Manish Kumar, EVP of Digital Energy, Schneider Electric looks at the increasing role of AI.
Cities worldwide are at a tipping point. As urban areas consume 75% of the world’s energy and contribute to 70% of global CO₂ emissions, there is an urgent need for transformation, and fast. The mandate is clear: decarbonize, electrify and future-proof the built environment.
By 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities, an unprecedented shift that’s already underway. The future of urban sustainability won’t be built from scratch, it will be retrofitted and reimagined as 80% of the buildings that will stand in 2050 already exist today.
The role of the Energy Command Center (ECC)
Fortunately, the foundation for this transformation already exists today in the form of intelligent, connected city infrastructure powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled buildings. At the heart of this evolution is the Energy Command Center (ECC) a centralized hub within buildings that optimizes energy use across multiple energy-consuming assets.
By leveraging AI, the ECC helps reduce costs, streamline digital building operations, and drive on-site renewable energy generation, creating a smarter ecosystem in buildings and in turn contributing towards the net zero cities landscape.
The ECC is revolutionizing energy management. It creates a pathway for sustainable cities that is more efficient, resilient, and responsive to the demands of rapid urbanization.
This innovative approach to energy efficiency integrates data sources such as HVAC systems, lighting, data centers and other critical energy assets into one centralized management system, with key capabilities including:
- Real-time monitoring and optimization: Continuously tracks energy usage to maximize efficiency, ensuring energy is consumed only when necessary to reduce waste and improve indoor comfort conditions for building occupants.
- AI-driven predictive maintenance: Anticipates equipment needs to minimize downtime
- Seamless integration: Connects with existing building management systems and digital infrastructure to create one unified point of control for all energy assets.
The synergy between AI, renewable energy and microgrid technology is redefining what’s possible for sustainable cities.
By transforming building operations from reactive manual control to predictive and autonomous management, the ECC drives measurable improvements in operational efficiency, sustainability, and cost savings. This technology also equips building leaders with a more holistic view of their energy usage, scaling impact far beyond individual structures.
Empowering organizations and government with energy data insights
Governments and enterprises face the complex challenge of balancing occupant comfort, operational costs, and ambitious carbon reduction targets. As climate goals become a top priority, leaders across these sectors must also comply with government-mandated emissions standards and sustainability regulations designed to accelerate decarbonization.
For instance, as required by the Paris Agreement, nations must reduce emissions 43% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Meeting these mandates is no small feat, but the ECC is already helping to accelerate the transition to a net zero future for cities around the world.
Serving as a blueprint for cities looking to follow suit, the ECC’s advanced analytics and real-time monitoring capabilities not only streamline compliance with regulatory requirements but also empower organizations to proactively identify opportunities for further emissions reductions and cost savings.
By embracing these innovations, businesses, governments, and individuals can collaborate more effectively and drive meaningful progress toward more sustainable and resilient cities.
Real-world case study of the ECC
The benefits of the ECC are already being realized by buildings across the world, including a recent project using AI and machine learning to optimize energy consumption across Capgemini’s 23 campuses in India.
Through the integration of real-time monitoring and control systems, Capgemini and Schneider Electric reduced energy consumption by 25 GWh, creating €3 million in cost savings while transitioning to 100% renewable electricity. The ECC centralized data from multiple energy-consuming assets, including HVAC systems, lighting, and data centers to establish a centralized hub for all operations.
This model demonstrates how digital transformation can significantly enhance energy efficiency in large-scale corporate environments. Beyond energy savings, the ECC project also contributed to improved operational resilience, enabling predictive maintenance that reduced unexpected downtime.
Capgemini’s experience serves as a prominent example for how leaders can leverage the ECC to unify energy management across a variety of platforms, while simultaneously reducing burdensome costs and accelerating a path toward net zero emissions.
The ECC: the next step in helping AI-powered cities become a reality
As cities and enterprises race to meet stringent decarbonization goals, existing AI-powered infrastructure like the ECC is already proving to be a revolutionary tool to reach these targets more effectively. Through real-time data, predictive analytics, autonomous controls, and more, building leaders can transform traditional buildings into living, breathing environments that continuously adapt to occupant needs, external conditions, and grid demands.
These intelligent systems go far beyond just simply reducing carbon emissions – they create spaces that are cost effective and comfortable for those who use them every day. Buildings equipped with the ECC become active participants in their own management, optimizing lighting, heating and cooling to support occupant wellbeing and operational efficiency.
By turning static structures into smart, sustainable ecosystems, the ECC exemplifies how AI-powered infrastructure is reimaging urban building energy systems and making the vision of a net-zero city a reality, one building at a time.