Sustainability Magazine November 2019 | Page 91

environmental impact and out-ofpocket costs .
With transport and buildings making a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions , Microsoft is also focused on ‘ architecture for the new world ’, or smart cities . In this field , the business has several key innovations around smart buildings and smart energy . Microsoft ICONICS , for example , is a smart building software that collects and analyses IoT sensor data from building management systems to give information on general property status , as well as where improvements can be made to achieve greater energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs .
An example of the company ’ s work in this sector can be seen in the Taiwanese capital , Taipei . The city has experienced rapid growth in recent years , and thus city planners were looking for methods of streamlining its municipal operations while improving energy efficiency and safety for citizens . Microsoft partnered with local company AAEON to develop an IoT-based solution that would form the basis of a cloud-based monitoring system for the city ’ s more than 150,000
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