Hot Stuff

Want your boss to think you’re the coolest? Slashing 20 percent from office air conditioning costs might help.

Soaring energy bills are enough to get anyone hot under the collar: The average US commercial monthly electric bill is $657; in the industrial sector, that figure hits $7,414. The heating and cooling of commercial buildings accounts for 36 percent of national electric utility demand and 18 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions.

A new venture, founded at Boston University, could help cut heating, ventilation, and cooling costs by 20 percent, without any installation or manual labor outlays. Aeolus Building Efficiency, a collaboration of students and faculty from SMG and BU College of Engineering, has developed software that enables room-by-room measurement and optimization of airflow rates, reducing energy consumption while maintaining thermal comfort. Aeolus won the energy efficiency category of the 2013 MIT Clean Energy Prize.

The best news for those in charge of paying the bills? With no hefty installation costs, there’s barely any wait for the payback.

Visit Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization to find out more and read about other SMG News.