In the heart of Riyadh, a city unlike any other is rising from the desert — a brand new smart metropolis built with cutting-edge infrastructure, sustainability targets, and long-term operational planning in mind. Among the consultants shaping this ambitious project is Douglas Noon, a Facilities Management Consultant working with CNS Ltd, whose work spans continents and sectors, from hospitals in the UK to national museums and energy plants across the Middle East. And accompanying him on every project? A set of dependable Tinytag data loggers — compact, rugged devices that have quietly become one of his most trusted tools.

CNS Ltd and the New Smart City in Riyadh

Douglas is a technical consultant specialising in hard services and facilities management (FM). Working with CNS Ltd, his role centres around helping large organisations set up the systems they need to manage and maintain buildings effectively - from planned preventative maintenance (PPM) schedules to condition monitoring, technical audits, and SOP development. "I'm one of the hard services technical consultants," Douglas explains. "We use standards like SFG20 and software like Maximo to get our clients set up properly and efficiently."

His latest assignment has taken him to Murabba, a visionary city district being constructed in the centre of Riyadh as part of Saudi Arabia's 2030 Vision - a massive national project to diversify the country's economy and develop new, sustainable urban environments. "It's a new city being built," says Douglas. "We're getting the buildings set up on Maximo and sorting out all the preventative maintenance strategies in advance."

In a development of this scale and complexity, having detailed data and environmental insight is essential - and that's where Tinytags play their part.

A Toolkit That Travels the World

Douglas has been using Tinytags for years, and not just in Riyadh. "I bought about 20 of them," he says, "and I've taken them everywhere I've worked - Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and now Saudi Arabia." They've even been deployed closer to home, including the National Museum of Scotland and Coventry Hospital's CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit.

The devices help him monitor both temperature and electricity usage within buildings - vital metrics for optimising energy performance, identifying inefficiencies, and achieving savings. "Energy savings within buildings is a big part of what I focus on," he says.

It's a straightforward yet powerful use case: deploy compact, reliable loggers to monitor environmental conditions and usage patterns, analyse the data, and inform long-term maintenance or energy decisions. In facilities management - especially at the scale Douglas works at - the impact of these insights can be substantial.

What Makes Tinytags Stand Out

With so many miles and such diverse environments under their belts, what is it about Tinytags that makes them a mainstay in Douglas's toolkit?

"They're just so simple to use," he says. "The software is excellent. You can set them up in seconds, whether you're pulling data in every few minutes or every hour. You download the readings, export them to Excel, and create graphs with ease."

Simplicity and speed are critical in Douglas's world, where projects move fast, and downtime is costly. The Tinytag Explorer software's user-friendly design enables teams to get up and running with minimal training and retrieve meaningful data without jumping through technical hoops.

He also highlights the value of affordability: "The price of them as well - they're not that expensive. For the jobs I use them on, I think they're really well priced."

A Trusted Companion in Facilities Management

What stands out most in talking with Douglas is how naturally Tinytags have become part of his professional routine. They're not the focus of the story - but they're essential to how the story gets told.

"Everywhere I go, I tend to tell people all about them," he says. "I've introduced them into multiple organisations now."

It's this kind of word-of-mouth trust and real-world usage that makes case studies like Douglas's so powerful. While Tinytags may not be the headline, they're supporting the work of engineers, consultants, researchers, and technical teams across sectors - helping them deliver data-driven decisions and ensure building performance in complex, global environments.

Looking Ahead: A Story Still Being Written

Douglas is due to return to Riyadh shortly, continuing his consultancy work in Murabba and supporting the evolution of one of the world's most forward-thinking urban projects. He's also promised to share photos of Tinytags in action on site - a welcome addition to what's already an impressive journey for both Douglas and his trusted fleet of data loggers.

As for recognition? "I should be getting commission," he laughs - and while that may be a stretch, we certainly think he qualifies as a true Tinytag ambassador.

Want to Learn More?

Explore how Tinytag data loggers can support your organisation's facilities management, energy monitoring, or compliance strategy at here.