Robotics Firm Funded for Green Building Automation

Housing technology company Intelligent City has raised $17 million to automate the manufacturing process and slash emissions in construction.

The company is one of the first in North America to use robotics in the manufacturing of prefabricated mass timber and automation in the construction design process. Using its software, Intelligent City can run simulations to estimate a building’s cost, carbon footprint and life cycle and adapt each step of the process to improve these factors, while using robotics to ramp up the pre-construction stage.

The company also replaces carbon-intensive materials such as concrete and steel with renewable alternatives that can sequester carbon and increases material insulation to save on heating or cooling systems. According to Intelligent City, its building design achieves a 90% carbon emissions reduction from traditional construction methods.

“We are focused on revolutionizing an industry that is notoriously slow to innovate,” said Oliver Lang, CEO and co-founder of Intelligent City. “By utilizing green building strategies and patented technology to deliver affordable, mass-customizable urban housing, we can help cities to adapt more quickly as the needs of people and the planet evolve.”

Intelligent City currently has a pipeline of more than 2,300 homes and earlier this year received verification to work in high-rise timber buildings in Canada and the U.S., with plans to expand to other markets in the future.

“Affordable, efficient, and attractive housing is lacking globally,” said Yuri Fulmer, founder and chairman of Fulmer & Company, one of Intelligent City’s latest investors. “As cities and developers scramble to construct more buildings on pre-existing urban lots, Intelligent City developed a…way to erect buildings that are more energy-efficient and cost-effective.”