Six months saved: Good Carbon Co.’s path to faster redevelopment with iGUIDE

Reviving Buffalo, one building at a time

Buffalo-based Good Carbon Co. is revitalizing historic buildings into modern, carbon-neutral communities. With architecture, property management and leasing under one roof, the team needed a faster, more accurate way to measure, document and showcase properties at scale.

“We want to make Buffalo a more energy-efficient, sustainable community by revitalizing historic buildings into comfortable, modern apartments. We love this city, and we’re committed to giving its beautiful architecture the care it deserves,” says Richard Ries, an Architect at Good Carbon Co.

The team behind the story

Ten guys, one tape measure and a lot of mistakes 

When Good Carbon Co. was looking to acquire 1,500 apartment units across 40 buildings in a short period, due diligence required every unit to be measured. Doing it by hand would have been impossible.

"Prior to iGUIDE, measuring a 100-unit building meant 10 guys on site, lots of mistakes and pulling our construction staff off other projects." — Richard Ries

The commercial real estate team faced the same inefficiencies before iGUIDE.

“I’d be lasering across the room and yelling ‘13 feet, 20 feet!’ while my coworker scribbled it down. That was our system.” — Patrick Hannon

iGUIDE changed that system overnight. Two teams could scan simultaneously and complete the work fast enough to keep up with acquisitions.

From weeks to hours: scanning smarter

With just 1–2 staff, Good Carbon scans entire buildings in hours, not weeks. Capture → upload → CAD/Revit files and 3D walkthroughs returned within days.

Instead of squinting at hand-drawn sketches, Richard now gets consistent, accurate floor plans complete with reflected ceiling plans.

"It was very tedious work to go through and identify all the light fixtures, electrical layouts and such. iGUIDE includes the reflected ceiling plans, which is a huge time saver for us." — Richard Ries

Why Kleenex isn’t always the right tissue

When evaluating scanning technology, Good Carbon compared Matterport and iGUIDE. Matterport was a familiar brand, but it didn’t fit their needs.

iGUIDE features that flipped the script

• Data efficiency: delivers massive amounts of data without adding extra overhead
• Reflected ceiling plans: as an add-on deliverable
• Real-time Tagging: to highlight smoke/CO₂ detectors or document pre-existing damage
• Durability & battery life: survives drops, bumps, even a car-roof incident
• Ease of training: staff scanning confidently after 10 minutes of videos
• Cost-effectiveness: lower barrier to entry; ROI in the first week

“iGUIDE is so much simpler—you scan, and the plans come back ready to customize. Even staff with little technical background were scanning confidently after 10 minutes of training. It stood out as the most cost-effective option, letting us get started without breaking the bank and costing about the same as outsourcing.” — Richard Ries.

Snapshot of Good Carbon Co.’s workflow

iGUIDE supports the full project lifecycle for Good Carbon Co. Teams can capture hundreds of units quickly with minimal staff, receive CAD and Revit files in just days, collaborate easily with consultants anywhere, and rescan post-renovation to market properties with clean 3D tours and floor plans.

Square footage: credibility that pays

For Good Carbon Co.’s business to function, documenting accurate square footage is critical.

"In our company, accuracy can mean thousands of dollars. Even a difference of 50 square feet impacts our energy work, savings and carbon goals. Everything depends on precise measurements." — Chris Klem

For real estate deals, iGUIDE’s precision means the ability to confirm and defend square footage, creating a credibility engine.

Competitive edge

The speed and accuracy that iGUIDE provides helps Good Carbon Co. build trust with owners, consultants and clients. Few other firms in Buffalo are using this technology.

“I’ve worked at several architecture firms, and most sub this work out. With iGUIDE we’re a one-stop shop — it speeds up our process, helps us recall details later, and gives us a leg up on the competition.” — Richard Ries.

Doing such a high volume of projects, it’s helpful that months later teams can revisit iGUIDE scans to refresh their memory and spot issues before they become costly.

Confidence built in: support, training and durability

Training new team members on iGUIDE was simple. Anyone could scan after 10 minutes of training videos, keeping projects moving. And when help was needed, the iGUIDE support team was there — with real humans on the other end.

Durability and security reinforced confidence. When a camera was stolen, it was useless to the thief without iGUIDE authorization and turned up the next day. Day to day, cameras survived bumps, drops, even being left on a car roof — and still scanned.

“It’s reliable. Durable. That thing gets beat up and it still works. It’s a beast.” — Patrick Hannon.

Good Carbon Co: humble, hungry, smart... and building Buffalo’s future

The real success here isn’t the tech itself — it’s how Good Carbon Co. is redefining redevelopment in Buffalo. With iGUIDE, they honor historic architecture, tackle massive projects in record time, and work smarter than firms still relying on tape measures and hand sketches.

“This is the wave of the future. Every company needs to work this way.” — Richard Ries

By measuring faster and planning smarter, Good Carbon Co. is proving redevelopment can be efficient, accurate, and community-driven — paving the way for Buffalo’s next chapter, and living their values: humble, hungry and smart.

See how iGUIDE helps teams measure faster, plan smarter, and build with confidence.

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