The building energy management market is rapidly being reorganized around artificial intelligence (AI) technology. As sustainable energy use gains prominence globally, the importance of building energy management is also increasing. The effectiveness of AI-based building energy management solutions is being demonstrated in countries such as the United States and Germany.


In this trend, the startup Ground One, established in 2022, is gradually gaining attention. Meeting with Yoonjung Hong, CEO of Ground One, who envisions an era of autonomous building energy optimization through AI technology, insights were gathered on the company's unique technology, vision, and overseas expansion strategy.

Confidence in Entrepreneurship from Extensive Overseas Experience

What motivated the founding of Ground One? CEO Yoonjung Hong has been involved in building-related work since her twenties. She gained practical real estate experience while living abroad in her twenties and thirties, witnessing firsthand the impact of 'space' on people's lives.

CEO Yoonjung Hong stated, "Experiencing various countries' urban and residential environments, I realized that people's expressions, lifestyles, and even energy usage change depending on the space they live in," adding, "Our daily lives ultimately occur in spaces. The quality of those spaces significantly influences the quality of life, energy use, and even the environment. I wanted to help better understand and operate real-world spaces using data and technology."

Ground One embodies the meaning of placing 'the ground and buildings (Ground) on a single (One) standard.' CEO Yoonjung Hong describes herself as 'a small giant in capturing real spaces with machines,' which she believes best encapsulates Ground One's aspirations.

Her past overseas experiences provided Yoonjung Hong with more than just observations but a firm conviction. She distinctly realized that space is not merely a physical container but a force capable of simultaneously transforming people, cities, and the environment. She recalled, "The question of 'how can people enjoy spaces more efficiently and sustainably?' became the direct driving force for entrepreneurship."

Archflow Solves Fundamental Issues of Existing Building Management Systems

Ground One's core solution is the building operation automation platform Archflow. AI analyzes energy usage, comfort levels, and environmental changes in real-time, automating control of major facilities such as the Building Management System (BMS) and heating and cooling systems. This allows for reduced operating costs and carbon emissions while maintaining comfort.


According to CEO Yoonjung Hong, Archflow can address the fundamental issues of existing building management systems. Most buildings operate heating and cooling facilities based on fixed schedules, which fails to reflect actual environmental changes, inevitably leading to energy waste. For example, facilities may operate on weekends as they do on weekdays even when unoccupied, or fail to respond to sudden weather changes. In contrast, Archflow can improve this with AI-based real-time adaptive control. It learns and applies patterns in real-time to save energy and automatically responds to environmental changes such as weather or indoor occupancy. It also features environment-aware control, which automatically adjusts HVAC settings while maintaining comfort by comprehensively analyzing indoor and outdoor signals. HVAC encompasses heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, which are critical elements in building management.

The effectiveness of Archflow is demonstrated with specific figures. Energy usage decreases by 15-30% while achieving a comfort level of 98%. CEO Yoonjung Hong emphasized, "Archflow's greatest effect is not just reducing energy and costs but finding realistically applicable reduction strategies by considering comfort and facility safety ranges together," adding, "Its ease of integration with existing operating systems without requiring large-scale facility replacements is also a strength."

Ground One seeks differentiation through automation combining AI and on-device technology and an AI agent-based simulation engine. This approach allows for reduced facility construction costs and increased efficiency compared to existing systems.

Continuous Challenges in Technology Development... Finding a Turning Point

The technology development process for Ground One was not smooth. The biggest challenge was that building facilities were not perfectly digitized. Most building facilities operate individually, and many are not structured to collect and analyze data centrally, or even if measured, data is not consistently recorded and stored.


CEO Yoonjung Hong revealed, "AI requires continuous facility operation data to learn and optimize. However, initially, data was insufficient, requiring significant time and cost to collect and refine it. Developing a rational control strategy under incomplete observation was a major challenge both technically and in service design," she confessed.

Ground One addressed this issue in two directions. First, instead of assuming new facilities from the start, they focused on existing facilities and data on-site. They concentrated on integrating measurement values and operation histories from each facility to establish a minimal foundation for generating meaningful insights. They also paid attention to implementing high-accuracy simulations. For existing facility data that was lacking or missing, they increased the reliability of results by using simulations alongside actual measurement data.

CEO Yoonjung Hong stated, "By resolving issues in these two directions, we could somewhat offset the limitations of 'incomplete observation.' We also confirmed more stable control and consistent reduction effects," she added. "Ultimately, we found a way to apply autonomous operation even in buildings with imperfect data and facility conditions by combining existing infrastructure with high-precision simulation," she concluded.

Various trials and errors provided a springboard for Ground One's leap forward. Instead of relying solely on past data, they operate using a structure that combines simulations with actual data. This approach has established a foundation for expanding to buildings with insufficient past data or new projects. CEO Yoonjung Hong explained, "While many solutions require collecting facility data for at least a year before finding application methods, Ground One is designed to efficiently apply improvement directions and operations from the initial stage."

Expanding Collaboration Opportunities with a Focus on Overseas Markets

Ground One is achieving meaningful results, focusing on overseas markets. They have been selected for incubating programs in the building energy sector in Europe and the Middle East, actively participating. Proof of Concept (PoC) results on actual public and commercial buildings revealed the potential to reduce energy usage by 20-30%. They are currently enhancing service completeness based on these results. Domestically, they are conducting demonstration projects centered on cultural facilities and public buildings in collaboration with public institutions.


CEO Yoonjung Hong stated, "For each project, we set and manage key indicators such as annual energy usage, peak load, and operating costs. Even after project completion, we continue to track indicator changes, focusing on demonstrating tangible results. Building a variety of cases domestically and internationally is most important for this," she said.

Particularly, Ground One has been recognized for its business growth potential and was selected as a supported company by the Seoul Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (Seoul CCEI) since last September. CEO Yoonjung Hong noted, "Through Seoul CCEI, we expanded overseas networking. In the process, we even secured a demonstration contract with a public institution in the Middle East. We are currently conducting an energy autonomous operation demonstration project on actual buildings with the partner," she said. "It is not easy for a startup to reach such a level of collaboration with regional public institutions or companies. Seoul CCEI played a role in connecting us beyond simple connections to actual business," she added.

Ground One is steadily expanding collaboration opportunities with global partners by participating in overseas exhibitions and conferences. CEO Yoonjung Hong stated, "We are in the stage of applying our technology to various sites to see what effects emerge in different climates and operating environments," she said. "We plan to incorporate insights gained from this into our products to lay the foundation for full-scale overseas market entry and investment attraction," she revealed.

Finally, CEO Yoonjung Hong predicted that Ground One's vision would expand beyond individual buildings. She continued, "Buildings do not simply end as individual structures but have a flow that connects smart cities or inter-city transactions and grid units. Energy is a resource traded even between countries," she said. "I think Ground One's technology can be integrated and utilized not only for facilities and buildings but also on a city scale. The optimization of energy in individual buildings can enhance the energy efficiency of entire cities and even connect with energy grid management," she expressed her ambition.

Ground One is receiving better evaluations in overseas markets. The company's practical AI solution, which operates even in incomplete data environments, is gradually advancing to lead innovation in autonomous building energy optimization operations.

IT Donga Reporter Park Gwi-im (luckyim@itdonga.com)

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