To Make Workplaces Healthy & Safe, Building Intelligence Firm 75F Launches "Epidemic Mode" HVAC Software Sequences

As offices prepare to reopen across India, buildings are the new front in the fight against COVID-19. Yesterday, the building intelligence company, 75F, has announced 75F Epidemic Mode^TM, a new HVAC software sequence that ensure commercial buildings are healthier while keeping employees and customers safe. The system features various components such as indoor air flushes, where post working hours the entire air within the premises is replaced with fresh air from outside and during office hours ventilation from outside is increased to limit movement of airborne particles and reuse of indoor air. All these are based on the latest guidance from scientists, government organizations, and global industry leaders such as ISHRAE which has been adopted by the Indian Government, ASHRAE and the CDC.

Recent studies show the spread of COVID-19 appears to be occurring through airborne transmission of aerosols, particles 1-5 microns in size which cannot be reliably filtered out using a MERV-13 or HEPA filter. While much of the focus is on droplets 100-1000 microns in size produced by coughing or sneezing, a large quantity of aerosolized infectious particles are also produced, and are more likely to be produced by asymptomatic individuals or those who do not know they are infected simply from breathing or speaking. A recent study showed that more than 1000 of these virus-containing aerosols are emitted every minute of speaking, more proof that without dilution ventilation from outside air, buildings have a high risk of viral build-up and exposure. 

In response to this, various organisations such as ISHRAE (Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers), ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers) and the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) have released new guidelines for the operation and control of HVAC systems to reduce disease transmission from infectious airborne particles and ensure a safe and healthy workplace. 

The 75F Epidemic ModeTM achieves the directives through its specific application profiles; Smart PurgeTM and Smart Enhance VentilationTM.

75F Smart Purge^TM

75F’s Smart Purge™ application profile works in pre- and post-occupancy settings and fully adheres to ISHRAE, ASHRAE recommendations to prevent re-circulation of air and to purge the air before and after occupancy. 

75F Smart Enhanced Ventilation^TM

This profile ensures the indoor environment remains as safe as possible during a building’s occupied period and reduces risk of infection from aerosolized particle.

Apart from minimizing viral loads in buildings the 75F Epidemic ModeTM also delivers significant energy savings. Increasing ventilation from 20% outside air to 90% outside air can normally lead to a high energy bill, but with the 75F Epidemic Mode profiles, concentration of infectious airborne particles is reduced while energy consumption is minimized.

“The world is in the midst of a pandemic with so many unknowns, where the brightest minds are developing innovative ways to modify their businesses and 75F Epidemic Mode does that for the commercial building industry,” said Deepinder Singh, CEO and Founder of 75F. 

“Being able to give companies and their employees some peace of mind that their facilities managers are taking the initiative to make their environments safe and healthy is extremely important and we believe will become the norm even when the outbreak is over”, adds Gaurav Burman, APAC President of 75F.

Epidemic ModeTM is updated by 75F as guidelines from these organisations evolve or new data emerges. This means it offers the most current sequences that minimize operating expense and viral transmission, while improving indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy efficiency. Furthermore, 75F Epidemic ModeTM does not require any manual programming and there is no risk of equipment damage from running the system outside typical parameters.

Apart from minimizing operating expense the 75F Epidemic ModeTM also delivers significant energy savings. Increasing ventilation from 20% outside air to 90% outside air can normally lead to a high energy bill, but with the 75F Epidemic Mode profiles, concentration of infectious airborne particles is reduced while energy consumption is minimized. 

75F offers the only system on the market today currently implementing these healthy buildings measures, which are available free of charge to all customers in office buildings, retail businesses, schools, restaurants, and apartment buildings. Once the pandemic is controlled, 75F technology will allow facility managers to easily, and remotely, disable these measures, with a return to 75F's award-winning algorithms to improve the comfort of occupants.  

Wireless Building Automation Startup 75F(R) Raises $18Mn led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Oil & Gas Climate Initiative

75F, a US and India based global market leader in energy-efficient, IoT powered wireless building automation for commercial buildings, today announced it has completed an $18M Series A round of financing co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Climate Initiative with participation from Building Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Clean Energy Trust, making it the largest investment to date in the energy-efficiency technology category in the Asia Pacific region. The company, founded in 2012, has raised a total of $25M to date.

This marks the first investment for Oil & Gas Climate Initiative in the buildings space, and 75F aligns with Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ work to significantly reduce emissions from buildings, one the largest contributors to climate change.

[caption id="attachment_134673" align="alignleft" width="300"] Deepinder Singh- Founder & CEO- 75F[/caption]

“We are honored to have this incredible group of investors backing our vision and helping 75F take an enormous step as the global leader in the industry,” said Deepinder Singh, CEO for 75F. “This strategic funding will allow 75F to invest in key positions, continue to innovate our product and customer solution, and strengthen our partner network across North America, Middle East, and APAC including India, Singapore China, and Australia."

