AI is hot right now, but it's also being used to cool down buildings

With the approach of summer and a steady growth in the return of workers to offices, artificial intelligence could be an emerging solution in the space of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for buildings.

Sam Ramadori, CEO of the Montreal-based BrainBox AI, says, “Cars have a natural replacement cycle. The problem with buildings is that they are there already, they have a super long life and each of them is unique. Right away the big problem is how do you, at scale, make a massive reduction in energy consumption in the millions of buildings around the world.”

Companies like BrainBox AI are now using AI to make HVAC systems more predictive and intelligent. The AI-driven systems use numerous factors including outside weather, forecasts, the type and cost of energy being used at different times, emissions from that energy, and occupancy to optimize a building’s energy usage and to lower emissions.

“What’s exciting is this brain that you can plug into the building and say well, 'I know more than just what the thermostat is saying, I know that today it starts out being sunny and then it’s going to be cloudy in two hours, so why do I need to air-condition the rooms aggressively when I know they’re going to cool down naturally?' That brain up there that sits on every building we install in, that’s an entirely new capability that’s only possible with autonomous AI.”