Business View Oceania | Volume 3, Issue 10

19 20 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 issue is that, while the glass is being cleaned, the window seals are not. So that dirty water sits on those seals, and over time it breaks them down. In order to tackle those challenges, we looked at brush technology, which has good applications overseas, but nobody has been able to build or develop a machine that takes that technology and does a better job than traditional abseiling. We have been able to achieve that, and have seen great success through our careful design and application of robotics technology.” While the Summit Building Wash Machine is not yet released to the public market, examples of its success can be seen via Summit BWT’s key partner, Wellington Airport. Summit BWT have worked with Wellington Airport consistently over the last five years to test their design, and the results have been exceptional. What would usually take three workers three days to complete has been shaved down to a single day of operation using the Summit Building Wash Machine, and the increase of quality and efficiency actually saves building owners money. In addition to reductions in labour and equipment costs, the machine requires only two operators and minimal intervention during run time; presenting a unique opportunity for building owners to save in every area. Summit BWT is currently a two-man operation, though the company is assisted by external contractors where necessary. Alongside Mr. Tomlinson as the company’s founder is mechanical engineer, Sam Clayton. Mr. Clayton also has experience in electrical engineering and has been a vital player in the design and development of the Summit Building Wash Machine. With funding from sister company JT Group, and more recent support from investment group Callaghan Innovations, the machine is well and truly up and running, and is almost ready for market deployment. Mr. Clayton speaks on the market machine itself. “We are in talks with Farra Engineering, a full-service engineering company here in New Zealand, about ways we can improve the machine to make it move around buildings a little easier before we go to market. Given that every building is different in terms of their architecture, we have been presented with some pretty unique challenges. For the moment we plan to service buildings that are a typical, straight up-and-down shape. But in the future, we are excited to develop new mapping and operations technologies that will allow us to clean the exterior of complex structures.” Summit BWT currently has a patent pending on their adhesion technology, the Façade Adhesion System. Mr. Tomlinson explains, “When we came up with this system, it was tested with the help of Wellington Airport. And for anyone that may have been there or worked there, they will know it’s an incredibly windy environment to be working in; it’s one of the windiest spots in one of the windiest cities in the world. So it has really been the ideal location for us to develop a technology that keeps our machine stuck to the building it’s working on, no matter the environmental conditions.” Another driver for the creation and implementation of the Summit Building Wash Machine is environmental sustainability. Summit BWT provides an eco-friendly solution that reduces over 85% of water use, and waste, compared to traditional exterior building wash methods, and operates via a fully electrical system fuelled by rechargeable batteries. The machine’s brush technology also eliminates the need for any harsh chemicals, which in turn eliminates any chemical run-off into stormwater drains and water reservoirs that may be located close to client structures. Mr Tomlinson shares that a significant challenge facing Summit BWT is the hesitancy of building owners to take on such a new technology. “Something we have really worked to overcome, and will need to continue to work towards, is having building owners come on board with us and our technology. The exterior building wash SUMMI T BUI LDING WASH TECHNOLOGI ES