Puuilo’s story is a real-world example of the EG PropCore ecosystem
EG MainManager and EG EnerKey are part of EG PropCore — two integrated property and energy solutions that share the same data foundation. When energy and property data talk to each other in the same system, anomalies don’t just stay observations — they turn directly into action. Property operations become more transparent and cost-efficient.
Puuilo is growing fast in Finland and will soon open its doors in Sweden as well. With 7 to 10 new stores opening every year, property maintenance and energy consumption can no longer be managed through emails and scattered folders or systems. EG MainManager and EG EnerKey brought a new way of working, and along the way uncovered some surprising savings opportunities.
Founded in 1982 as a carpentry workshop in Puolanka, Puuilo is today one of Finland's fastest-growing discount retail chains. The number of stores has already reached 60, more than doubling in five years. In the most recent financial year, revenue was €442.3 million, up 15.4% on the previous year. The goal is to reach 90 stores in Finland by 2030, while also expanding into the Swedish market. Behind this growth, according to Puuilo's property manager Juhani Kinnunen, lies a simple reason: customers need us.
This rapid growth also means dozens of properties whose maintenance, upkeep and energy consumption need to be managed consistently, whether it's the third store in Jyväskylä or a brand-new opening anywhere in Finland or the wider Nordic region.
Before working with EG, information about Puuilo's properties was scattered across the organization. Maintenance contracts, service descriptions and other important documentation lived in emails, folders, and in some cases only in the memory of key people. There was no single, unified view of the properties' status.
Tracking energy consumption was equally limited. Usage was essentially monitored only at a high level through invoices, which made it hard to spot anomalies or improve energy efficiency. Managing a growing property portfolio called for a centralized solution that could bring together data on properties, maintenance and energy consumption, and make it genuinely usable.
Kinnunen says that gathering the baseline data for the new system was a project in its own right. Over the years, contracts and documentation relating to the properties had ended up scattered across many different places, so pulling it all together took time and care. That groundwork is now done, and no time is lost searching for and compiling information.
Now that everything is finally in one place, we can focus on how we use the data from the system to develop our property management further.
The answer came once consumption readings became visible in EG EnerKey: two properties showed an anomaly that had previously gone unnoticed.
These were two separate properties where, alongside Puuilo, other tenants also operate. Heating consumption at these sites was unusually high, with energy costs up to three times higher than at comparable Puuilo premises of similar size. As Kinnunen explains:
Once we had the consumption figures from EG EnerKey, we started looking more closely into what was causing the anomaly. It turned out that another tenant in the property had significantly higher consumption relative to its floor area, due to a technical shortfall.
What made the case particularly interesting, however, was how the energy costs were being split. Costs weren't based on each party's actual energy use, but were instead allocated by floor area. In practice, this meant that even though the other tenant in the smaller space was consuming a lot of energy relative to its size, its share of the costs was determined primarily by square meters. Puuilo, with its larger footprint, ended up covering part of that excess consumption as a result. Kinnunen continues:
When we compared the costs at these two properties with equivalent Puuilo premises, the impact turned out to be significant: over the past ten years, we've paid a substantial amount in unnecessary heating costs at these sites. Without visibility into actual energy consumption, a cost split like this could easily have gone completely unnoticed.
The case clearly showed how difficult it is to judge whether a cost split is fair without visibility into actual consumption. When you have dozens of properties, and several tenants sharing the same building, anomalies and incorrect cost allocations can easily slip through unnoticed.
Puuilo has made similar observations elsewhere too. In multi-tenant properties, it's particularly interesting to see whether billing actually reflects real energy use. With EG EnerKey, Puuilo can now compare consumption systematically and make sure billing is based on actual usage.
EG MainManager stood out in a good way precisely because of what it doesn't have: unnecessary complexity. Compared to other digital maintenance logs, the system felt straightforward and practical right from the start. Different tasks are easy to define yourself, without needing outside consultants. Its configurability makes it possible to tailor the system to Puuilo's own needs, and everyday essentials — like logging service requests and confirming completed maintenance work — run smoothly.
The rollout followed Puuilo's own timeline. Once the baseline data had been compiled and enough information gathered, the actual launch went smoothly, and the benefits showed up quickly in everyday work, among other things in the form of properly logged service requests.
EG MainManager and EG EnerKey are already in use at Puuilo, and their use is being expanded step by step as new cities and sites come on board. This way, the system becomes part of everyday operations in a controlled manner, while ways of working can keep evolving based on experience.
Many property owners already use digital tools and actively track their data — but not everyone has gotten there yet, or their current system simply hasn't kept pace with a growing business. So what is it that sometimes makes the move to a better solution feel so difficult, even when the benefits are clear? According to Kinnunen, it's not just about growing pains at individual organizations, but a broader shift in how the industry operates: many are still stuck in a "this is how we've always done it" mindset, and it can be hard to justify a new system if you can't quite picture the concrete payoff in advance.
In a digital system, the same information is constantly up to date and visible at a glance. Inspections and findings are logged directly in the system, and the information is easily accessible to everyone who needs it. Within his own organization, Kinnunen made a very down-to-earth case for investing in the systems:
If we hadn't adopted modern digital tools, I'd need three more people just to keep up with this work.
This is exactly where Kinnunen sees the biggest benefit of digitalization: the system isn't just a new tool for doing the same old work — it allows the same work to be done more efficiently, more transparently, and with far less manual effort.
For EG EnerKey, no competing solution matched Puuilo's needs as comprehensively. What stood out in particular were its versatile features and the ability to put energy data to practical use in day-to-day property management.
In choosing EG MainManager, the deciding factors were ease of use, flexibility, the ability to maintain data without heavy processes, and a seamless connection to energy management.
The integration between EG MainManager and EG EnerKey gave Puuilo a combined solution where property maintenance and energy consumption no longer live in separate systems. According to Kinnunen, this was a major advantage compared to other systems. When maintenance and energy management data share the same information base, there's no need to move data manually between systems. Instead, the same data can be used directly in day-to-day property management and decision-making.
Puuilo's growth shows no signs of slowing. The goal is to open 7 to 10 new stores a year in Finland, while systematically building a presence in Sweden. Kinnunen sums up Puuilo's success neatly:
Customers feel they get good value for money with us, and that there's a little something for everyone in Puuilo's range.
As growth continues, property management needs to keep pace with it. EG's solutions offer a consistent way to manage a growing portfolio — in Finland, and increasingly in Sweden as well going forward.
Image source: Puuilo’s photo library
Puuilo’s story is a real-world example of the EG PropCore ecosystem
EG MainManager and EG EnerKey are part of EG PropCore — two integrated property and energy solutions that share the same data foundation. When energy and property data talk to each other in the same system, anomalies don’t just stay observations — they turn directly into action. Property operations become more transparent and cost-efficient.
Wondering whether your billing reflects your actual consumption, or whether your property data is scattered across different systems? Book a short, no-obligation conversation about your situation.