Climate control equipment manufacturer Trane Technologies Plc (TT-N) will acquire Montreal-based BrainBox AI, a company optimizing the performance of buildings via artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in early 2025, were not disclosed.

BrainBox AI’s CEO Sam Ramadori and chief technology officer Jean-Simon Venne will remain in their positions, guiding over 190 employees in Canada and the U.S. who will join Trane.

“BrainBox AI and Trane Technologies share a passion for accelerating and scaling innovative, customer-focused AI solutions and smart building technologies that address the world’s pressing climate challenges,” Riaz Raihan, chief digital officer of Trane, said in a release.

Swords, Ireland-based Trane operates its namesake brand that manufactures heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment for residential and commercial buildings, and Thermo King for temperature-controlled transportation technology.

BrainBox AI’s platform predicts building energy needs to automate HVAC systems, cutting energy consumption by up to 25 per cent and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 per cent. It has been deployed in over 14,000 commercial buildings, comprising over 100 million square feet of commercial space, in 70 cities the company said.

The two companies have collaborated on the Trane Autonomous Control, which merges a cloud-based building automation system from Trane with BrainBox's AI technology. The product analyzes building data to predict temperatures and energy loads, then improves energy use.

Combining the assets of both companies “will accelerate the deployment of smart building solutions worldwide and achieve greater outcomes for our people, customers and the world,” Ramadori said in the announcement.

About BrainBox AI, Trane

The Montreal company’s primary product is its HVAC optimization technology. After connecting to the building’s HVAC machinery, data points such as weather forecasts, grid emissions and occupant density inform BrainBox AI’s technology when to run the equipment.

Energy savings of 25 and 29 per cent in two GWL Realty Advisors buildings in Toronto were achieved in a pilot dating to 2021. More recent examples include a nine per cent natural gas consumption cut at Sleep Country’s store network across Canada in one year, and cutting electricity consumption by 42.3 per cent in a 52-storey multiresidential tower in Dubai.

For further sustainability gains, BrainBox AI offers a catalogue of carbon offsets for purchase.

Its latest product is ARIA (Artificial Responsive Intelligent Agent), which BrainBox AI calls the world’s first virtual building engineer. Using generative AI - the likes of ChatGPT - ARIA identifies problems, prepares for extreme weather, eases HVAC management and sends emissions reports to the client that also detail strategies for further reductions.

As it grows more accustomed to the building, ARIA will improve its forecasting, predictions for when maintenance will be needed, and in suggesting optimizations, BrainBox AI said.

Trane has a history of investing in both emerging technology and in sustainability initiatives.

In November 2023, it acquired Nuvolo, a maker of cloud-based products.

Trane's 2023 sustainability report indicated the firm is on track to meet its 2030 goals of reducing its customers’ carbon footprint from the use of its products and services by one gigatonne from a 2019 baseline, and to achieving carbon-neutral operations.