A startup founded by Indian duo Deepinder Singh and Pankaj Chawla in the US is now tapping the Indian market to offer solutions that harness the power of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing to predict a building’s energy needs.
Started in 2012, 75F uses IoT to control Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC)—one of the most serious problems for commercial buildings and the largest cost centre for operating a building. “We believe in the promise of IoT to improve our lives by designing systems that work so well, that 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 recently started its operations in India and has opened an R&D facility in the country. “We launched operations in India in August 2016, and hope to touch R100 crore in revenue in the fiscal year 2018-2019,” said Chawla.
75F has installed over 1000 control zones in the US, and the clientele includes Taco Bell, Yoga Fit, Magnet 360, Rockler amongst others. In India, it has clients across sectors such as e-commerce, business process outsourcing firms, airports, etc. 75F is now focusing on verticals such as IT/ITeS, healthcare and hospitality located in the 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 positive. 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.
How it works
75F installs multiple ‘wireless zone controllers’, which senses and collects data from the room every minute and sends the data to the Central Control Unit. Each night, cloud computing algorithms analyse 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. “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 optimise their building resources sitting anywhere in the world,” said Chawla.
According to him, the solution can save up to 40% on energy bills for customers in India. The start-up also offers mobile app Facilisight, to control air balancing real-time. Mumbai-headquartered BPO firm Firstsource recently installed 75F’s solution across a smaller portion of its 18000 sq. ft. building, which enabled it to reduce energy consumptions by 50%. The solution was implemented in three days, thereby causing minimal disruption to employees across the office building. “With the Facilisight app I now have complete visibility to my facility through my mobile, which is realty impressive,” said Rajeev Dhawan, General Manager, Firstsource Solutions.
Source: Financial Express
