Another outstanding year!
It has been another outstanding year for Prefect with strong sales, and a sense of newness in terms of new customers, new people, new sectors and the development of new products and software.
One thing that isn’t new is the drive, determination and commitment from the Prefect team to deliver exceptional service and performance to our customers. Your acceptance and belief in the way our products will strive to drive down costs, reduce waste, and increase operational efficiency is testament to the determination we have in providing the best possible technology.
Validation for our efforts this year came in another acceptance onto The Energy Technology List and no fewer than 8 finalist nominations in our industry’s awards. MORE about the ETL.
Significant projects – Irus
• Cathedral Park – First ControlSensors installed
The launch of ControlSensor was the culmination of 3-years work and demonstrated a real team-effort from the Prefect team. Packed with new features and a sleek new look ControlSensor brings all the benefits of its predecessor but opens up a whole new era for Irus in terms of Control. Visibility. Intelligence.
• Guildford Plaza – First BTR project
Irus has expanded beyond purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) into new sectors, including Build-to-Rent (BTR) and Co-living, where intelligent control, efficiency, and sustainability are vital for both operators and residents. Guildford Plaza is a flagship co-living development, comprising 301 studios and shared apartments. Irus manages space heating and provides precise metering through UtilityMeter, tracking electricity, water, and heating usage at the individual room level, delivering accurate and transparent utility data to operators.
MORE about how BTR benefits from Irus
• The Rex – Amro Partners – BREEAM Outstanding
The Rex is a co-living development in Kingston-upon-Thames, owned by AMRO Partners. Comprising 212 studio apartments, it was built to a very high specification as a highly sustainable building, targeting BREEAM Outstanding certification. The Irus building services control and monitoring ecoSystem was specified to manage heating energy and provide detailed reporting on hot and cold water, as well as electricity consumption, at the individual room level.
Significant projects – ecoStat
• Brentwood Boarding House – Brentwood School
ecoStat, our local control system, has remained the backbone of our product sales throughout the year. It was recently specified in a modern student accommodation development, the new Boarding House at The Brentwood School. The 122 ensuite bedrooms, along with communal study and living areas, have been designed with energy efficiency at the forefront.
ecoStat allows occupants to adjust room temperature for personal comfort. Should they open windows or leave their room vacant, the system automatically reduces heating input, minimising energy consumption while maintaining a comfortable environment.
Irus installations
The Projects Team at Prefect have had a very busy year all over the UK, surveying, installing, and commissioning.
Some numbers from the portal:
• 10,000 controls added to the portal
• 88,500 controls on the portal in total
• 192 sites controlled by Irus
• 1.2 million user activities on the portal
• 26 million status updates EVERY DAY
• 15 Terabytes of archive data
No other organisation has access to this amount of data from multi-occupancy buildings such as student accommodation and hotels.
New customers
We have added a number of new customers to our books this year. Property owners, Investors, Asset Managers and Operators.
Events
This year we listened to and met a number of inspirational and insightful people at several events.
In April we attended the AUDE (Associtaion of University Directors of Estates) Annual Conference in Cardiff. In September it was the turn of the AUDE Showcase event in Nottingham. In October the BISNOW Student Summit, and the BTR Rental Living Insights Event hosted by QX Global took us up the Shard for a fascinating insight into this evolving sector. Portugal called in November with a trip to Lisbon for the Class Foundation Annual Conference. Also the Building tomorrow: Tech-driven Build to Rent event a Samsung KX.
Finally, November saw us at the Property Week Student Accommodation Conference, where we exhibited and welcomed many faces old and new.
Product news
ControlSensor
If you follow Prefect, it will have been difficult for you not to be aware of ControlSensor, our all-new room control with integrated sensors launched this year!
LED touch-screen, microwave occupancy sensor, Direct-to-Room communication for messaging, nudges and instructions, and integrated Bluetooth connectivity are just some of the features that make Irus the market leader in multi-occupancy building services management.
A priority for us this year has been the development of our bespoke software tools on the Irus Portal.
Optimiser, the prioritised ‘to-do’ list was launched last year for SpaceHeat, but this year has been extended to include SmartTank and LeakDetect.
These two Irus ecosystem modules now provide information on Energy Use, Water Safety, High Consumers – Water/Energy, Leaks, Valve test failure, overrides etc. among other insights. The vast datapoints are analysed and transformed into comprehendible guidance. By tackling these tasks first greater efficiencies can be realised. Keep a look out for Optimiser+HobSensus, UtilityMeter and WaterSense during 2026.
Alerts
Aligning the Alerts and alarms generated by Irus with our software tool’s observations and guidance has been standardised, rationalised, and simplified. Making the system more intuitive.
Determining the severity of an issue, it sends instant notifications when urgent attention is required – i.e. instances where issues may impact Health and Safety or building damage. Less urgent alerts are included on a daily report – e.g. the use of supplementary heaters, or hot water flowing through a tundish.
Monthly Condition Reports keep operators informed of technical issues that may have arisen such as sensor faults, valve tests, network failures or offline nodes.
Newbies and Movers
Joel Windsor
Joel joined the team in July taking on the role of Sales Coordinator, supporting the Sales, Project Management, and Customer Services teams. His enthusiasm to learn the ropes, his can-do attitude, and commitment to customer satisfaction are valuable assets that have helped him to quickly become a valued team member.
Tom Wallace
Tom arrived in September becoming the latest member of the Project Management team. Tom has enjoyed a steep learning curve and as a Project Engineer is well versed in everything Irus. From surveys to fixing niggling idiosyncrasies on site he ensures the Project team deliver timely and efficient installations.
Tracy Drummond
Tracy has become our Internal Account Manager.
Jenny Holmes
Jenny has become our Office Manager.
Awards Season
During 2025 ControlSensor+Irus has been nominated a finalist in the following award categories:
• Electrical Industry Awards – Industrial Commercial Product of the Year
• ECN Awards
– HVAC Product of the Year
• ECN Awards
– Smart Buildings/Sustainability Product of the Year
• Property Week
Student Accommodation Awards
– PropTech Solution of the Year
• Property Week
Student Accommodation Awards – Innovation Award
• Energy Saving Awards
– Energy Management system of the Year
• Energy Saving Awards
– Smart Building Product of the Year
• Energy Saving Awards
– Commercial Heating Product of the year
And the award goes to… ControlSensor+Irus
• WINNER – Electrical Industry Awards – Industrial Commercial Product of the Year
• WINNER – Energy Saving Awards – Energy Management system of the Year
• WINNER – Energy Saving Awards – Smart Building Product of the Year
• HIGHLY COMMENDED – ECN Awards – Smart Buildings/Sustainability Product of the Year
…And huge congratulations to our clients:
All of the below were winners on the night at the Property Week Student Accommodation Awards
Thanks to all our customers, partners, and of course the Prefect Team for making 2025 such a success.
We wish you all a happy Christmas and a healthy, prosperous new year!
