IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-50088-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Potential of artificial intelligence in reducing energy and carbon emissions of commercial buildings at scale

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Ding

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Jing Ke

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Mark Levine

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Nan Zhou

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Abstract

Artificial intelligence has emerged as a technology to enhance productivity and improve life quality. However, its role in building energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction has not been systematically studied. This study evaluated artificial intelligence’s potential in the building sector, focusing on medium office buildings in the United States. A methodology was developed to assess and quantify potential emissions reductions. Key areas identified were equipment, occupancy influence, control and operation, and design and construction. Six scenarios were used to estimate energy and emissions savings across representative climate zones. Here we show that artificial intelligence could reduce cost premiums, enhancing high energy efficiency and net zero building penetration. Adopting artificial intelligence could reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by approximately 8% to 19% in 2050. Combining with energy policy and low-carbon power generation could approximately reduce energy consumption by 40% and carbon emissions by 90% compared to business-as-usual scenarios in 2050.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Ding & Jing Ke & Mark Levine & Nan Zhou, 2024. "Potential of artificial intelligence in reducing energy and carbon emissions of commercial buildings at scale," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-50088-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50088-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50088-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-50088-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sang M. Lee & DonHee Lee & Youn Sung Kim, 2019. "The quality management ecosystem for predictive maintenance in the Industry 4.0 era," International Journal of Quality Innovation, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Kurdgelashvili, Lado & Li, Junli & Shih, Cheng-Hao & Attia, Benjamin, 2016. "Estimating technical potential for rooftop photovoltaics in California, Arizona and New Jersey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 286-302.
    3. Constantine E. Kontokosta & Danielle Spiegel-Feld & Sokratis Papadopoulos, 2020. "The impact of mandatory energy audits on building energy use," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 309-316, April.
    4. Jung, Wooyoung & Jazizadeh, Farrokh, 2019. "Human-in-the-loop HVAC operations: A quantitative review on occupancy, comfort, and energy-efficiency dimensions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 1471-1508.
    5. Train,Kenneth E., 2009. "Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521747387, January.
    6. Rositsa T. Ilieva & Timon McPhearson, 2018. "Social-media data for urban sustainability," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(10), pages 553-565, October.
    7. Halhoul Merabet, Ghezlane & Essaaidi, Mohamed & Ben Haddou, Mohamed & Qolomany, Basheer & Qadir, Junaid & Anan, Muhammad & Al-Fuqaha, Ala & Abid, Mohamed Riduan & Benhaddou, Driss, 2021. "Intelligent building control systems for thermal comfort and energy-efficiency: A systematic review of artificial intelligence-assisted techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Sukjoon Oh & Suyeon Ham & Seongjin Lee, 2021. "Drone-Assisted Image Processing Scheme using Frame-Based Location Identification for Crack and Energy Loss Detection in Building Envelopes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Francesc X. Prenafeta-Boldú & Andreas Kamilaris, 2019. "AI assists in locating hidden farms," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 262-263, April.
    10. Benjamin K. Sovacool & Steve Griffiths, 2020. "Culture and low-carbon energy transitions," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 685-693, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barone, G. & Buonomano, A. & Forzano, C. & Giuzio, G.F. & Palombo, A. & Russo, G., 2023. "A new thermal comfort model based on physiological parameters for the smart design and control of energy-efficient HVAC systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Zhifeng Gao & Ted C. Schroeder, 2009. "Consumer responses to new food quality information: are some consumers more sensitive than others?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(3), pages 339-346, May.
    3. Cheng, Leilei & Yin, Changbin & Chien, Hsiaoping, 2015. "Demand for milk quantity and safety in urban China: evidence from Beijing and Harbin," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 59(2), April.
    4. Johannes Buggle & Thierry Mayer & Seyhun Orcan Sakalli & Mathias Thoenig, 2023. "The Refugee’s Dilemma: Evidence from Jewish Migration out of Nazi Germany," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(2), pages 1273-1345.
    5. Christelis, Dimitris & Dobrescu, Loretti I. & Motta, Alberto, 2020. "Early life conditions and financial risk-taking in older age," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    6. Ortega, David L. & Wang, H. Holly & Wu, Laping & Hong, Soo Jeong, 2015. "Retail channel and consumer demand for food quality in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 359-366.
    7. Doyle, Orla & Fidrmuc, Jan, 2006. "Who favors enlargement?: Determinants of support for EU membership in the candidate countries' referenda," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 520-543, June.
    8. Tovar, Jorge, 2012. "Consumers’ Welfare and Trade Liberalization: Evidence from the Car Industry in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 808-820.
    9. Pereira, Pedro & Ribeiro, Tiago, 2011. "The impact on broadband access to the Internet of the dual ownership of telephone and cable networks," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 283-293, March.
    10. Mark Morrison & Craig Nalder, 2009. "Willingness to Pay for Improved Quality of Electricity Supply Across Business Type and Location," The Energy Journal, , vol. 30(2), pages 117-134, April.
    11. Simon P. Anderson & André de Palma, 2012. "Competition for attention in the Information (overload) Age," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 43(1), pages 1-25, March.
    12. Mtimet, Nadhem & Ujiie, Kiyokazu & Kashiwagi, Kenichi & Zaibet, Lokman & Nagaki, Masakazu, 2011. "The effects of Information and Country of Origin on Japanese Olive Oil Consumer Selection," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114642, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Chavez, Daniel E. & Palma, Marco A. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Mjelde, James W., 2020. "Product availability in discrete choice experiments with private goods," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    14. Doherty, Edel & Campbell, Danny, 2011. "Demand for improved food safety and quality: a cross-regional comparison," 85th Annual Conference, April 18-20, 2011, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 108791, Agricultural Economics Society.
    15. Abdurrahman B. Aydemir & Erkan Duman, 2021. "Migrant Networks and Destination Choice: Evidence from Moves across Turkish Provinces," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2109, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    16. Brown, Sarah & Greene, William H. & Harris, Mark N. & Taylor, Karl, 2015. "An inverse hyperbolic sine heteroskedastic latent class panel tobit model: An application to modelling charitable donations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 228-236.
    17. Divine Ikenwilo & Sebastian Heidenreich & Mandy Ryan & Colette Mankowski & Jameel Nazir & Verity Watson, 2018. "The Best of Both Worlds: An Example Mixed Methods Approach to Understand Men’s Preferences for the Treatment of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 11(1), pages 55-67, February.
    18. Paleti, Rajesh, 2018. "Generalized multinomial probit Model: Accommodating constrained random parameters," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 248-262.
    19. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Hasbi, Maude & Liang, Julienne, 2018. "Transition from copper to fiber broadband: The role of connection speed and switching costs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-10.
    20. Filiz-Ozbay, Emel & Guryan, Jonathan & Hyndman, Kyle & Kearney, Melissa & Ozbay, Erkut Y., 2015. "Do lottery payments induce savings behavior? Evidence from the lab," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1-24.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-50088-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.