A technology, originally invented by CSIRO, has been given a top global award for its smart building energy management system.

An Australian company commercialising the technology, BuildingIQ, has been included in the global top ten New Energy Pioneers awarded by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Intelligent decisions about the building conditions are made by the system based on information, like weather data and personal comfort levels. The system assesses this information every few minutes – constantly adjusting and monitoring the conditions.

BuildingIQ has found that the heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) energy use is reduced by up to 25 per cent after installation of the software. The technology can also help to reduce peak demand, a major driver behind recent electricity price rises. The technology can be applied to large office buildings and retrofitted easily.

“We’re so pleased that the technology has been recognised with this award and it’s great to think that our system is going to be able to make its way into even more buildings in Australian and the US,” says Dr John Ward, CSIRO research leader.

At the start of the year, BuildingIQ secured $9 million in venture funding which should help the dream of expanding the system’s use to more buildings. The technology has also won multiple industry awards.

“The award shows that our science has global reach and a real impact on the energy efficiency of very large buildings like the iconic Rockefeller Centre,” says Dr Alex Wonhas, Director of the Energy Transformed Flagship.

Read more about it at: www.csiro.au/OptiCool.