Cortex Sustainability Intelligence

About Cortex Sustainability Intelligence

Cortex Sustainability Intelligence provides a technology-driven solution for decarbonizing commercial real estate (CRE). The company was founded in 2014 by Bryan Bennett, who drew upon his family's multi-decade experience in CRE development and his own 10-year background in management consulting for utilities on Smart Grid technologies. After graduating from Brown University, Bennett identified an opportunity to use underutilized data from building systems to generate actionable insights for energy reduction. He launched the company to address a critical gap he observed: the lack of practical tools for building engineers to meet energy efficiency and emissions targets.

The firm's core offering is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that applies artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to existing building data streams. This includes information from building management systems, equipment operations, space temperatures, meter readings, and occupancy levels. By analyzing this data, the platform provides building engineers with clear recommendations and operational adjustments through a mobile and web application. This approach is designed to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions without requiring upfront investment in new sensors or equipment upgrades. The business model centers on helping clients, primarily Class A and B office building owners and operators, achieve profitable decarbonization by lowering operating costs and increasing asset value. Clients include prominent real estate firms like Empire State Realty Trust, Savanna, and Silverstein Properties.

The platform serves various stakeholders within a client's organization, including asset managers, sustainability teams, property managers, and building engineers, by consolidating energy data into a single interface. In 2021, the company secured a $6 million Series A funding round led by 4490 Ventures, bringing its total funding to over $11 million. These funds were allocated to expand its product, sales, and marketing teams. The company's impact is quantified by its management of over 45 million square feet of commercial real estate and a reduction of 23,000 metric tons of CO2e in 2023.