BrainBox AI: Making Green, Self-Operated Smart Buildings a Reality?

Can buildings think for themselves and make educated decisions on how to best operate? BrainBox AI believes they can. The company has developed technology that combines deep learning, cloud-based computing and algorithms to support a 24/7 self-operating building. BrainBox AI is the first artificial intelligence (AI) technology designed specifically for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) in commercial buildings.

 

BrainBox AI’s solution leverages AI to predict a building’s thermal load and enables the HVAC system to operate autonomously, in real-time, leading to significant energy and cost savings, a reduction in its carbon footprint and increased occupant comfort, all in less than three months.

 

“Our technology uses AI to study a building’s behavior, sending more efficient operating instructions to the HVAC system and modulating the building in real-time to resolve issues related to energy consumption, efficiency and occupant comfort,” explains CTO and co-founder Jean-Simon Venne.

 

“AI-powered autonomous buildings are the next disruptive innovation that will enable significant energy savings in the real estate space,” adds CEO and co-founder, Sean Neely. “BrainBox AI adds an extra layer of intelligence to the existing HVAC control system and enables buildings to move from being reactive to pre-emptive in the way these HVAC systems are managed. We are very excited to be developing our AI technology in collaboration with many partners including the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, IVADO, and Montreal-based universities such as École de technologie supérieure.”

 

In its pre-commercialization installations, BrainBox AI has demonstrated that it enables a 25-35% reduction a building’s total energy costs in less than 3 months and requires low to no up-front CapEx from property owners. It also improves occupant comfort by 60% and decreases the carbon footprint of a building by 20-40%. BrainBox AI’s system simultaneously delivers predictive HVAC maintenance capabilities including an easy-to-understand diagnostics dashboard that informs building managers ahead of time if a service issue is imminent, saving time and money.