In downtown Toronto, a subtle but impactful change has been underway at Cadillac Fairview (CF) office properties. Teams have deployed a technology designed to help reduce emissions and optimize operations, which has internally been branded HVAC AI. 

This intelligent energy optimization software is integrated into existing heating, ventilation, and air cooling (HVAC) systems at Toronto-Dominion Centre (TD Centre), RBC Centre, Simcoe Place, and Toronto Eaton Centre (TEC) Office Properties. It is also used at Calgary City Centre in Alberta. HVAC AI  uses AI to autonomously adjust building automation systems (BAS) that regulate heating and cooling across millions of square feet of real estate. This evolution in HVAC operations is largely unseen but aims to reduce carbon emissions, operating costs, and energy usage. 

For Senior Manager, Climate Impact Analytics, Rafay Shamim, a leader in the design and sustainment of this program, the project was an exciting opportunity to forge a new path forward for CF. The most rewarding aspect, he says, was seeing how different stakeholders across the company came together with a shared goal. And despite the challenges of this pioneering effort—which removed the need for direct human verification by allowing settings to be adjusted without an operator—the team was confident that their combined skills and experience would allow them to navigate this new territory.

Mariana Gounalakis, Manager of Operations at TD Centre, was instrumental in the deployment of HVAC AI at the property. For her, the launch of this AI system was a personal journey, a full circle moment. Mariana first interned at the TD Centre during her mechatronics engineering studies at Toronto Metropolitan University and later returned to CF in 2023, bringing with her a strong technical understanding of the buildings and HVAC control systems.

Today, Mariana knows these buildings like an engineer knows their blueprint, and she is a proud leader of operations teams engaged in this advanced work. “I’ve always loved CF,” she says. “This is a place where you get to make decisions, and you get to drive change.” That change has been big. The HVAC AI solution predicts the future conditions in spaces within a building and automatically adjusts the control settings to stay within described comfort limits in the most energy-efficient manner possible. Based on factors such as weather, time of day, heating and cooling loads, the AI technology can anticipate whether a space might become too cool or too warm and adjust the setpoints to prevent this. This continuous, real-time process has already demonstrated reduced carbon emissions, energy usage, and operational cost savings since its implementation in October 2023. There have also been multiple instances where the technology identified issues that could affect equipment health or occupant comfort. For both Rafay and Mariana, the most rewarding aspect of the project was seeing all the stakeholders—from property teams to Data & Technology and Operations Services—come together with a shared goal. The biggest challenge was the project's scale, rolling it out to some of CF's largest properties with different systems. The key to navigating these issues was strong collaboration and change management, which proved to be the most important part of the project. This was all made possible with the support and guidance of the senior leadership team. “If you have an open mind, you might end up with a really cool forward-thinking, completely innovative tool that sets you apart,” says Mariana. “My main goal is to make sure that these buildings run as best they can, and by working together we were able to accomplish that."

Nearly two years into the HVAC AI project, Mariana and the TD Centre team are now one of 12 teams across CF office buildings, representing 9.5 million square feet of space, each experiencing the benefits of reduced utility cost, energy consumption, peak demand, and carbon emissions. Mariana is excited for more teams across CF’s portfolio to experience the benefits of the new technology, which reach beyond specific building operations and contribute to CF’s Purpose of Transforming Communities for a Vibrant Tomorrow. “Being able to work on initiatives that support sustainability is important to me,” she says, “The most fulfilling part of my work is knowing that what I’m doing is making a difference.”

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