Trane Technologies has introduced its new AI and cloud-based tool that aims to help building owners and facility managers accelerate decarbonization and reduce energy consumption.
The new offering, Trane Autonomous Control Powered by BrainBox AI, uses artificial intelligence to automatically identify and implement optimization actions at all times. The Trane Autonomous Control enhances existing connected Tracer SC+ building control systems and also includes variables, such as predictive weather data and occupancy trends, which can improve building performance and sustainability.
Trane offers efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes, and transportation. BrainBox AI is a cloud-based HVAC optimization solution that connects to existing HVAC systems and autonomously sends real-time, optimized control commands to minimize emissions and energy consumption.
The company tested the autonomous control solution in multiple states with a pilot customer in the collection and processing of life-saving biological material in the United States. The tool led to “significant energy performance improvements,” the company said, and helped cut carbon emissions by more than 30% across a national portfolio of more than 100 facilities.
“With the heating and cooling of buildings representing about 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, the demand for more sustainable building solutions grows each day,” Donny Simmons, president of Commercial HVAC Americas at Trane Technologies, said in a statement. “Leveraging innovative AI-enabled solutions is one of many ways we are helping customers dramatically reduce their carbon footprints, while meeting business goals and doing the right thing for the planet.”
The tool comes as more initiatives are focused on decarbonizing buildings and reducing emissions with energy savings. Buildings account for more than 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, making them a prime target for emissions reductions goals, according to the U.S. Climate Alliance. The alliance recently adopted a push to install millions of heat pumps in homes and commercial buildings by the end of the decade, as heat pumps are more efficient and can reduce emissions.
The launch of the autonomous control expands Trane’s ongoing collaboration with BrainBox AI and the company’s digitally connected building technology and insights, with more than one million connected devices.
BrainBox AI said at the start of the year it was expanding its autonomous AI tool for commercial real estate to multi-site retail portfolios. The AI company also was selected to receive $6.5 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), the largest funder of sustainable small and medium-sized businesses in Canada. The funding was announced in February.
