Challenge

Currently, emissions from residential buildings continue to come mainly from fuel combustion – the burning of oil and gas by boilers for heating and hot water and electricity use for lighting and domestic appliances.

However, according to the CCC in 2022, the pace of energy efficiency upgrades of homes is slow, and heat pumps are more expensive to install and operate than traditional gas boilers.

AI solution

Eluxevo’s system’s sensors collect data which measure the environmental characteristics of different areas of the home and the behaviours of those who live within it, and the system’s software processes and analyses the data and adapts the home’s heating and lighting settings – according to the user’s preferences – in real-time accordingly.

Eluxevo’s system is claimed to constitute a smarter home heating and lighting system than many of today’s systems by ensuring only areas of the home where heat and light are required are heated or lit appropriately, thus reducing its use of fossil fuels and electricity, increasing the energy efficiency of the home, and reducing energy costs.

It is also claimed to offer an alternative, space-saving, and affordable solution to heat pumps, given that installation is compatible with existing systems (where users are not able or would prefer not to change them), and per room is claimed to begin at less than 1/10th the cost of a heat pump.

Bridge AI support and collaboration

Funding and training

Eluxevo received Innovation Vouchers from the Hartree Centre as part of the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme, enabling it to build a team of AI and software developers and develop and test its cloud-based software design with existing hardware (sensors, actuators, heating systems) currently available on the market.

The startup also took advantage of BridgeAI parter BSI’s AI Management Practitioner course, increasing awareness and use of AI-specific terminology, establishing a baseline understanding of best practices to improve its software’s credibility and trustworthiness. It also provided a good understanding of key considerations relating to stakeholder assessment, governance, and data security.

“It opened my eyes and got me thinking about how we incrementally build our processes and methodologies. How we start to assess our stakeholders, the data, and risks… to ensure we are in a good place as we progress and that we build credibility and have done our due diligence when we want to interface with bigger companies and users in potentially different jurisdictions.” Maximillian Smith, Founder and Managing Director.

“The course gave me a knowledge foundation which has been really useful and which we can build from…it opened my eyes and got me thinking about how we incrementally build our processes and methodologies. How we start to assess our stakeholders, the data, and risks… to ensure we are in a good place as we progress and that we build credibility and have done our due diligence when we want to interface with bigger companies and users in potentially different jurisdictions,” Maximillian Smith, Founder & Managing Director, Eluxevo.

Support with ISO 27001

Eluxevo was aware of the amount of information the business deals with as part of the R&D of its AI-powered heating system software, and the associated potential risks. The company successfully applied for consultancy support from BSI’s Digital Trust Consulting unit, focusing on ISO 27001. This included a tailored one-day workshop and a high-level organisational gap analysis against the standards requirements.

For Eluxevo, this resulted in an increased awareness and understanding of the information security risks within its current R&D activities. It helped the company to identify the actions and priorities for mitigation, as well as the policies and processes to build into its workflows, from the outset.

“The support and ISO 27001 itself helped us to focus on the here and now and draw our attention to current areas of exposure in the early stages of our R&D and information security risks that we weren’t previously aware of or had thought about.”

Results and impact

The Eluxevo team now reviews its practices weekly, resulting in the formal conceptualisation of the software proposition and its risks. It is reviewing information assets, access policies and asset registers, and putting in place new policies, practices, and frameworks to help reduce risk, in line with BSI’s recommendations.

Lessons learned and future plans

Eluxevo’s goal is to be able to offer its own modular system for domestic users and then for commercial buildings. It is looking to make its AI-enabled software available as a service (such as to heating system manufacturers), and the company is working towards its ISO 42001 and ISO 27001 accreditation.

ISO 27001 is about building trust, and if we’re given the responsibility of other people’s information, then we want to uphold our side of that arrangement. My intention is that we do everything we can to be on a pathway of adopting both ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, and others. ISO 27001 is clear and well-structured, and it’s there for the protection of the consumer as much as the business and, therefore, how we can contribute to the growth of the UK and build a better set of outcomes.

– Maximillian Smith, Founder and Managing Director, Eluxevo