Buildings are too often overlooked as contributors to increasing carbon dioxide emissions. While it may be easier to place the blame on more easily noticeable polluters like car-clogged freeways, buildings place a far greater strain on the environment due to energy inefficient equipment and control systems.

A recent article by the Economist raises the concern that the “heating, cooling and powering [of] existing offices, homes and factories accounts for 27% of global energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions.” This issue relates not only to high dependency on CO2-emitting energy sources, but is based on the fact that buildings account for 40% of all U.S. primary energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Even if buildings were to rely 100% on clean energy sources, their energy inefficiency would continue to place an immense strain on power grids.

The Economist offers three solutions to reducing pollution from buildings: incentivizing owners to make buildings more energy efficient through retrofitting, facilitating the process of whether to retrofit or demolish a building, and ensuring that the construction of new buildings is far cleaner than previous methods.

While increasing energy efficiency via retrofitting is by far the quickest and cleanest approach, no clear path is provided in the article to accomplish this goal. The Economist correctly asserts that “retrofitting offices and homes with insulation, cleverer control systems and heat pumps rather than fossil-fuel boilers can have an immediate impact” — yet the process of installing deep retrofits (insulation, new HVAC systems) is invasive to a building’s structure, costly to building owners and operators without substantial subsidies, and time consuming to accomplish.

A 2005 DOE commissioned report found that retrofits of optimal controls alone can save 40% of energy consumed. Reducing building pollution on a large scale requires a controls solution that is non-invasive, financially sensible to building owners and operators, and time efficient to install.

PassiveLogic, the first generalized platform for autonomous systems, is the solution for non-invasive, cost-efficient, and time sensitive retrofitting.

First — the PassiveLogic platform is able to fully define the complex systems and topology of any building by providing the most energy-efficient pathway to reaching preferred climate settings without the need for deep retrofits. Combined with an AI/machine learning platform, PassiveLogic ensures that a building has all of the information it needs to make optimal control decisions that minimize energy use, maximize comfort, and account for future demand.

Second — because energy is one of the largest operational costs of a building, measured and verified energy savings provide a significant incentive for building owners and operators to install smarter controls. The PassiveLogic platform uses a digital-twin model and a central controller connected to all systems that allows a building to understand its own physics and optimize processes continuously in real-time, resulting in an average of 30% savings in a building’s energy usage.

Finally — facilitating the rollout of energy-efficient controls requires systems that can be installed in a timely manner. PassiveLogic is is usable by the average installer and reduces building automation labor time by 90%, allowing for a fast and effective installation compared to the time needed for retrofitting or building reconstruction.

Creating comfortable and energy efficient buildings can be accomplished without the immediate need for deep retrofitting or complete demolition. Existing buildings can meet the standards for reduced energy emissions with smarter controls that can understand the unique layout and physics of any building — and the PassiveLogic platform for generalized autonomy provides a pathway to accomplishing this.

To learn more about PassiveLogic, visit our website at PassiveLogic.com.