Artificial Intelligence Steps In to Lower Carbon Footprint of Buildings
Property companies are increasingly offering AI energy software to help cut the greenhouse-gas emissions of buildings
3 min
Artificial intelligence is starting to help buildings go greener.
Keeping our buildings running contributed roughly 26% of global energy-related greenhouse-gas emissions in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. For the world to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the agency says the energy that these buildings consume per square meter (around 11 square feet) needs to decline by around 35% by 2030.
Developers and construction companies have pursued more-efficient energy use in buildings over the past couple of decades. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certifications are given to buildings that meet standards that conserve energy, water, waste and other environmental goals.
Governments are also introducing increasingly stringent energy codes for commercial spaces. Still, more than 80% of buildings don’t have smart systems to efficiently manage their energy use.
JLL, which manages billions of square feet of commercial real estate around the world, has been making a string of investments to bring AI systems to companies looking to cut their emissions. The business case: Eco-friendly buildings charge higher rents and are on the market for less time. JLL says it expects 56% of organisations to pay a premium for sustainable spaces by 2025.
“We want to make every building out there as smart as it can be,” said Ramya Ravichandar, JLL Technologies’s vice president, technology platforms—smart and sustainable buildings. “If you can’t measure what matters, you can’t make the change.”
JLL’s investments include in Turntide, a company based in Sunnyvale, Calif. that installs electric motors coupled with small computers which learn from patterns to more precisely control heating and cooling, and Envio Systems, a Berlin-based company that develops sensors to track a building’s use, occupancy and other factors to adjust lighting, cooling and similar energy-related activities.
“Do I need to keep the lights on? Do I need to turn off the air conditioning on floor three because the entire company is working from home this week?,” Ravichandar said. “If you have a system, it is relentless and constantly processing this information.”
Generally, AI building systems learn from historical patterns and the daily habits of occupants to predict and power things on and off. For instance, software and hardware that automatically manages lights, heating and cooling can help buildings cut 20% or more of their yearly energy use.
Nevertheless, hurdles remain to installing more AI systems, including gathering data from a wide range of sources in buildings, such as sensors, which often aren’t interconnected enough. “Retrofitting existing buildings with such sensors and infrastructure, as well as ensuring consistent data quality, can be resource intensive,” Ravichandar said.
Not enough data
AI has big potential to cut the emissions of buildings, but it is only as good as the data it learns from. Only 10% to 15% of buildings have the equipment or systems in place to gather the data needed to support AI, said Thomas Kiessling, chief technology officer of Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “AI in buildings works if you have the data,” he said. “Bad data means you can’t do any kind of schedules, rules or more sophisticated use cases around artificial intelligence. You have to have the data.”
Siemens uses AI to compare one building to a thousand similar buildings to predict what the energy savings could be after an upgrade to a smart-energy management system.
“Even if you just know the address of that commercial building, and maybe you have the energy bill, and maybe you have some high level information of what kind of HVAC brand the building uses, that is these days enough to compile a profile of the building with respect to what is likely you could reap,” Kiessling said.
Otherwise, lower-cost sensors, such as for lighting and cooling, can help save energy for companies that don’t have a sophisticated management system.
Venture-capital firm Fifth Wall’s $500 million fund is focused on decarbonising buildings and invests roughly a third of its money in startups with some kind of AI offering, both in software and hardware, the fund’s co-manager Greg Smithies said. A bigger focus is using more sustainable materials, such as concrete and steel made with renewable energy.
Smithies says AI can help with quickly and cheaply identifying where it makes economic sense to upgrade buildings, fill out permits that vary between countries, draw up mock-ups of designs and come up with chemistry for sustainable materials.
“The main message overall is we’re not going to save the planet with software, and AI is software,” Smithies said. “But AI is an interesting piece of the puzzle.”
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After half a century in the same hands, The Palladium blends Art Deco heritage, cinematic history and beachfront living in one extraordinary offering.
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In Sydney’s Northern Beaches, there are plenty of homes with a multimillion-dollar view and an enviable position close to the sand.
This unique listing has all that, but it has also earned its page in the local history books.
After 50 years in the same hands, The Palladium in Palm Beach—once a famed dance hall, then a restaurant, a private residence, and an artists’ studio—is now back on the market with a price hopes of $13.5 million through BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach.
Positioned in a rare corner spot where Ocean Rd meets Palm Beach Rd, The Palladium has been front and centre observing the famous sandy stretch for almost a century.
Built in the early 1930s, the Art Deco building was originally conceived as a vibrant community dance hall; the “it” place to be for young folk during Sydney’s thriving interwar period.
Often the dances were held to raise money for the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club, and newspaper reports of the time told of rowdy parties lasting until the early hours, bootleg liquor arrests, and where shorts and sandals—or even pyjamas—were scandalously worn by “both sexes”.
Over the decades, The Palladium has worn many hats.
By 1943, the original owner, Joseph Henry Graham, had defaulted on his loan, and a mortgagee sale reportedly sold the building for £1550, which translates to about $137,000 today. It later became a dining space and a general store run by the Milton family. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the property was also home to the Blue Pacific Restaurant.
The current owners acquired the keys in 1976 when it began its next chapter as a creative hub. One of today’s vendors, filmmaker David Elfick, who has been a filmmaker and producer on such films as Newsfront and Rabbit-Proof Fence, has told stories of a free-spirited creative hub that has been used for film sets, to store numerous movie props, as editing rooms, to hold countless parties and has even hosted visiting members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
From its famed beachside soirees to its grassroots film club nights, the venue has become woven into the cultural fabric of Palm Beach.
Today, that rich history has been reimagined into a coastal home that honours its past while embracing contemporary beachside living.
Built in a unique architectural style known as streamline moderne, the aeroplane hangar-like building reflects the era’s fascination with air travel, mass transport, and modernity. The facade is defined by a sweeping curved roofline and subtle nautical cues.
The main residence features a vast central living space framed by a number of bedrooms and sunrooms, as well as a front dining room and kitchen. In total, there are four to five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a powder room adjoining an upstairs loft space.
Big, broad windows draw in loads of natural light and provide iconic views, plus the sounds of the beach just across the road.
Many of the original elements remain, most fittingly the polished floors of the former dance hall. In the additional building at the back of the block, there is a separate, self-contained studio with its own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and laundry. From its elevated deck, the outlook stretches across the full sweep of Palm Beach.
Outside, the expansive 1151sq m land parcel also features established gardens with veggie patches and standalone decks for quiet contemplation.
Sitting just across the road from the beach, the property is also within walking distance of local cafes and the surf club. Palm Beach Rock Pool is at one end of the beach, with the Palm Beach Golf Club and the water airport at the other end of the peninsula.
The Palladium and Palm Beach Studio at 16 Ocean Rd, Palm Beach are listed with BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach via a private treaty campaign with a price guide of $13.5 million.
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