ORLA — Whole-Building Energy Autopilot

ORLA · Whole-Building Energy Autopilot

One building.
One intelligence.

The whole-building energy autopilot.

ORLA learns how building systems interact. It anticipates future needs and autonomously coordinates equipment — as one system.

First commercial scope: HVAC + BESSNext: PV, hot water, EV and refrigeration
HVACBESSPVEVHot waterCoolingORLAONE BRAINLOCAL INTELLIGENCE
ComfortCostPeakBatteryFlexibilitySelf-consumption
Architecture illustration
WHOLE-BUILDING AISELF-LEARNINGRETROFIT-READYEDGE-FIRST
01 / ORLA

The intelligence
is in the interaction.

A modern building contains many smart systems. But the best decision for each device in isolation is not necessarily the best decision for the building.

01 / INTERACTION

Kitchen → HVAC

Heat from breakfast preparation changes the actual heating demand of nearby spaces.

02 / INTERACTION

PV → Hot water + BESS

Surplus generation can prepare hot water or charge a battery — depending on what will be needed next.

03 / INTERACTION

EV → Building power

EV charging can coincide with HVAC start-up. Coordinating loads can avoid a shared peak.

How should the whole building operate, considering what happens next?

02 / ORLA

Sense now. Predict next. Decide together.

ORLA sits above existing BMS, EMS and device controllers. It brings local data, forecasts and owner constraints into one decision loop.

01 / INPUT

Sense

Zone temperatures, occupancy, equipment, energy, weather, prices, PV generation and battery SOC.

02 / FORECAST

Predict

Future zone needs, temperature changes, power peaks and the cost of preparing the building.

03 / INTELLIGENCE

Decide

Which resources to use, when and how intensely. Evaluate consequences across the whole system.

04 / ACTION

Coordinate

Execute within comfort, process and safety limits. Learn from the outcome.

ONE AUTOPILOT / ADAPTIVE OBJECTIVES

You define the boundaries. ORLA chooses the strategy.

There is no need to switch the building between savings, comfort and flexibility modes. ORLA adapts the trade-off to weather, occupancy, prices, thermal state and stored energy.

COMFORT

Prepare spaces before they are needed.

SAVINGS

Reduce the cost of the whole system.

PEAK

Coordinate demand ahead of the peak.

BATTERY CARE

Use building flexibility before the battery when it makes sense.

SELF-CONSUMPTION

Give local generation its greatest value.

FLEXIBILITY

Offer only a demand change the building can deliver.

03 / ORLA

One winter morning. Hundreds of connected decisions.

Explore how a hotel’s context changes. This is an illustrative scenario, not a record from a deployment.

HOTEL / ILLUSTRATIVE SCENARIO
05:30

The building wakes up

It is cold outside. The kitchen will start shortly.

Comfort / prediction
Independently controlled systems

HVAC starts heating according to its schedule.

One ORLA autopilot

ORLA prepares the required zones while accounting for heat gains that will arrive later.

04 / HVAC + BESS FIRST

HVAC + BESS. The first pair that changes the whole system.

HVAC provides substantial flexibility and access to thermal mass. BESS provides rapid response. Coordinating both helps decide not only when to use the battery, but whether it needs to be used at all.

First commercial scope
HVACTHERMAL FLEXIBILITY
+
BESSFAST RESPONSE
Expansion of the same intelligence layer
PV / self-consumptionHot water / thermal energyEV / shiftable chargingCooling / thermal inertiaOther controllable loads
05 / ORLA CAPABILITY — BESS EXTENDER

The same response. Less battery work.

ORLA BESS Extender is a capability of one autopilot: using building-side flexibility to reduce unnecessary battery throughput.

Illustrative allocation for a 100 kW reduction. The slider shows a response split, not a site forecast. Effects on throughput and battery lifetime require M&V.

Required reduction100 kW
BuildingBESS
BESS alone100 kW
BESS 100 kW
Building + BESS100 kW
40 kW
60 kW
06 / ORLA

Flexibility comes from understanding the building.

ORLA evaluates the current state and future consequences. Only then can it share a dynamic flexibility envelope with an EMS, VPP or aggregator.

Illustrative flexibility envelope
Reduction35 kW
Duration45 min
Delivery confidencePredicted
Rebound + comfortAccounted for
07 / ORLA

Learn the building. Validate decisions. Enable autonomy.

Control moves to ORLA in stages, after validation and within agreed boundaries. Existing automation retains its safeguards and fallback role.

01

Connect data

Link BMS, meters, controllers and sensors.

02

Learn

ORLA learns the dynamics of the actual site.

03

Shadow mode

Evaluate decisions without affecting equipment.

04

Bounded autonomy

Enable selected resources after validation.

05

Expand

Add resources and optimisation objectives.

08 / RETROFIT-READY

Keep the infrastructure. Add the intelligence.

ORLA complements existing BMS, EMS, local controllers and OEM systems. The integration scope is matched to the equipment and interfaces at the site.

BACnetModbusHome AssistantMQTTBMS / EMSOEM
EDGE-FIRST ARCHITECTURE

Local decisions.
Optional cloud.

Sensing, prediction, decisions, control and fallback can run inside the building. Reporting, portfolio monitoring and external integrations can use optional services.

09 / APPLICATIONS

One product. Many places to create value.

Buildings and portfolios

Cost, comfort, power peaks and PV/BESS coordination.

Hotels

Guest comfort, HVAC, hot water and occupancy forecasts.

Retail and refrigeration

Repeatable sites and processes with their own inertia.

EMS, integrators, OEMs

Autonomous intelligence above existing automation.

HOMEMIND / BUILDING INTELLIGENCE

You have smart devices. Time for a smart building.

Start with a free assessment and an agreed pilot. We will identify the available data, resources and operating boundaries.

HomeMind develops and validates ORLA through pilots. Integration scope and outcomes depend on the site. Scenarios and numerical examples are illustrative.