Algorithmic natural ventilation control and air-quality intelligence for a world-class commercial building.
Our client, a City of London Office (financial institution) and one of the UK's most advanced and recognisable commercial buildings, engaged Future Decisions to support the optimisation of air quality and natural ventilation. More than 480 environmental sensors streamed live data into our control platform, where an algorithmic control layer managed 117 natural ventilation fins every 10 minutes. This enabled the building to respond dynamically to changing internal and external conditions, supporting energy efficiency, occupant comfort, and high standards of indoor air quality.
City of London Office is an exceptional building with a highly sophisticated natural ventilation system. The project demonstrates a commitment to going beyond standard building operation by investing in detailed environmental monitoring, intelligent control and occupant-focused air-quality management.
City of London Office was designed to be one of the most environmentally advanced commercial buildings in the world. A major part of that ambition is its ability to use natural ventilation. However, in a dense urban location such as the City of London, natural ventilation must be managed intelligently.
External air quality can vary significantly by façade, height, wind direction, time of day, traffic conditions, roof-level plant activity, nearby pollution sources, and local street-canyon effects.
The approach was to measure and understand this complexity in detail. Future Decisions supported this by using more than 480 environmental sensors, air-quality analysis, live data streaming and algorithmic control to help the building make better ventilation decisions.
Natural ventilation can reduce mechanical ventilation demand and improve building performance, but only when outside air is suitable. The real question was not simply whether the building could open the fins — it was which fins should open, when should they open, and which areas should remain protected from polluted air.
For a building of this scale and complexity, a simple open-or-closed strategy is not enough. The building needed to understand:
This is exactly the type of challenge Future Decisions is designed to solve. It requires live data, building controls knowledge, air-quality understanding and powerful control logic.
Future Decisions provided the data intelligence, environmental analysis and control strategy needed to operate City of London Office's natural ventilation system more intelligently. Our work included:
Future Decisions used more than 480 environmental sensors to stream environmental data from key locations around the building — creating a live picture of conditions across the façade, rooftop and internal spaces.
This level of sensing matters because air quality around a building is not uniform. One façade may be suitable for natural ventilation while another should remain closed. The sensor network allowed control decisions to be based on real conditions, not assumptions.
Future Decisions controls these fins through an advanced algorithmic control layer that reviews building and environmental conditions approximately every 10 minutes. Each control cycle can assess:
This is where Future Decisions adds real value: turning a world-class natural ventilation system into an active, intelligent, pollution-aware building control strategy.
Many buildings operate ventilation using fixed schedules, simple thresholds or manual assumptions. This project took a more advanced route: measure the real environment, understand the building properly, and use data to support intelligent control. That level of ambition is what makes this project stand out.
The project shows a commitment to occupant wellbeing, cleaner indoor air, smarter building operation, detailed environmental intelligence, better use of natural ventilation, reduced unnecessary mechanical ventilation, evidence-led control, and long-term building performance.
The analysis showed that natural ventilation could be used more effectively when controlled with detailed local intelligence. External conditions around City of London Office varied significantly — making granular control essential. Rather than opening or closing a full façade as one blunt action, the building can benefit from more selective control:
Air quality was central to the project. PM2.5, PM10 and NO₂ were identified as the key pollutants affecting external air quality around the building. Future Decisions used this information to support a control strategy that protects occupants while still allowing the building to benefit from natural ventilation when conditions are suitable.
This is not basic ventilation control. This is intelligent environmental management.
The City of London Office north building includes five main cores served by air handling units. The analysis identified a combined AHU fan demand of up to 345.2 kW when relevant systems are operating — creating a strong opportunity.
When natural ventilation is available and air quality is suitable, mechanical ventilation demand can be reduced. Future Decisions' control approach coordinates natural ventilation fins, AHU operation, external air-quality data, internal comfort conditions, CO₂ demand, weather conditions, pollution bloom avoidance and fan-energy reduction.
This creates a smarter hybrid ventilation strategy: natural ventilation when appropriate, mechanical ventilation when required.
~100 t CO₂e
The analysis calculated an indicative carbon benefit of approximately 100 tonnes CO₂e, based on reduced AHU fan energy alone. That figure does not include additional potential benefit from reducing the heating or cooling of mechanically supplied air — meaning the total operational benefit could be greater when wider HVAC impacts are included.
In urban environments, air quality can change quickly and can vary significantly across different parts of the same building. Future Decisions' sensor-led control approach helps identify:
This allows the building to protect occupants while still using natural ventilation wherever conditions allow. That balance is what makes the approach powerful.
Future Decisions' AI augmentation approach does not replace the existing building systems — it enhances them. The existing BMS and ventilation systems remain in place, while the Future Decisions control layer uses live and historical data to make better decisions.
For City of London Office, this supports safe natural ventilation windows, intelligent fin selection, polluted-zone avoidance, AHU fan-demand reduction, occupant wellbeing, adaptation to changing weather, response to pollution events, learning from previous outcomes, and improved performance over time. The building becomes more responsive, more efficient and more aware of its environment.
A one-off survey can identify issues, but live control requires live data. By using 480+ environmental sensors and continuous data streaming, Future Decisions helped provide the evidence needed for ongoing intelligent operation:
This is the future of building control: measured, adaptive and evidence-led.
This is not just monitoring. This is intelligent building control.