BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – This month’s Koffman Innovations segment features an Irish company which views Binghamton as the perfect market to prove the value of its energy-saving devices.
Hub Controls, winners of NYSERDA’s 2018 76West Clean Technology Competition, was the first international company to locate its US headquarters at the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator.
Its hub controller eliminates energy waste in the home through automatic energy reduction technology.
The thermostat-like device uses artificial intelligence and learning tools to operate in the background and hunt for wasted energy in a building’s heating or air conditioning.
Hub Controls has been operating in Ireland since 2019, reducing energy consumption for heat by an average of 36%.
North American General Manager Brian Cregan says Greater Binghamton is a great place to test the technology because of its extreme seasonal changes between winter and summer, its supply of typical single family homes and the incentives offered by the state through partnerships with the cities of Binghamton and Ithaca.
“We’re now planning to fast track and scale over the next year in the Southern Tier. First of all by running demonstration projects to prove our technology and carbon savings in the New York market.”
Cregan says the next step is to spread across Upstate New York before expanding to 72 like-sized cities in the US.
For its Binghamton demonstration projects, Hub Controls is working with local housing agencies to identify low and moderate-incomes households who would benefit most from the technology.
Regional H-VAC Specialist Charles Laxton grew up in Greene and has spent the last 2 decades working in heating and cooling in Manhattan and Long Island.
He’s excited to be working with the cutting-edge technology.
“The most excitement for me personally is honestly helping the community lower the energy bills for everyone and give people the opportunity to put money toward other things that we need.”
Hub Controls hopes to have 1 million of its devices installed in US homes and small commercial buildings by 2030.