Hyper-Intelligent Buildings Will Power the Next Metaverse

• Hyper active: Our future might include hyper-intelligent buildings that are able to draw data from the metaverse and an army of “human drones.”

• Don’t call me: Days after Keller Williams was sued for its telemarketing practices, Compass is also facing a new class action suit.

• Costly climate: Studies show the mounting costs of climate change already hitting the US economy.

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Perspectives

Hyper-Intelligent Buildings Will Power the Next Metaverse

The built environment is entering a new intelligence era: buildings will no longer just be modeled—they’ll model us back. Hyper‑Intelligent Buildings (HIB) are reshaping infrastructure into responsive systems that converse, adapt, and continuously optimize their energy, ESG compliance, and occupant comfort. Backed by real implementations—like Canada's federal projects using GPT‑powered building interfaces and real-time scoring platforms—this is not futuristic speculation but a seismic shift in how we interact with our most permanent assets.

Beyond standalone buildings, the logical next step is communities—Hyper‑Intelligent Communities (HIC)—where each structure is a living node in an AI-powered metaverse. Picture every building with its own avatar, acting as leasing agent, energy advisor, or compliance monitor. Visitors can tour virtually, tenants can trigger smart optimizations in real time, and auditors leave with blockchain‑stamped ESG certificates. This isn’t just integration—it’s orchestration of human, physical, and digital worlds working in harmony.

Scaling this vision isn’t about hiring more technicians—it’s about empowerment. Using “human drones” equipped with scanning tools and AI assistants, everyday people can generate live digital twins while training the AI in real-time. Around them, a tokenized economy pulses: small fees for floor plans, subscriptions for analytics, and market transactions between buildings acting as agents. The result? A new layer of digital real estate equity—buildings that earn, learn, and reward stakeholders—making intelligence an intrinsic, tradable component of infrastructure.

Cold Calling Is Getting Real Estate Brokerages Into Legal Trouble

One of the main ways that brokers find new clients is by reaching out to homeowners about selling their houses. This practice has been supercharged by technology that can help plan and execute huge outreach campaigns. While these large scale marketing efforts can be successful, they can also expose brokerages to litigation for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Earlier this week, a complaint was filed against Kellar Williams in New York over its telemarketing campaign. Now, a second lawsuit has been filed in Oregon, this time against Compass. Both suits accuse the brokerages of repeatedly contacting someone who "has no existing business relationship" with the companies. There is also a class action lawsuit being brought against Compass for all of the people it contacted who are listed on the national Do Not Call Registry.

The damages for these lawsuits could be in the millions. These kinds of damages are not going to bankrupt either of these large organizations but they will serve as a warning for other real estate companies when it comes to unsolicited outreach.

Climate Costs Near $1 Trillion Per Year—and the U.S. Economy Is Feeling It

The price tag for climate-related financial costs in the U.S. is nearing $1 trillion annually, a figure that now accounts for over 3% of the nation’s GDP, according to new data from Bloomberg Intelligence. What used to be an episodic financial jolt has become a persistent drag on the U.S. economy, acting as a “stealth tariff” on consumer spending.

The impacts are broad and compounding. In the past year alone, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton caused $113 billion in damage across Florida. January’s Los Angeles fires added another $65 billion.

Drawing on data from dozens of public sources, Bloomberg’s report estimates that disaster-related spending has reached $18.5 trillion globally since 2000. In the United States, the biggest drivers of disaster-related expenditures are insurance premiums, post-disaster repairs, and federal relief aid.

Until 2016, federal spending covered up to a third of climate-related costs, such as disaster prevention and recovery. That share has declined over the past few years to around two percent. With federal budget freezes and proposed cuts to disaster relief, this spending share will likely further diminish.

As the Trump administration weighs eliminating FEMA and reducing the federal role in disaster relief, the burden is expected to shift more heavily onto local governments. That could strain already vulnerable post-disaster economies, forcing municipalities to rely more on general obligation debt. 

Bond markets may lack the capacity or appetite to fully offset the retreat of federal support. In the absence of a strong federal backstop, disaster-prone regions will need to develop new financing mechanisms for recovery and long-term resilience, or risk being left behind.

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Propmodo Daily is written and edited by Franco Faraudo with contributions from readers like you and the Propmodo team.

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