Buildings account for about 37 percent of CO2 emissions related to global energy use. Schneider Electric's new study, "AI for Climate: Quantifying the Energy and Carbon Impact of Building Optimization," examined how integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into building management systems can reduce energy consumption and associated emissions.
Key findings
- The study found that adding an AI layer to optimize heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) can produce additional energy savings of 7.2–12.7 percent in buildings.
- A major benefit of AI is its ability to link previously isolated data sources, continuously analyze building conditions and automate HVAC optimization in real time.
Why this matters
The research emphasizes that the future of building management depends on how effectively operators can combine and contextualize data that were previously stored in silos. AI can automate and simplify operational optimization, making advanced management solutions accessible not only to large facilities but also to smaller buildings.
Industry perspectives
Földvári Péter, Schneider Electric's sales lead for commercial and industrial buildings, said the AI layer can put energy intelligence into the hands of owners and operators of smaller buildings. Functions that once required extensive expertise and investment can now be implemented more easily and at larger scale, he noted.
Veres Zsolt, country director of Schneider Electric Hungary, is scheduled to present on related topics at the Energy Investment Forum 2026 in a talk titled "Szintlépés az energiatechnológiában – energiaintelligencia," where attendees can learn more about practical applications of the technology.
Concrete impacts and opportunities
The study provides actionable projections: a 7.2–12.7 percent reduction in HVAC energy use can materially affect overall energy consumption, operating costs and greenhouse-gas emissions if deployed widely. AI-driven systems’ real-time analytics and automation can also improve maintenance forecasting, maintain occupant comfort and continuously enhance system efficiency.
Conclusion
According to Schneider Electric's research, AI-enhanced building management can deliver measurable energy savings while enabling the integration and real-time optimization of operational data. As a result, higher levels of energy efficiency become attainable not only for large institutions but also for smaller-scale buildings.
