As pressure mounts in cities globally to address sustainable, affordable housing needs, proptech company Intelligent City announced it has raised $22 million to advance building automation and robotics in the production of prefabricated mass timber buildings. Departing from what it describes as “fragmented and hierarchical design and construction processes,” the company says developers that use its flexible yet scalable technology and design platform can expect to build 150 per cent more residential units on the same site, at a savings of up to 50 per cent on life cycle costs per home compared to traditional methods.
“We are focused on revolutionizing an industry that is notoriously slow to innovate while making a significant impact on our climate with lower carbon emissions from the construction and operations of buildings,” explained Oliver Lang, CEO, and Co-Founder of Intelligent City. “By utilizing green building strategies and patented technology to deliver affordable, mass-customizable urban housing, we can help cities to adapt more quickly as the needs of people and the planet evolve.”
According to Lang, it begins with proprietary parametric software for design, construction cost estimation, carbon footprint confirmation, and material quantifications— then Intelligent City’s manufacturing technology brings automation to the prefabrication of building components. Data on the life cycle and performance of the building are provided before construction even begins.
“Intelligent City’s technology is set to enable the future of the built world to be more climate-resilient by replacing emissions-intensive materials such as concrete and steel with a renewable material that naturally sequesters carbon,” said Matt Stanley, Director, BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice. “We are excited to support the team to accelerate the development and scale-up of its mass timber building system and advanced offsite manufacturing capabilities.”
In combination with mass timber construction, Intelligent City uses the energy-efficiency standards of Passive House design to achieve a 90 per cent carbon emissions reduction in its buildings. Continuous insulation and air-tight seals, high-performing windows and doors, balanced heat- and moisture-recovery ventilation, and minimal space conditioning throughout the entire building lead to improved indoor comfort for occupants.
“As proptech industry disruptors, we were excited by the combination of Intelligent City’s platform technology with prefabricated and modular mass timber products to radically speed up construction and dramatically reduce carbon emissions,” said Dana Goldman Szekely, Senior Principal with Greensoil PropTech Ventures. At the same time, Jamie James, Managing Partner at Greensoil PropTech Ventures, will join the Board of Directors of the company
“ESG technologies are not only imperative but demanded by building operators, owners, and tenants,” added Patrick Robinson, Chairman of UIT.Our investment in Intelligent City resulted from careful consideration of the future landscape of the construction industry as well as the vision and the passion demonstrated by the entire team at Intelligent City,”
With a pipeline of more than 2,300 homes, Intelligent City is supported by leading developers in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and the United States, including two high-rise projects in Downtown Vancouver. The company was previously granted funding by the CleanBC Building Innovation Fund, the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), and Natural Resources Canada’s Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada program (BESC).
For more information on Intelligent City, visit https://intelligent-city.com/
