Montreal startup VadiMAP aims to ease the process of energy audits for buildings, using its artificial intelligence-assisted software to calculate the best decarbonization path at a lower cost.

Co-founded in 2018 by father and son Dan and Jeremy Boucher and Nicolas Mary, the company’s Prescription feasibility study helps real estate portfolio owners choose a clean energy plan that fits their needs.

“In a world where there are many incentives, tariffs, different technologies, it’s really hard for planners to reach their net-zero goals,” CEO Jeremy Boucher told Sustainable Biz Canada in an interview. 

Instead of energy audits, which are expensive to conduct for every unique building, VadiMAP’s technology employs AI to identify the energy efficiency and renewables potential for each building. Such planning can help clients reduce energy bills and carbon emissions while boosting resilience, he added.

Having secured the likes of BMO and Desjardins as users, VadiMAP is also embarking on a new enterprise: generating carbon credits from greenhouse gas reductions with the help of fellow Quebec company Will Solutions.

How VadiMAP’s Prescription works

VadiMAP’s Prescription starts with a questionnaire answered by the building owner or operator. Information such as the type of building, the objectives being addressed (reducing carbon, finding cost savings or enhancing resilience), and figures from energy bills are inputted. The data is processed with market factors like incentives and energy rates to output an energy plan for each building.

“Once we have that, we generate thousands of possible decarbonization scenarios to really find the optimal one and present it to them,” Boucher, who has an engineering background, said. A business case is made, such as analysis on the payback period and which buildings to prioritize.

Based on the building and jurisdiction it is sited in, a proposal could be electrification of heating systems or a heating system that taps into natural gas at peak demand. An LED lighting upgrade could be another, or implementing heat pumps, solar panels and batteries on site. VadiMAP operates as a tech-agnostic company — open to any solution, the CEO said.

Prescription is accessed through a one-time fee or annual subscription per building that includes a dashboard to track progress toward goals.

The company of nine full-time employees has assessed approximately 125 buildings in Canada and France, and is looking to expand to the U.S.

A subscription model is adaptable to a market that changes frequently, Boucher argues. The flurry of new incentives, technology and regulations that influence the buildings sector means the traditional energy audit is not scalable and nimble enough, he continued. An annual subscription gives up to three studies per year, which can match the speed of change, Boucher added.

The guidance of VadiMAP has resulted in clients cutting energy consumption and bills, Boucher said. Some customers are planning for net-zero, while others are seeking an eight per cent reduction to carbon.

One client, a fast food company, had four restaurants analyzed, each in a different province. Technologies such as on-site solar generation, heat pumps and electrified cooking equipment were suggested and implemented, resulting in 51 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent offset at a payback period of eight years.

Beside building owners and operators, the company is integrated with utilities such as Hydro-Quebec. VadiMAP’s service is referred to the utility’s clients to deploy energy efficiency measures, which helps the power providers meet their objectives for energy and resilience, Boucher said.

Generating carbon credits

Will Solutions, based in Beloeil, Que., is the maker of "Sustainable Communities", a way of creating carbon credits in Canada through projects such as energy efficiency upgrades that address smaller polluters. Those credits are then sold on the voluntary carbon market.

The interest in the carbon credits space was sparked when Boucher became familiar with Will Solutions years ago. He was intrigued by the potential to integrate VadiMAP into Will Solutions’ client strategies, the CEO explained.

It is the first time VadiMAP is collaborating with a carbon credit provider, Boucher said.

If a VadiMAP client wishes to sell carbon credits, the company can refer Will Solutions. The client could then use the energy efficiency measure it is implementing with the help of VadiMAP to generate carbon credits as a source of revenue.

He said his company could also integrate carbon credits from Will Solutions into VadiMAP’s process to streamline the process.

The company is also developing a software-as-a-solution model where energy audit firms or utilities can use VadiMAP’s product to make recommendations to their own clients. Described as a new business model for the company, Boucher said it would mean “deploying our technology massively.”