The One With... the Engineer Turned AI Innovator and the 300-Year-Old Estate — Ranjeet Bhalerao & Simon Tranter

This episode is sponsored by MapMortar - the capital planning management tool that turns portfolio risk from a spreadsheet headache into a boardroom-ready capital plan in around 50% of the time and cost. Check out ⁠https://mapmortar.io Ranjeet Bhalerao left his consultancy job after a £100k study could model just 5 of 300 buildings. He founded MapMortar.io to fix that. Simon Tranter has to decarbonise nearly 900 mostly-listed buildings across Marylebone by 2040 — and he's the one actually using the tool.One sells the fix. The other tests it in the real world. Alex has never used it, so he asks the awkward question: does AI-led retrofit planning change what actually gets built — or just produce a better-looking version of the problem?In this episode:→ Why "stop counting, start cutting" is the whole argument→ The £100k study that modelled 5 of 300 buildings — and started a company→ Why no landlord wants another dashboard: "outcomes, not software"→ Modelling a building from just its address: maps, LIDAR, EPC data→ The head-to-head — AI model vs on-site consultant survey. How close?→ EPCs as a milestone, not a destination→ Sequencing retrofit to tenancy and refinancing — when sustainability is just asset managementTimestamps:[00:02:00] The decision dies in the meeting, not the modelling[00:03:00] "I've never used it — but Simon has." Why this isn't a pitch[00:09:00] From the Battersea Power Station retrofit to founder[00:11:30] The £100k study that could model only 5 of 300 buildings[00:16:30] "No landlord wants another software" — outcomes over dashboards[00:20:30] 14 prized assets surveyed — and why it won't scale to 900[00:39:30] Building a model from just an address: maps, LIDAR, EPC, GIS[00:42:30] AI vs the on-site consultant: results "came out very comparably"[01:00:00] Timing a boiler to a lease — and winning better refinancing rates[01:02:30] Buildings as products, and the one thing each would changeOrganisations mentioned:MapMortar, The Howard de Walden Estate, Arup, BuroHappold, Battersea Power Station, British Land, Imperial College London, Carbon13, University of Cambridge, UCL, IES, WSP, Max Fordham, CBRE, Climate Change Committee, Property Week, Yardi, CQuel.More about our guests:Ranjeet Bhalerao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjeet-bhalerao-5a549617MapMortar: https://mapmortar.ioSimon Tranter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-tranter-25814439Howard de Walden Estate: https://www.hdwe.co.ukFollow the show:🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-future-we-buildConnect with Alex:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexeddsRecorded at Podcast Rooms, 17 Hanover Square, London. Edited by Atalor. New episodes weekly.