News & Events

MONTREAL – AUGUST 23, 2021 – Distech ControlsTM, an innovation leader connecting people with intelligent building solutions, is collaborating with École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) and the Laboratory of Imaging, Vision and Artificial Intelligence (LIVIA), to create a synergy promoting the development of machine learning solutions for the control of connected buildings.

LIVIA is a research group accredited by ÉTS which brings together a team of several professors, associate members, and graduate students. LIVIA specializes in AI techniques and will use their research and development activities to apply AI technology to Distech Controls connected buildings controllers such as the ECLYPSE.

Professors Eric Granger and Marco Pedersoli, ÉTS research chair holders and LIVIA members, seek to utilize AI algorithms to lower costs, reduce the energy footprint while increasing comfortability in buildings and adapting systems to environmental changes, develop strategies for privacy protection, and detect people and events in smart buildings, among other goals. Utilizing AI technologies will allow Distech Controls to automate tasks that are typically performed manually, allowing their building controls to be operated with less manpower and run more efficiently overall.

“The first objective of this chair with Distech Controls is to make buildings more intelligent,” said Granger. “This means exploiting more comfort for the users and less energy consumption.”

Steve Lupien, Vice President Building Automation Technology at Distech Controls, believes working with the LIVIA team will provide the necessary research to elevate the company’s building management solutions. By collaborating with the university, Distech Controls broadens their research pool and gains access to a wider network of AI subject matter experts.

“The chair with ÉTS will help Distech keep its technology leadership,” said Lupien. “By leveraging researchers from ÉTS and the ECLYPSE platform processing power, we will deliver AI applications that will enhance the way we commission, operate, and maintain smart buildings.”

ÉTS, constituent establishment of the Université du Québec, offers an ideal environment for thinking and creating what could change the world of tomorrow. It intends to position itself as a leader in research and to maintain its close and privileged links within the industry. Its research choices are made in collaboration with its industrial partners and aim for concrete applications in specific fields.

About Distech Controls

Distech Controls connects people with intelligent building solutions through our forward-thinking technologies and services.  We partner with customers to deliver innovative solutions that can provide better health, better spaces, and better efficiencies. Our passion for innovation, quality and sustainability guides our business, which serves multiple market segments through worldwide business divisions, service offices and a superior network of Authorized System Integrators and Distributors. Distech Controls, Inc. is a subsidiary of Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. For more information visit www.distech-controls.com.

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