Buildings can be better

Using data to improve the world's buildings

 

Atamate is a smart buildings company based in Cardiff, UK. We are working to reduce the environmental impact of buildings in the UK and around the world at the lowest capital cost while providing the largest reduction in property running costs. 

Atamate is all about using data to improve buildings - any building. We believe buildings can be better and data is the key enabler.

We are a close knit team of engineers whose prime driver is to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings by using good control. While on this journey, we found that once you have lots of data from a building it can also be used to reduce the building maintenance and management costs whilst improving the occupants comfort and security.

Our story

The business started in 2007 as a spin off from a building development business due to a frustration of lack of control systems for mid sized buildings. At the time there were BMS (Building Management Systems) which were powerful but expensive and complex. At the other end of the spectrum there were smart home systems. By necessity these need to be relatively simple but did not give the control needed for reducing energy use. Unfortunately not much has changed since then.

What was needed was a Building Operating System - and the Atamate Building Operating System was born. The initial objective was that it was holistic in that it shared data on a common platform to control all building services. It had to be simple to install, live with and maintain. Most importantly it had to be affordable. Subsequently we added the requirement that it had to be retrofittable, this final requirement necessitated a move to wireless. After scouring the options the preferred Mesh technology was chose.

Our first real success was an installation in 6 newbuild flats that were built to UK building regulations. These were monitored for a year with Oxford Brookes University. This year happened to include the 2017-18 ‘beast from the east’ winter and was very cold. Yet the heating energy consumed was 12 kW/Hr.m2 which beat the Passivhaus target of 15 kW/Hr.m2. This proved our hypothesis that good control control could make a huge impact on energy consumed in a building. It is also worth noting that of the 3 mechanical and electrical options for installation into the flats the package that included Atamate was the cheapest.

Since then we have worked with Loughborough, Bath and Oxford Universities, the Energy Systems and Advanced Manufacturing Catapults as well as several projects with the Building Research Establishment. To date most installations have been in the UK but we do have installations in Oman.

All design and software coding is done in house, primarily in the UK and France. Manufacturing is outsourced to a UK based electrical manufacturer.

About us

Atamate’s goal is to reduce energy, maintenance and management costs in buildings while improving the occupants’ security and comfort. 

Well controlled services use less energy. Reducing energy means reducing operating costs and lower CO2 emissions. Atamate collects data sets from each property. 

Simplicity is at the heart of the Atamate approach. We believe that building systems have become too complex, this has been driven by the disjointed, or siloed, approach to the design of buildings and in particular the digital systems that are now key to their operation. 

The company brings together 4 core disciplines; construction, building physics, software development and robotics. Our deeper knowledge of buildings differentiates us from many pure technology companies. 

Collaborations with top class universities keeps us at the cutting edge of our field. 

Our consulting team provides support to projects which plan to use or are considering using the Atamate platform. Our offer includes: 

  • Education for building professionals regarding data driven monitoring & controls in buildings
  • Strategic guidance on mechanical options available with smart control
  • UK Regulatory compliance (SAP, SBEM & TM59) support with smart control
  • How data supports health building with reference to the Well standard
  • Data analysis and post occupancy studies of existing buildings.

The Atamate platform gathers significant data about many aspects of the building operation. We assist occupiers and users in ensuring they are getting the most out of the building and provide recommendations of how post-occupancy data can be used for targeted improvements. 

Atamate goes deeper than comparable ‘smart’ applications – by combining decades of experience in construction, electronics, robotics and software engineering, Atamate uses a discrete network of sensors to analyse building systems and their usage. Through the data our system generates we can reveal and remedy areas of weakness, waste and risk in your property portfolio. Intelligent control can be applied to maximise building performance. Ventilation is only turned on when indoor air quality is low and the zone is occupied so energy is saved, and an excessive pressure in a heating system produces an alert for a building manager.


We offer a complete feedback loop between the building and the use of the building.

An Atamate system is designed to include as few physical devices as possible. Using power from existing circuits where possible and energy harvesting devices where applicable, Atamate have produced a building management system that is truly retrofittable. Our in depth approach is cheaper than other superficial solutions offered by our competitors. This is because an Atamate solution is designed to include as few physical devices as possible – for example our Ceiling Sensor Unit can include a sensor array, wireless processor and 2 relays. Having fewer devices lowers the cost of an Atamate system dramatically.

In a notoriously risk averse and cost driven sector we are using software, data and robotics to unlock opportunity and create an appetite to act. By doing so we are creating a roadmap to 2050 for small and medium sized buildings.

Talk to one of our experts to see how Atamate can help you