Schneider Electric: AI-enabled buildings can cut energy use by up to 22%
AI-enabled buildings can cut energy costs and help operators save on annual utility costs while also reducing their carbon footprint.
That’s according to new research by Schneider Electric, which found that AI can more than double the energy savings achieved by smart building controls alone. The use of AI in buildings can cut whole-building energy use by up to 22% against traditional controls.
The research highlights annual utility savings as $13,600 to $49,300 per building at current commercial rates, helping companies reduce operating costs annually with the potential to scale across larger portfolios. It also finds the carbon avoided is more than 100 times greater than the AI system’s footprint.
Smaller Buildings
The research published at Climate Week NYC 2026, also found that small and mid-sized buildings (less than 100,000 square feet) stand to benefit significantly from AI-enabled optimization. Historically, energy management systems have been considered too complex or costly for smaller facilities, where dedicated facilities expertise is often limited.
By helping automate and simplify optimization, AI can make sophisticated building management more accessible, enabling smaller buildings to reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs and cut emissions, stated. Schneider Electric.
"AI is putting the power of energy intelligence into the hands of smaller building owners and operators,” said Pankaj Sharma, executive VP, software & services at Schneider Electric. “What once required significant expertise and investment can now be achieved more simply and at greater scale, helping organizations reduce energy waste, lower costs, improve performance, and make smarter decisions with confidence.”
Other key findings from the research are below.
•Up to 60 metric tons of carbon emissions are avoided annually per building (59,869kg CO₂e), comparable to the environmental benefit of planting 2,700 mature trees
•More than 200 MWh of annual energy savings in some building scenarios, enough electricity to power dozens of average homes for a year.
•AI-driven HVAC optimization deployed through a smart building management system can contribute 7.2-12.7% of additional building energy savings.
•Both cloud and edge AI deployments can deliver significant energy and carbon benefits
“An AI layer on top of existing business systems can turn complexity into intelligence and intelligence into action, reducing emissions, lowering costs and improving performance simultaneously,” said Sharma.
