How Cortex Works
The Cortex app and desktop platform provides engineers with the actionable recommendations and CRE professionals with the access to reporting and tracking that they need to decarbonize their office buildings.
Cortex’s mission is to decarbonize the built world by partnering with CRE leaders in their journey towards sustainability. To enable our clients to meet their carbon reduction goals, we’ve launched our Base Building Intelligence solution that uses a data-driven approach to make massive strides towards the decarbonization of your portfolio.
Platform Overview
Our platform securely processes thousands of building operation data points to provide you with in-depth, multi-functional carbon reporting you need and to empower your engineers with real-time recommendations that allow them to make the largest and fastest steps towards decarbonization.
Startup Recommendations
Our platform uses machine-learning to deliver unique, daily start-up recommendations each morning. These recommendations take into account a broad range of variables to ensure that your startup and shutdown times are the most optimal to saving energy usage.
To provide your engineers with most accurate predictions for start up, avoiding energy peaks, and reducing energy, our intelligence platform takes into account:
BMS Data
Lease Obligation Times
Hyper-local Weather Data
Historic Utility Billing Data
Floor Temperatures
Return Air Temperatures
CO2 Levels
Occupancy Data
Afternoon Coasting & Airside Turndown
As important as it is to start your day on the right foot, there is also a massive opportunity to improve the efficiency of your end of day operations.
With Cortex, your operators will have better visibility into the shutdown operation of their buildings at the end of the day. While the idea of afternoon coasting isn’t new, backing it with data insights that are easy-to-use is. Your engineers and your wallets will thank you.
We offer two specific features for Shutdown Recommendations:
Afternoon Chiller Coasting
Provides specific recommendations on when to shut down the operations of each chiller in the building. The goal is to quickly identify when chillers can shut down, track the monthly impact, and identify more opportunities to save.
Airside Turndown
Provides specific recommendations on when to ramp back the operations of each AHU in the building. The goal is to run fans more efficiently while maintaining Lease Obligation temperature.
Unit-Level Setpoint Diagnostic
Our platform provides minute-by-minute tracking, visualization, and management of your BMS’s many functions into one central feature. This both optimizes your existing BMS control functions while allowing engineers to make informed and accurate decisions with ease.
SAT Reset
AHUs that operate on a reset schedule are more efficient than those that do not, saving some up to 9% in annual energy usage.
By putting your AHUs on a SAT Reset schedule, your floors will stay within the minimum and maximum range of Lease Obligation while running as efficiently as possible.
Airside Economization
Provides iterative guidance on when to use free cooling on your AHU. View details to quickly identify which AHUs are using inefficient economization schedules while also validating AHUs that are correctly economizing.
Terminal Unit
By providing a high-level context of total units and giving tools to drill down into issues with specific VAVs, engineers can understand the overall status of VAVs, as well as troubleshoot specific issues. This means less tenant complaints, more efficient operations, and less energy wasted.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Insights Does Cortex Provide that Competitors Don’t?
Our machine-learning and artificial intelligence algorithms process real-time data to deliver detailed operational insights that competitors do not. By combining behavioral science and machine learning, we constantly learn usage patterns of your building to better understand how to reduce energy consumption while maintaining tenant comfort. In the crowded space of climate tech, Cortex understands that results matter most – and we have found that providing a method that bridges the gap between the expertise of our engineers’ with their building and a data-driven platform results in the fastest way towards decarbonization.
Cortex also provides easy-to-understand real-time reporting and YTD savings, as well as projected savings on an annualized basis to help show the impact of our recommendations.
Does Cortex control or automate anything in my building?
Our platform is not an automation tool. We believe that building engineers are at the heart of building operations, which is why we have dedicated ourselves to creating a machine-learning platform that is rooted and designed with behavioral science. Our goal is to provide your engineers with transparency and the data they need to make smart, energy-efficient, and tenant pleasing decisions every day. You and your operations team know your building best, so our platform puts the power of informed decisions in your hands.
What Will Cortex Look Like in My Everyday Operations?
With Cortex, your operations team has full control over your building operations. We provide you with the data-backed information they need to make confident, informed decisions that keep your building operating smoothly. Cortex offers a “Today’s List” tasklist every day to provide recommendations that will streamline building operation efficiency from the start and finish.
Our platform also provides you with critical data and interactive graphs to help you understand how your building operations are working at any given moment throughout your work day. If you have seasonal or quarterly responsibilities, Cortex will also help you keep track of performance and setpoint recommendations to get your building ready for the next season of operations.
Your Dedicated Customer Support Team
We don’t just implement our technology and leave your team to figure out the rest. Our customer service support team is here to offer dedicated decarbonization support every step along your decarbonization journey.
When you work with Cortex, our team works closely with you and your operations team to ensure you have the tools to get the most out of the data on our platform. Whatever you need to reach your decarbonization goals, our team will do everything we can to help.
Why Your Data Matters
If you’re not utilizing building data, you’re losing money – and making it harder to reduce CO2.
Each commercial office building is collecting thousands of data points every day, yet across the industry, 90% of this data is not stored. Without a data-driven intelligence solution to store, process, and analyze that data, building owners are throwing away data, money, and the ability to efficiently and affordably meet sustainability goals. It’s time to put that data to work.
Due to our pure software and data approach, our platform provides a decarbonization solution that allows you to make more significant carbon reduction strides that pays for itself. The proof is in the numbers: Cortex customers save an average of 11% in their annualized energy usage — reducing both carbon impact and operation costs.
With our data-backed intelligence platform, Cortex is also always evolving and improving, meaning you’ll continue to see greater savings and returns when you partner with Cortex for your decarbonization journey.
