1. General

Category

Category

Real Estate

2. Project Details

Company or Institution

BrainBox AI Inc

Project

BrainBox AI

General description of the AI solution

BrainBox AI is at the forefront of the green building revolution with the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence technology for commercial HVAC systems. The AI-based solution turns reactive and inefficient commercial HVAC systems into predictive and self-adaptive ones in a matter of months. The solution allows building owners to reduce their property’s carbon footprint by up to 20-40%. With this reduction in emissions also comes up to 60% improved thermal comfort, up to 50% extended equipment service life, and up to 25% in energy savings.

BrainBox AI merges deep learning algorithms on existing HVAC functionality to automate the modulation of each component, a feature that is currently unique in the market. The solution leverages AI to predict building energy consumption at a granular level, enabling autonomous HVAC systems to operate buildings pre-emptively. Through the use of internal and external data, the AI-engine can predict the zone-by-zone temperature with 99.6% accuracy.

The natural next step in our evolution will harness the capacity of our core product to optimize HVAC energy use in individual commercial buildings and apply it to clusters of buildings and cities, rapidly speeding up our positive impact on the environment. Managing HVAC energy expenditure in grid-interactive buildings could greatly reduce the amount of energy consumed across entire networks of buildings, helping lighten the electrical grid load and dramatically reducing buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions.

Website

https://brainboxai.com

Organisation

BrainBox AI

3. Aspects

Excellence and Scientific Quality: Please detail the improvements made by the nominee or the nominees’ team or yourself if your applying for the award, and why they have been a success.

At BrainBox AI we pride ourselves on using the most advanced artificial intelligence available for application. Using a variety of different models and deep learning neural networks, among them Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and time series models, we look to go one step further. Our team is aware of the biases in the data used in machine learning, which is why we have begun incorporating physics in the extrapolation process. The application of our artificial intelligence has never been done before as we define a new market of HVAC optimization. Applying AI to buildings using HVAC data, external data (weather data), and soon going to incorporate utility companies’ needs as we continue to advance the industry. BrainBox AI has been able to understand buildings at new levels, identifying a way to bring grid-level optimization by leveraging our initial offering. This continuous innovation BrainBox AI is leading the charge of enabling higher use of renewable energy sources while eliminating the usage of gas turbine energy sources during peak.

When our team sets out to do research, they do so as an art, looking for ways to combine and apply existing artificial intelligence. We have a clear objective: ethically and effectively applying artificial intelligence to the built environment to save the planet from alarming climate events.
Recognized globally with features in the news and attendance at conferences, BrainBox AI was the only Canadian company chosen to showcase at the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference UK 2021 as well as being chosen as a Time Top 100 Invention of 2020.. Our technology has been commercially launched since May 2019 with patents pending approval.

Scaling of impact to SDGs: Please detail how many citizens/communities and/or researchers/businesses this has had or can have a positive impact on, including particular groups where applicable and to what extent.

Our solution directly impacts 8 of the 17 SDGs and looking at it from a bigger-picture perspective, has a domino effect on the other 9. One honest and reliable way we measure the solutions impact is through energy savings and tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq). By the end of 2021, our technology will have displaced 850,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Our current offering and upcoming innovation directly impact climate action, sustainable cities and communities, as well as responsible consumption. The solution reduces commercial buildings’ energy consumption and will also affect the grid level energy usage. The affordability of energy consumed will increase as the application of our AI reduces energy waste and increases the portion of energy coming from renewable sources. By applying the most advanced deep learning, BrainBox AI is able to make granular adjustments to the usage of HVAC equipment in a building to optimize its consumption. Just 2 years since launching to market, we have impacted more than 18 countries around the world. The solution is scalable worldwide due to its inclusivity and ability to remotely deploy in a vast number of commercial building types.

BrainBox AI will continue to have a strong influence on energy management thanks to its granular approach to energy efficiency, which has led to major partnerships with academic and government institutions. With the impact and global coverage the solution is currently experiencing, more companies will begin investing in R&D for energy optimization. As we encourage people to use our AI-based solution, we are also encouraging innovation and the application of AI towards SDGs.

Scaling of AI solution: Please detail what proof of concept or implementations can you show now in terms of its efficacy and how the solution can be scaled to provide a global impact ad how realistic that scaling is.

In less than two and a half years, BrainBox AI has impacted over 295 buildings and over 100M sq.ft. of commercial building space in more than 75 cities across the world. In just 3 months of implementing in a shopping center in Australia, for example, our solution helped avoid 93.8 tCO2eq emissions. Through our three integration options, BrainBox AI can be implemented in office buildings, multi-residential buildings, schools, retail, warehouses, hospitals, hotels, and other commercial building types. It doesn’t matter the country the building is situated in; we can remotely deploy the solution from our offices.

As BrainBox AI experiences a rapid rate of global adoption, the same rate cannot apply to finding the right human capital. Hiring top tier talent for the job takes time and is not something we are willing to rush. Due to this difference in rates, our team is developing a robust HR strategy to increase the speed at which we hire and meet our human capital needs.

BrainBox AI’s cutting-edge technology and rapid growth has led to numerous partnerships with academic and government institutions. These partnerships allow us to exchange on innovation, collaborate, and encourage the application of AI towards SDGs around the world. As we build from our current offering, we have partnered with key players to build a new application for AI on a grid-level. Our solution and company ensure honest and safe use of artificial intelligence, using industry standards throughout our process, addressing cybersecurity needs, and awaiting upon SOC2 TYPE 2 certification approval, BrainBox AI does not cut corners.

Ethical aspect: Please detail the way the solution addresses any of the main ethical aspects, including trustworthiness, bias, gender issues, etc.

Implemented in countries including Canada, Uruguay, United States, Thailand, Australia, Italy, Japan, Greece, Brazil, and more, we ensure we impact the entire globe. BrainBox AI is available worldwide due to the inclusiveness of the system architecture and the ease of implementation. As the global team follows the company values to not cut corners and practice safe coding, we make sure we offer an ethical and equitable solution. For these reasons, we have a quality assurance team and we assure clients of stringent cybersecurity measures. Our solution does not exploit any additional data than the thermal behavior of the building and can only control the HVAC system. Moreover, the solution does not lock building personnel out from their system and has an easy release of control at any time. The SAAS payment structure also keeps the solution equitable around the world. Companies in the developing world for whom a large CAPEX would not be economically sustainable, now have an opportunity to improve energy management cost-effectively. They are able to save money on their energy bill and allocate it in other aspects of their business.

Through the solution’s entire lifecycle, it and we remain lawful around the world complying with any laws specific to any country we touch. The solution’s robustness also remains the same globally with a well-designed system architecture that has algorithms specifically dedicated to safe operation and smooth execution as well as cybersecurity measures for all three connectivity options.