2009, ART Technologies became Avopo Technologies with its extended business areas focusing on multimedia solutions to address the rapidly growing market need for centralized content storage and digital signage-Digital Out Of Home (DOOH). A seasoned management team with rich experience and strong background in multimedia is leading the company to envision and catch the wave of evolving technology of multimedia content distribution over the networks-both Internet and wireless platforms. Avopo partners with various global leading companies to provide the Chinese market with cutting-edge solutions. Find more on: http://www.avopo.com

About SpinetiX SpinetiX SA is a Swiss hardware manufacturer of professional digital signage hardware devices. Find more information about SpinetiX products at http://www.spinetix.com.

This week's CES report has been all abuzz with talk of the partnership for digital signs, Intel, and Microsoft. Other industry vendors have released news pieces which speak of their involvement with Intel and Microsoft. Essentially their work at CES was an attempt to take online to the out-of-home realm.

Putting digital signage in brick-and-mortar arena is not new, but the Microsoft/Intel collaboration means big business is getting more heavily involved in DooH. The Intel prototype is built to allow customers to use a multi-touch holographic display to virtually tour the store, find deals, read reviews, give feedback online, and shop for products online while still within the confines of the store itself. It integrates with social networking, blogs and mobile phones. Joe Jensen, general manager of Intel Embedded Computing Division said the following of the partnership:

"We designed the Intel Intelligent Digital Signage Concept to show that retailers can engage and interact with consumers in a more personal and compelling manner through new usage models such as augmented reality and interactive product explorations, which in turn could yield an increase in revenue and customer loyalty."

Finally, and perhaps the coolest part of the display is the built-in cameras that can do image analysis of consumers to determine gender, age, and clothing type being worn. This information, while somewhat of a Minority Report style of advertising, it does give the ability to tailor only types of clothing that is similar and that would fit the specific demographic being targeted.

Immediate feedback to advertisers does not always alleviate privacy concerns, but the software should be available by the second quarter of the year. It utilizes Intel's Core i7 processors, and Microsoft's Windows Embedded Standard 2011.

To run the digital signs, which use Intel's Core i7 processors, Intel turned to Microsoft for a version of its Windows Embedded Standard 2011 software optimized for digital signage technology. That platform is expected to be available in the second quarter of the year.