An Overview Of Our Solution
HVAC systems represent one of the largest components of building energy usage and carbon emissions. HVAC makes up of more than 51% of building energy use and a lot of this energy consumption is a result of not having accurate real-time measurements.
We make use of real-time data to drive behavior change on individual level. We also combine sensor networks with predictive algorithms based on neural networks to prevent HVAC system failure and improve building occupant wellbeing. The system automates building management through effective alerts and storing the data in digital maintenance ledger, which acts a state machine for building operations, automating and logging all the key operations.
- Population Impacted: 10,000
- Continent: North America
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Context Analysis
HVAC systems represent one of the largest components of building energy usage and carbon emissions. HVAC makes up of more than 51% of building energy use and a lot of this energy consumption is a result of not having accurate real-time measurements. Due to variability in how we manage HVAC systems and our indoor environment, we are wasting over 20% of electricity. Efficient operation of HVAC systems depends on the reliable user and local environment data. However, the availability of such data is still severely lacking. Furthermore, our buildings often have serious contamination issues, which are not just affecting the energy efficiency of the buildings, but also out health. This problem is particularly significant in hospitals and clinics, which spend over $6.5 B spent on energy and are affected by over $45 B annual direct operation costs due to contamination due to malfunctioning air distribution systems. There’s an untapped opportunity of innovation.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Our vision at WeavAir is to reduce energy consumption and costs of HVAC systems through networked sensor add-ons for the HVAC systems. We use advanced sensors and predictive analytics to help building owners manage the HVAC systems more effectively. We develop modules that attach to vents to measure the air coming out of these systems. Our patent-pending devices measure 7 diagnostic metrics (including air pollution, bioaerosols, noise, vibration, temperature, humidity, and light), streaming wirelessly in real time.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
The system is easy to integrate in any type of building or facility, even those with legacy systems installed (a key competitive advantage). The devices contain and integrated module that generates power form the airflow and temperature gradient in the HVAC system vents, making the devices wireless and easy to deploy and maintain at scale. The solution is both personalized (tracking occupant-specific metrics) and adaptable (i.e. responding to changes in environmental conditions). As such, the system can optimize the operation of HVAC and provide actionable insights to building managers. These insights are designed to change the way building managers and occupants manage the building leading to significant energy savings.
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
We make use of real-time data to drive behavior change on individual level. We also combine sensor networks with predictive algorithms based on neural networks to prevent HVAC system failure and improve building occupant wellbeing. The system automates building management through effective alerts and storing the data in digital maintenance ledger, which acts a state machine for building operations, automating and logging all the key operations. Our HVAC sensor modules can reduce energy consumption by over 20% as well as the associated carbon emissions. We also offer air filtration solutions that help improve energy efficiency of HVAC systems and building occupant wellbeing.
Describe your implementation
WeavAir secured support of Design Fabrication Zone, which provides tools and equipment to support R&D, sensor module prototyping and iteration. We also secured support from NEXT Canada (Next36), Ryerson University, University of Toronto and York University, which became our early investors and partners. We were recognized as IoT/WT Innovation World Cup finalists and the Most Innovative startup by SAP. We are working with SAP Startup Focus to secure and scale our analytics platform. We partnered with B&P though their startup program to ensure device IP in our sensors and algorithms.
External connections
The team recently returned from a trip to Taiwan, where we have developed pilot partnerships and manufacturing partnerships. We also secured partnerships in Belgium (Smart City Antwerp), Israel (Haifa) and US (Boston, Portland, Louisville) for product pilots.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
WeavAir technology completely changes the way we heat, cool or distribute the air though out buildings.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
According to conservative estimates, WeavAir technology can contribute to reduction in energy use intensity by at least 80 kBtu/ft*yr and 2,000 MMBtu reduction in energy consumption per month for a facility like Massachusetts General Hospital Gray Building (332,664 ft2). Deployed at scale, our technology can result in over 11 MMMBtu (11 Billion BTU) reduction in energy consumption each month.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
Hospitals can protect their bottom line by being more energy efficient. Every $1 in energy savings is equivalent to generating $10-20 in new revenue for nonprofit healthcare organizations. Patient satisfaction when the hospital air quality is improved is also directly translatable to increased revenue.
Sustainability
We completed product-market fit validation, interviews, value chain mapping and market research. We spoke to many stakeholders including building developers, building managers and maintenance personnel and they expressed high level of interest in working with us. Currently large amount of energy is wasted because the operation of HVAC equipment is not optimized. In addition, maintenance organizations are wasting a large amount of time (1,000+ hours/year monitoring and reports) and money (> $400K costs per year), not to mention the fuel and emissions resulting from commutes to customer sites.
Return on investment
Each device costs less than $100 to manufacture and less than $30/month to maintain, but the ROI is $500/device/month.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
We plan to achieve scale by building partnerships with: 1) utility companies, 2) HVAC manufacturers, 3) filter manufacturers. We are starting with pilots at healthcare facilities. We will later expand to office building installations and industrial facilities. Focusing on larger scale building would allow us to capture higher margins, while building a valuable dataset on performance of HVAC systems and filters, which we would sell to HVAC and filter manufacturers as well as maintenance and consulting companies. We will later expand to residential buildings as well as vehicle cabin monitoring.