Dabbel will get $4.4M to chop CO2 by automating HVAC management for business buildings – TechCrunch

The Düsseldorf proptech startup Dabbel uses AI to drive energy efficiency savings in commercial buildings.

A cloud-based, self-learning building management software was developed that integrates into the existing building management systems (BMS) and takes over the control of heating and cooling systems more dynamically than legacy systems that are based on fixed setpoint resets.

Dabbel says its AI takes into account factors like building orientation and insulation, and reviews calibration decisions every five minutes – meaning it can dynamically respond to changes in outdoor and indoor conditions.

Founded in 2018, the startup claims that this approach of layering AI-powered predictive modeling over legacy BMS to power next-generation building automation can achieve significant energy savings – with a reduction in energy consumption of up to 40%.

“Every five minutes, Dabbel reviews its decisions based on all available data,” explains CEO and co-founder Abel Samaniego. “With each iteration, Dabbel improves or adapts its decisions to the current conditions inside and outside the building. It does this by using cognitive artificial intelligence to control a model-based predictive control system (MPC) that can dynamically adjust all HVAC setpoints based on current / future conditions. “

In essence, the self-learning system predicts the adjustments needed to adapt to future conditions – saving energy compared to a pre-set BMS that would keep the boilers fired for longer.

The added sugar for commercial building owners (or tenants) is that Dabbel realizes these energy savings without dismantling and replacing legacy systems – nor installing lots of IoT devices or sensor hardware to create a “smart” indoor environment; the AI ​​integrates with the existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems (and automatically calibrates them).

All it takes is SaaS from Dabbel – and less than a week to implement the system (installation can also be done remotely).

“There are no restrictions with heating and cooling systems,” confirms Samaniego, who has a background as an industrial engineer and many years of experience in the automation of high-tech systems in Germany. “We need a building with a building management system and ideally a BACnet communication protocol.”

The average reductions that have been achieved so far on the approximately 250,000 m² area on which the AI ​​is responsible for the building management systems are somewhat more modest, but still an impressive 27%. (He says the maximum savings at some “peak” times are 42%.)

The advertised savings are not limited to a single location or building type / client, according to Dabbel, who says they have been “validated across different use cases and regions in Europe, the US, China and Australia”.

Early customers are facility managers of large commercial properties – Commerzbank clearly sees potential as it has incubated the startup through its early-stage investment arm – and several schools.

Another 1,000,000 m² are in the contract or offer phase, which are to be installed “in the next six months”.

Dabbel believes its technology will be useful for other types of educational institutions and even for other use cases. (It also plays with the addition of a predictive maintenance feature to expand the usefulness of its software by providing the ability to alert building owners to potential malfunctions early on.)

And while policymakers around the world are paying attention to how to achieve the huge reductions in CO2 emissions required to meet ambitious climate targets, the energy efficiency of buildings certainly cannot be overlooked.

“The time for passive responses to the critical issue of reducing CO2 emissions is over,” Samaniego said in a statement. “That is why we decided to take matters into our own hands and develop a solution that actively replaces a faulty human decision-making process with an autonomous, surgically precise and, thanks to artificial intelligence, decision-making process that only improves with every iteration. . “

If the idea of ​​connecting the heating / cooling of your building to a cloud-based AI sounds a bit risky for internet security reasons, Dabbel will point out that it is a connection to the BMS network – not the (separate) IT network of the company / building.

It also notes that it uses one-way communication over a VPN tunnel – “creating an end-to-end encrypted connection under high market standards,” as Samaniego puts it.

The startup just closed a € 3.6 million (~ $ 4.4 million) Pre-Series A funding round from Target Global along with the main incubator (Commerzbank’s early-stage investment arm), SeedX and some strategic angel investors.

In a statement, Dr. Ricardo Schaefer, Partner at Target Global, added: “We are thrilled to be working with the Dabbel team as they offer their customers a tangible and seamless way to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and thus help fill the gap. “Between passive measurement and active renovation.”