The Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in a building are its biggest energy guzzlers.

According to the UN Environment Program, the buildings sector accounts for a whopping 38% of global carbon emissions. The Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit energy efficiency advocacy group, says buildings account for about 40% of all U.S. energy consumption and a similar proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Drilling deeper, it is estimated that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for 45% of all energy consumed in commercial buildings. Tragically, as much as 30% of this is usually wasted. (Power)

However, there are now AI-based solutions available to get a handle on HVAC energy consumption. BrainBox AI, which is based in Montreal, Canada, uses artificial intelligence to learn a building’s energy “equations” and then to control them for maximizing energy savings without compromising on residents’ comfort.

BrainBox AI’s autonomous technology for commercial HVAC

“We’ve developed an autonomous artificial intelligence technology that applies to commercial buildings in order to render their heating and cooling needs, which is typically the single largest consumer of energy in a building, and to make those much more efficient and certainly much more flexible to outside demands and occupant demands,” says Sam Ramadori, president of BrainBox AI.

Typically, BrainBox AI takes 6-8 weeks to collect data on the building and its various zones. The data includes outside temperature, fan speed, occupant density, and more.

The AI engine can thereafter identify energy patterns and create equations for each zone, and then build an overall energy profile.

Working with the building’s energy profile, the AI engine then combines the energy equations with deep learning and time-series data to calculate how the building’s various zones would react to a change in their environment.

These predictions allow the engine to determine the optimized way to manage energy consumption in each zone. The BrainBox AI engine then instructs the controller of the existing HVAC system to make changes accordingly.

Over time, the AI engine learns from all the data and becomes smarter. Energy savings and efficiency, therefore, grow better with time.

Best of all, the system requires no human intervention and reacts to environmental changes immediately to maintain energy efficiency and the comfort of the tenants.

“We are cutting energy consumption in a building typically by 20 to 25% – so it’s a large reduction – and we do so without turning one screw, which makes it super exciting and powerful,” says Ramadori.

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