Amazon is widening its use of autonomous building controls after early tests showed that artificial intelligence (AI) can meaningfully cut energy consumption across its network of grocery fulfillment centers.
In a joint effort with Trane Technologies and Amazon Web Services, the company deployed BrainBox AI at three Amazon Grocery fulfillment centers in North America. BrainBox AI is an autonomous HVAC optimization platform. The system predicts building needs and adjusts equipment in real time. The companies found that it reduced energy use by 15%, more than double the project’s initial target.
The pilots offer one of Amazon’s clearest examples yet of AI taking direct operational action inside its buildings, rather than simply analyzing data or generating recommendations. The technology continuously evaluates factors such as weather, occupancy, and historical equipment performance, and then autonomously modulates HVAC settings to maintain conditions while lowering energy draw.
Amazon ranks No. 1 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. The database is how Digital Commerce 360 tracks the largest North American online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales.
Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database. That database ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).
How Amazon is using AI in grocery fulfillment centers
With the first results in hand, Amazon plans to deploy the system across more than 30 additional grocery fulfillment and distribution centers in the United States. The companies also expect to test the AI controls in grocery stores beginning in 2026.
“This collaboration shows how AI can deliver strong returns while reducing environmental impact,” said Riaz Raihan, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Trane Technologies, which acquired BrainBox AI in January.
Amazon has tied the initiative to its broader decarbonization strategy, which pairs efficiency upgrades in existing buildings with low-carbon systems in new construction. The company aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
“We’re turning our buildings into intelligent systems that learn and adapt,” said Christina Minardi, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide grocery stores real estate and store development.
She said the AI platform allows the company to reduce its energy footprint without affecting operational performance.
BrainBox AI participated in Amazon’s Sustainability Accelerator in 2024. It uses several AWS tools — including Amazon S3 and Amazon Bedrock — to train and run its optimization models. The technology has been integrated with Amazon’s building systems over the past two years as part of earlier collaborations between Trane and BrainBox AI.
Trane said scaling the deployment will allow the companies to refine predictive models and gather more data on how AI-driven controls can reduce emissions across large real estate portfolios.
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