75F Dynamic Airflow Balancing is a commercial HVAC and building control system that uses cloud computing to predict a building’s needs and proactively achieve comfort, improve air quality and increase energy savings
Energy consumption of a building registers a major cost for any enterprise today. In energy, air conditioning or air balancing comes at highest cost. One of the most serious problems for commercial buildings today is Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) – as it represents the largest single cost of operating a building.
Amidst factors like climate change, increasing air pollution and the changing demands of millennial workforce, innovative technologies comes as a boon for all. Internet of Things (IoT) as a technology spans across the economy for various purposes owing to its communication powers. Realizing the same and paying heed to the issue of air balancing, Indian techies Deepinder Singh (CEO) and Pankaj Chawla (CTO), founded 75F in 2012 in US. The startup creates solutions that harness the power of IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud computing to predict building’s energy needs and manage them proactively, making buildings more energy-efficient, automated, smart and comfortable. The name 75F was inspired by a United Nations initiative in 2008 to make its conference rooms greener by raising summer thermostats from 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We believe in the promise of IoT to improve our lives by designing systems that work so well, you forget they are there,” said Pankaj Chawla, co-founder and CTO of 75F.
75F Dynamic Airflow Balancing is a commercial HVAC and building control system that uses cloud computing to predict a building’s needs and proactively achieve comfort, improve air quality and increase energy savings.
The company claims that it offers an entire solution – from HVAC airflow management to Building Sensors & controls and automation to Big data analytics. “No other player in the market offers predictive, pro-active controls that are truly based on cloud-computing & IoT. Others use legacy on-premise server architecture with the inherent costs, complexity, maintenance & limited life,” said Chawla.
How does it work
75F installs multiple ‘wireless zone controllers’, which senses and collects data from the room every minute and send the data to the Central Control Unit. Each night, cloud computing algorithms analyze thousands of data points, including weather forecast data feed that allows the system to predict future conditions.
A new set of instructions are sent to the Central Control Unit and the dampers are modulated a few degrees at a time to achieve the perfect balance. The system also factors in real-time events, such as occupancy, to make instant adjustments to the plan as needed.
IoT-fying Indian Buildings
The company recently started its business operations in India with R&D facility in the country. “We launched operations in India in August 2016, and hope to hit rupees 100 crores in revenue by end of fiscal year 2018-2019,” told Chawla.
The company has installed over 1000 control zones in the US, and the clientele includes Taco Bell, Yoga Fit, Magnet 360, Rockler amongst others. In India, the company has clients across sectors such as e-commerce, BPO, airports, etc.
The co-founder also told that the company is now focused on establishing its foothold in verticals like IT/ITeS, healthcare and hospitality, in about four major metros in the country.
“Even though we are still at the initial stages of our business operations in India, the response from the customers has been very positive. Indian facility managers are increasingly becoming energy conscious while at the same time are prioritizing occupant comfort and safety. Customers see value in investing in our truly predictive, pro-active and self-learning solution that drives away inefficiencies increasing their bottom line,” said Chawla.
In the current calamitic situation, there is a need to harness the power of connected devices to better control and optimize all systems inside a building like lighting, security, water usage and more. “We strive to provide smart systems that are both easy to deploy and easy to use, thus giving building owners and facility managers insights into how their buildings are performing in real-time allowing them the power to manage and optimize their building resources sitting anywhere in the world,”said Chawla.