Harnessing the Power of AI to Slash Building Energy Use and Costs

Lately, much of the focus on AI has centered on two capabilities: big data analytics and generative AI. We don’t usually picture “green energy” and “artificial intelligence” in the same general vicinity — let alone in the same sentence.

But in reality, all of these new AI developments are making an impact on the way we use and work with energy. We’re on the cusp of real potential change in building energy use — and AI is powering the whole thing.

Understanding the Energy Challenge

First we need to talk about the problem: modern life consumes a lot of energy. Air-conditioned everything, massive industrial spaces, high-rise office and condo towers, not to mention everyday single-family homes— all of it consumes a staggering amount of energy.

And that high energy use has implications. It has economic implications (because power costs money), but even more to the point, it has environmental implications, as much of the power generated in the US still produces greenhouse gases.

We’re not going to solve this problem by taking away electricity like some kind of post-apocalyptic TV show. Instead, the answer lies closer to finding better ways to conserve and manage our use. (Truly clean energy would also solve the problem, but nuclear fusion is a topic for someone else’s newsletter!)

The Role of AI in Building Energy Management

The biggest controllable aspect to the energy challenge facing large commercial operations in particular is understanding where they’re using (and wasting) power. Calculating this is quite complex, and then the work must be scaled across a corporation’s entire physical footprint (which could include dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of buildings).

It’s a massive oversimplification, but compare it to the way your dad probably got a reputation when he constantly shut off lights and closed doors and obsessed over seals and insulation. Dad was working from common sense and best guesses, which worked well enough for our childhood homes.

But at commercial, even global scale, it’s a lot more complicated.

And this is where AI can help.

AI tools are enabling large corporations to collect and analyze staggering amounts of data on energy usage patterns in everything from building use to renewable power generation (corporate solar or wind farms). These tools can discover inefficiencies, both in building designs and in usage patterns, helping organizations better manage the energy consumed in and by their buildings.

Future AI Trends and Innovations in Green Energy

Existing AI solutions can help to model the data and identify where energy usage is inconsistent, inefficient, or problematic. But in the coming years we will likely see many new trends and innovations continue to improve our abilities to address building energy usage (and associated costs).

For example, future AI products might be able to go beyond identifying inefficiencies, all the way to proactively prescribing solutions to those inefficiencies. AI-driven autonomous buildings could adapt to changing energy markets and circumstances as well as dynamic building use patterns.

AI systems could also help manage power distribution, helping corporations automatically draw from the most sustainable sources in a way that human decision-making can’t match. Such natural integration of renewable energy sources will certainly improve usage patterns and environmental impact.

There’s much we don’t know for certain at this point, but one thing is unquestionable: AI is empowering businesses to do better at energy management and conservation. And it’s just getting started.