Spain – In collaboration with the University of Seville and several other institutions*, Internacional Hispacold SA (Hispacold), headquartered in Seville, Spain (a subsidiary of Irizar Group SC) is embarking on a project that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to anticipate when maintenance will be needed on HVAC systems to help prevent breakdowns and to reduce repair and maintenance costs. The project, which is being conducted in three parts or phases, will also look at ways to better balance the energy consumption of HVAC systems to increase energy efficiency and to reduce operating cost, as well as developing an electronic device to increase uptime.

The two-year project, called SAPOHVAC**, utilises AI systems such as deep learning and machine learning to run a range of diagnostic tests on its HVAC systems in various scenarios allowing it to predict when maintenance is needed. This process focuses on integrating rules that the system has learnt through machine learning back into the AI’s “brain.” The sensors gather data which then gets sent to the user through a specialised piece of software in the form of an application (app), accessed through a smartphone.