Acuity Brands, Atlanta, is expanding its collaboration with Microsoft to bring new capabilities to its smart lighting, lighting controls and building automation solutions.
Acuity Brands has a goal to avoid 100 million metric tons of carbon emissions as a result of projected 2020-2030 sales of LED luminaires, lighting controls and building management systems replacing older technologies in existing buildings. By utilizing Microsoft’s Cloud for Sustainability and Microsoft Azure IoT with Acuity Brands customer solutions, the two companies plan to help end customers forecast and calculate the environmental and financial impacts that these new lighting and building management technologies deliver.
“We estimate building operations contribute 28% of global carbon emissions,” said Neil Ashe, chairman, president and CEO of Acuity Brands, in the press release. “By developing, deploying and operating building systems with a focus on sustainability, we can materially reduce energy usage from facilities. Together with Microsoft, our goal is to integrate foundational technologies like Microsoft Azure IoT and AI with Acuity Brands solutions that allow companies to reduce carbon emissions while saving money on operating expenses.”
Acuity Brands and Microsoft will collaborate to bring the Acuity Brands portfolio of applications to Azure, standardizing data ingestion and analysis via Azure Digital Twins and analysis of this data via Azure’s AI offering. Microsoft and Acuity Brands will also look to explore technology solutions that further evolve the way spaces can be evaluated, managed and optimized in the future.
“Consistency and accuracy in calculating carbon reductions are critical to tracking progress towards corporate climate commitments,” said Matt Renner, president, U.S. Enterprise Commercial at Microsoft, in the release. “Acuity’s portfolio of smart lighting, building controls and building management technology, built on Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, will deliver immediate energy savings to companies operating facilities and buildings by integrating sensing, analysis and actuation.”
Acuity Brands’ nLight digital lighting controls platform, the Compact Pro High Bay by Lithonia Lighting and other lighting and lighting controls offerings are currently deployed across 15 billion sq ft of commercial real estate, including office space, retail stores, hospitals and medical buildings and airports.