The Department of Energy (DOE) has expanded their partnership with PassiveLogic through the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office (EERE), which is sponsoring projects that involve partnering local governments with technology providers to improve facilities — and enable field verification opportunities for meaningful advancements in building tech. In addition to energy efficiency, the goal of the projects is to improve demand flexibility and building-to-grid capabilities.

PassiveLogic has teamed up with The Energy Coalition and the City of South El Monte in East Los Angeles County, CA to perform autonomous building retrofits on several city buildings, including the city hall. PassiveLogic plans to outfit them with a full controls hardware and software package that will include our Hive platform and Swarm Sensor package to provide a complete renovation in capabilities for the building’s HVAC systems. Among other features, the buildings will be able to autonomously track zone and equipment parameters to determine optimized operating schedules, maximizing both indoor environment comfort and energy efficiency.

One of the highlights of the program is that it provides smaller communities the opportunity to benefit from the latest technologies, as tight city budgets may normally not allow for such capital investments. As the Department of Energy is funding the project, the City of South El Monte will enjoy instant returns on their lowered energy costs — and they will also be equipped with Autonomous Buildings that will break down less often and better meet the needs of citizens.

In validating the effectiveness of an Autonomous Building platform in public facilities, PassiveLogic is proving that the best technology isn’t only reserved for the biggest, fanciest buildings. Even though the city isn’t directly paying the cost of the system, PassiveLogic can demonstrate the rapid payback, and attractive ROI of making the transition to full autonomy if a local government were to make the upgrades themselves.

This project will be a showcase for how to affordably make public buildings better, with the goal to spark a chain reaction of renewed interest within local governments to bring the spotlight back to energy efficient solutions. With backing in both public and private sectors we can accelerate the energy transition and create a better built environment for all.

Follow the link here to see the Department of Energy’s announcement of the projects.

This contract comes as an addition to PassiveLogic’s already well established partnership with the DOE to develop a digital twin standard for buildings. Check out our CEO Troy Harvey’s latest article on AutomatedBuildings.com to learn more.