CHICAGO — Want to change the temperature of your workspace with the click of a button?
Soon, some Chicagoans will likely be able to do that with the introduction of Comfy to a handful of city buildings.
The app allows anyone in the office to log in and make requests to warm or cool individual zones, and it immediately warms or cools the air to suit your needs. The Oakland, Calif.-based startup last year raised $12 million to build software that integrates with the existing building management system, which enables it to "talk to” the heating and cooling mechanisms in each zone, adjusting the temperature according to each request.
Meggy Hearn, Comfy's marketing and communications director, said the company is "currently in negotiations with several new and existing clients to get Comfy up and running in Chicago."
"With temperatures in Chicago varying so much throughout the year, it can be extra difficult to keep buildings comfortable — especially during spring," Hearn said. "In offices with Comfy, employees simply tell the building what they want and it automatically adjusts to their preferences. ... It's as easy as that. The 'Windy City' is a perfect place for Comfy and we're excited to start improving the workplace experience for all of our friends here."
Hearn did not have specifics on which Chicago neighborhoods or buildings Comfy could enter.
Comfy collects data every time an employee makes a request (for example, whenever they click “warm my space,” "cool my space,” or “I’m comfy”). All that data feeds into a patented machine learning algorithm, which means Comfy learns user’s preferences over time and adjusts the building accordingly. For example, if people tend to prefer "Conference Room B" warmer on Monday mornings, that space will be automatically tuned to a bit warmer at that particular time.
Comfy current has clients in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., Sydney, Australia, and Bangalore, India, Hearn said.
"We will be expanding into many more this year," Hearn said.
