What is the problem you are solving?
Commercial buildings account for approximately 20% of US energy consumption, equating to an energy spend of $150 billion annually. According to research conducted by McKinsey, commercial buildings could save 30%, roughly $45 billion, of their annual energy consumption by implementing NPV-positive energy efficiency measures.
Becoming more energy efficient is extremely valuable to commercial buildings. Not only does it reduce operating expenses and increase net operating income, but it also makes the building more attractive and comfortable to occupants, and increases the property value. Morgan Stanley estimates that the achievable 30% reduction in energy cost for commercial buildings creates $12 billion in asset value in the Top 10 US office real estate markets alone. As a result, there has been increased need for asset managers to optimize their buildings in the most cost effective and data-driven way possible.
What need does it fulfill?
Research conducted by Deutche Bank estimates that there is approximately $72 billion of efficiency investment opportunity in the US commercial building market available. Why have relatively few building owners opted to take the steps to achieve such savings? The reasons are simple. There is low confidence in the predicted energy savings and the savings measures identified are unable to move the needle far enough.
The current building energy analysis methods can be broken down into two types. The first is the traditional engineering analysis, which requires an engineer to conduct a time-intensive building audit and the outcome relies heavily on the individual’s expertise and experience. In light of the increasing system complexity in modern buildings and the sheer volume of data available, this method is arguably limited in the number of savings measures that can be found, and the ability to accurately forecast the savings.
The second type of building energy analysis involve mining lots of historical data from a Building Management System (BMS) or sub-meters and employing statistical techniques to provide insight into how the building is operating. Not only do you still need an expert in energy analytics to interpret the data, but you getting good insight from building analytics requires data from each season (an entire year). Statistical methods also struggle to understand how different building systems interact as a whole.
Neither one of these approaches deliver attractive and predictable ROIs for building owners. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in a lack of investment confidence.
In contract, Bractlet’s approach to energy efficiency is unique in that it comprehensively examines the interactive effects of building occupants, building systems, and the environment to create physics-based energy simulation models that are 98% accurate in forecasting energy consumption. The simulation model is calibrated to that level of accuracy with machine learning algorithms analyzing millions of data points coming from Bractlet’s own proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) submeters and data coming from a Building Automation System (BAS). Instead of just aggregating and displaying data, the Bractlet platform actually finds energy savings measures for a building and is able to calculate the specific ROI of individual measures and curated groupings of measures. The Bractlet platform enables building owners and asset managers to invest confidently in their buildings and across a portfolio of buildings.
Who are the key leaders?
The energy analytics and efficiency industry is highly fragmented, with all companies conducting their analysis in the two different ways mentioned previously.
Bractlet is unique in that we create energy simulation models: data-rich, virtual testbeds to guide optimization efforts and illustrate how the implementation of various savings measures will affect building performance. Our proprietary techniques and unparalleled accuracy make us stand out from both engineering and data analytics solution-oriented companies in order to provide a comprehensive solution that maximizes savings.
What is the primary benefit of your solution?
More than just an energy dashboard, the Bractlet platform transforms any building into an intelligent, energy-efficient one. Bractlet’s cloud-based software provides continuous energy data analysis and saving opportunity identification with detailed forecasts of energy consumption. Using this information, customers can evaluate energy efficient investment decisions and prioritize allocation of capital across their portfolio of buildings with an accurate understanding of ROI.
What is the next step for you and your business?
Bractlet is currently developing partnerships and engaging with end users in our target markets, including Commercial Real Estate, Healthcare, Corporate Real Estate, and Universities in order to provide true building intelligence.
