Why Smarter Air Conditioning Is Becoming a Global Energy Imperative
As the mercury rises each summer, the conversation around climate tech tends to heat up. While renewables and electric vehicles grab headlines, there’s another silent energy monster expanding fast: air conditioning.
We’re not just talking about a few extra window units. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports the world already runs over 2 billion air conditioning units—and that figure is projected to soar past 5.5 billion by 2050. Driven by urbanization, rising income levels, and hotter summers across Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Europe, the global thirst for cooling is reaching a critical tipping point.
And with it, energy demand is skyrocketing. Cooling devices—primarily fans and ACs—now account for 7% of global electricity use, or 20% of all energy consumed in buildings. That’s more than just a seasonal spike; it’s a structural challenge for the future of energy systems.
According to Exergio, a company pioneering AI-based tools to reduce building energy waste, the path forward isn’t about limiting access to cooling—it’s about getting smart.
Cooling’s Global Surge—and the Inefficiency Problem
From Germany, where AC ownership jumped from 13% of households in 2023 to 19% in 2024, to India, where cooling could drive over 45% of peak electricity load by 2050, demand is climbing at a staggering pace. Indonesia is seeing projections of a five-fold increase in cooling energy usage. And across the Middle East and North Africa, inefficient HVAC systems are contributing to more than a fifth of national emissions in countries like Egypt and Jordan.
In many of these places, air conditioning has gone from luxury to necessity. But the systems in place? They haven’t kept up.
“The core problem is the same almost everywhere,” says Donatas Karčiauskas, CEO of Exergio. “Most AC units still operate in isolation – not as part of a building’s energy ecosystem. They cool empty rooms, ignore outside conditions, and run full blast without adapting to real needs. That’s not just inefficient – it’s the fastest way to waste energy and money.”
It’s not just about present-day consumption, either. The IEA estimates that residential cooling alone will require 700 TWh more electricity by 2035—that’s three times the increase expected from global data centers.
“The bigger threat isn’t what cooling systems consume today – it’s how much more they’ll consume as the world gets hotter and cities expand,” Karčiauskas adds. “If we keep installing ACs without integrating smarter control systems, we’re not just adding comfort – we’re locking in decades of inefficiency, rising electricity demand, and avoidable emissions.”
Smarter Systems, Cooler Outcomes
The solution? AI-powered HVAC management systems that don’t just automate—they optimize.
Today’s most promising platforms integrate sensor data, machine learning, and predictive analytics to anticipate cooling needs and adjust airflow, ventilation, and energy loads in real time. This approach turns cooling into a responsive, data-driven process, rather than a brute-force blast of cold air.
Exergio’s technology is already proving what’s possible. At the Ozas shopping center in Lithuania, their system slashed electricity usage by 29% and heating by 36%, saving nearly €1 million annually by using CO₂ sensors and real-time HVAC control to fine-tune building performance.
And while Lithuania’s climate leans cold, the approach is highly translatable to hot-weather regions—particularly those grappling with poor grid resilience and ballooning energy bills.
From Seasonal Add-On to Energy Backbone
In Germany, more than half of new AC buyers cite climate change as their reason for purchasing a unit. But treating AC as a short-term response to extreme heat ignores the long-term energy implications.
“We’re past the point where cooling can be treated as a seasonal add-on. It’s becoming one of the defining energy challenges of the next two decades. The buildings that adapt intelligently – with systems that learn, predict, and respond – will not only save energy, they’ll lead the shift toward climate-resilient cities,” concluded Karčiauskas.
As cities grow and the climate shifts, the systems we use to stay cool need to evolve. Intelligent HVAC is no longer a premium feature—it’s the foundation for sustainable building design in the 21st century.
