Santa Barbara, which has long maintained its reputation as one of America’s greenest cities, is now home to Ecorithm, a company which poses a solution to a national problem of energy waste.
Stephanie Marasciullo, UCSB Professor Dr. Igor Mezić, and CEO Dr. Chris Tagge founded Ecorithm in 2011 as an Internet of Things (IoT) software analysis program. The IoT is a network which connects physical objects to the internet, allowing users to remotely control systems like building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). Ecorithm currently uses IoT to create “smart buildings,” simplifying data from thousands of building sensors to provide companies with efficient energy solutions.
According to Mezić, five percent of office buildings in the United States contribute to 50 percent of the country’s energy expenditures. To combat this issue, Ecorithm processes data from existing building sensors, up to 10,000 in some systems, and identifies “pressure points” contributing to energy waste. Mezić described Ecorithm as being like the robot HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, “but not malicious.”