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Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way. For decades, AI largely remained a niche topic and its potential was understood only by a select few. Suddenly, about a year ago, it became a topic on everyone’s lips, thanks to ChatGPT, DALL·E and similar, which demonstrated capabilities that seemed almost magical. Then and there, AI shifted from being a futuristic concept to a practical, everyday tool. In this blog post our expert, Francesco Artusi, System & Digitalisation Development Director, shares his answers to how AI is used at Swegon.
Today, AI is embedded in a wide range of products and services, and industries like e-commerce and retail have completely transformed thanks to AI’s ability to personalise purchase recommendations and handle supply chain optimisation. Other examples of change include the healthcare and automotive industries, which have taken significant leaps in their digital development thanks to artificial intelligence.
What is slightly exceptional with AI is that it is not only the tech-savvy who love its ability to support their everyday lives, even those less familiar with technology seem to embrace this digital opportunity with a sense of liking and enthusiasm. With that in mind, how is AI driving product development? And what opportunities does this technology unlock for the future?
Artificial intelligence and HVAC
No fundamental transformation takes place without challenges, and as AI is digitally bound, the potential barriers relate to cybersecurity, data privacy, connectivity and initial skills-gaps. Applied to the industry of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) this could be exemplified as HVAC systems connected to IoT networks which become targets for cyberattacks. Data collection can lead to privacy breaches, interruptions in internet and connectivity may cause product malfunctions and the inability of taking a whole-building view can lead to underutilised AI potential.
However, if users of artificial intelligence balance innovation with caution, there seem to be endless gains. From an HVAC perspective, the most prominent opportunities lie in energy efficiency, predictive maintenance and in optimisation of indoor climate and building management. Funnel this further into AI at Swegon, what is there to know?
5 questions to a cooling and heating expert
Francesco Artusi has been with Swegon for 11 years and his profound interest and deep knowledge in system optimisation and digitalisation makes him the perfect expert to answer a few questions about artificial intelligence and Swegon, present and future.
From your point of view, what is AI in the HVAC sector?
Integrating AI into products and solutions in the HVAC industry enables improved energy efficiency, minimised downtime and simplified workflows in the following ways:
- Improved energy efficiency comes from understanding the actual use of indoor spaces. Indoor environments are far too often heated, ventilated or cooled as if they were fully utilised. Adjusting the indoor climate to the actual need and an AI predicted future use, generally reduces energy consumption, lowers operating costs and decreases CO2 emissions.
- Minimised downtime is the result of being able to predict upkeep needs using AI. Knowing reduces both frequency and duration of interruptions caused by routine or unexpected service needs.
- Simplified workflows benefit not only the HVAC industry but many others along the supply chain. Using AI eases system design, installation and commissioning, allows for maintenance efficiencies and presents more intuitive user interfaces - all of which speeds up processes across an HVAC solution’s lifetime.
What are the major challenges in this development?
Validating the AI model is a clear challenge. Imagine the model as a “magic box” that uses collected data from the field as input and produces outputs such as estimates of an HVAC unit’s current performance and future behaviour. The “magic box” must be appropriately “trained” to generate a reasonably accurate estimate, otherwise it is as irrelevant as an assumption. Here, human expertise is essential. AI is a powerful, yet delicate tool and human intelligence is critical to ensure its robustness. Training and continuous validation of the model relies greatly on HVAC expertise developed over time.
As understood, AI is one of the most trending topics. Is Swegon using it?
AI is about staying competitive, but it is not just that. At Swegon, our mission is to improve peoples’ lives by allowing them to feel good inside. That goes beyond offering an optimal indoor climate and extends to a range of sustainability efforts, such as energy savings. Further, as AI is created with a human-centric vision and designed to make life easier, its use aligns perfectly with where Swegon is heading in terms of product, system and service development.
So, what does the AI journey look like at Swegon?
It all starts with a change in mindset, understanding that data culture is fundamental and that without data, assumptions are the best one can get.
AI at Swegon begins with:
- Collecting high-quality data from the field. Many of Swegon’s products can generate large amounts of data, such as temperatures, pressure variations, air quality measures, humidity levels and room occupancy changes.
- Implementing a scalable and robust IT infrastructure that ensures cybersecurity and privacy.
- Setting strategies for how to use collected data efficiently.
- Gathering of experts and specialists to ensure a deep understanding of products and systems, indoor climate and sustainability. Together, these knowledgeable professionals can understand both machines and means, and how to optimise system dynamics and create an indoor climate for people to be at their best.
AI technology is still new to many and is constantly evolving. This requires highly dedicated skills, which are not yet core specialties within Swegon. To address this challenge already today, Swegon collaborates with research groups and academia to accelerate the understanding and implementation of AI technologies.
What are the business opportunities for Swegon?
AI opens the door to entirely new business opportunities. Swegon approaches the system level and combines data from various sources, such as HVAC units, weather forecasts and building management systems, with machine models. This results in a wide range of value-adding digital services which are offered to end-users to simplify their everyday lives.
This also paves the way for new business models, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), and we expect Swegon, and the industry, to quickly move towards a future where AI in HVAC is as common as using Internet in the office or GPS in the car.
From my perspective it is realistic to believe that purchasing decisions—even in the B2B sector—will be less driven by product characteristics and more by the value of AI optimised system solutions and the attractiveness of connected digital services. Learn more about our digital offers, gathered under Swegon INSIDE.