Energy use in buildings is a $400bn to $500bn a year problem. Developing countries in Asia account for two-thirds of global energy growth, driving the growth of energy-efficient Smart Building Technology in this market. 75F’s intuitive, self-optimizing system is uniquely positioned to cater to this market as it saves up to 50% on HVAC and lighting energy, improves occupant comfort and enhances operational efficiency.

[caption id="attachment_134672" align="alignright" width="300"] Gaurav Burman- President, VP & APAC President- 75F[/caption]

Gaurav Burman, VP & APAC President, 75F added “The Asia-Pacific region is a key part of 75F’s global road map. It represents a unique opportunity given the high economic growth, increasing energy costs and the rising demand for cooling in warm climate regions. We have been gaining ground in this market, growing at triple-digits year on year, and see promise for continued growth in an addressable market of $10 Bn. We are targeting success in various directions such as expanding to new countries, addressing new customer segments, developing new products and a new platform, and we look forward to delivering better services to our existing clients. APAC is also home to our R&D hub, the center for our supply chain operations. The capital infusion will help us strengthen our operations, build on our technological differentiation, and accelerate the pace of our pan-APAC expansion."

Traditional building controls systems are overbuilt and require extensive resources to install, setup, custom program, and maintain which creates high costs of acquisition and ownership. The 75F system reduces install time, makes occupants more productive and comfortable, while cutting costs for facility managers.

75F offers a vertically-integrated smart building solution that includes wireless sensors, equipment controllers and cloud-based software, delivering predictive, proactive building automation right out-of-the-box. Benefits of 75F’s solution include:

• Energy savings
  
  
  
  • 75F’s predictive, intelligent system reduces energy costs by 30 to 50%
  
  
  
  


• Improved air quality
  
  
  
  • 75F’s system knows when to take advantage of outside air to provide free cooling and improve the health and well-being of occupants
  
  
  
  


• Faster Return on Investment (ROI)
  
  
  
  • The smart technology allows businesses to make better use of their resources. Quick, non-disruptive installation, enhanced productivity and savings from reduced energy use results in a typical ROI of under 3 years
  
  
  
  


• Weather forecasting/Increase comfort
  
  
  
  • Your smartphone knows when it's going to rain – shouldn't your HVAC system? 75F’s machine learning can track things like weather and room occupancy to regulate space and ensure comfort all year round.
  
  
  
  


• Self-optimization
  
  
  
  • The smart HVAC solution begins learning the behavior of your building from the moment it is installed, offering maximized energy savings without sacrificing comfort
  
  
  
  


• Scaled deployment
  
  
  
  • 75F’s system offers solutions that allow cloud scaling that can go across a businesses’ entire portfolio right out of the box
  
  
  
  

Funds from this round will be used to scale support and operations, invest in R&D, upgrade office locations in both the Twin Cities and Bangalore, India, and open additional satellite office locations. 75F recently filled key marketing, supply chain, and finance leadership roles in the U.S. as well as a finance leadership role in APAC. The company is currently recruiting for sales, software engineers, and product engineers as well as service, support, and supply chain associates in both the U.S. and APAC.

Breakthrough Energy

 

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) invests in companies that leverage innovative technologies to help address climate change. Backed by many of the world’s top business leaders, BEV has more than $1 billion in committed capital to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation. The fund was created in 2016 by the Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

“Six percent of global and 12 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere come from buildings,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “We know we can combat this by designing the next generation of buildings, but we can also make significant gains by upgrading existing real estate with smart technology. 75F has created a unique software and hardware solution powered by machine learning that reduces energy costs and emissions at the same time.”

Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI)

OGCI is a $1+ billion fund investing in technologies and business models which lower the carbon footprint of the energy and industrial sectors and their value chains. The fund was created by the CEOs of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to take practical action on climate change.

OCGI invests in innovative companies with late-stage technologies and business models that can lower the carbon footprint of the energy and industrial sectors. They actively support these companies in achieving commercial success by using the expertise and resources of their OGCI member companies and broader network.

Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, said: “Reducing emissions across all sectors is crucial to meeting our climate goals. 75F’s innovative smart building solution is easy to install, provides savings for building operators and cuts energy loss from buildings. These types of scalable technologies are needed if we want global adoption that can make a significant impact on carbon.”

About 75F:

75F is a U.S. and India based building intelligence company making smart building automation affordable and easy to deploy for all commercial buildings to optimize the occupant experience and deliver operational efficiencies.

The startup leverages IoT, Cloud Compute and Machine Learning for data-driven, proactive building intelligence and controls for HVAC, lighting and energy optimization. 75F is a proud portfolio member of Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) facilitated by NREL, and is national winner for energy efficiency in the CleanTech Open.

75F's mission is to improve occupant productivity through enhanced comfort and indoor air quality – while saving energy and the environment. 75F has delivered thousands of energy-efficient, comfortable and healthy spaces to enthusiastic customers who rave about the results.