Great West Life Realty Advisors plans to deploy artificial intelligence more often to manage HVAC systems following a successful pilot project in downtown Calgary.

GWLRA deployed BrainBox AI technology on 17 of 35 floors in the Fifth & Fifth office tower.

HVAC systems control heating, ventilation and air-conditioning use. The pilot project reduced electricity consumption by a projected 374 megawatts per year and natural-gas use by 1,390 gigajoules annually. The savings will reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by 136 tonnes and tenant costs by $62,880, according to GWLRA.

“We are committed to finding solutions that meet our sustainability and financial goals and BrainBox AI has proven their technology can help us achieve our goals as we look to expand its use across our buildings,” Bill Wong, GWLRA’s senior director of transformation and business insights, told Connect.

Toronto-based GWLRA ranks among Canada’s largest commercial real estate investment, development and asset management companies, overseeing diverse properties across the country.

GWLRA received a 2024 LEAP Technology Innovator award from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) for the Fifth & Fifth project. LEAP awards recognize property and asset managers within HOOPP’s portfolio for their work in sustainability, innovation and leadership.

“We liked the fact that BrainBox AI’s solution requires minimal amount of capital to get started and in a few months, we could be live with their solution and tracking the actual benefits,” said Wong. “The only requirement for our buildings would be the need to have an open-protocol [building management system] and [direct digital] controls.

“The Fifth & Fifth site had the right combination of HVAC equipment; and just as important, [it] had a team that was willing to try new things to make their operations better.”

Montreal-based BrainBox AI deployed algorithms to stop and start the HVAC system and reduce electricity and natural-gas consumption.

The overall pilot project ran from May 2022 until October 2023 and consisted of several phases that included installation and learning, independently verified measurement and verification, and 24-hour use across all seasons.

“[The AI technology] maps and learns our [HVAC] system’s behaviour, then uses external information like weather and occupancy to predict the building’s future state to make necessary adjustments,” said Barry Marcellus., senior property manager at Fifth & Fifth. “The system continuously improves by adapting to changes in climate and equipment and is monitored 24/7 to ensure optimized usage.”

Since BrainBox launched in 2019, its technology has impacted more than 100 million square feet of commercial buildings in 70 cities globally, the company says.

The use of AI is becoming more prevalent in all industries, and commercial real estate is no exception, said Wong.

“The challenge will be how quickly we can get approvals and deploy pilots to validate the effectiveness of these AI solutions,” he said.