PALO ALTO, Calif. & BURNABY, British Columbia–December 19, 2023 — A quantum proof of concept (qPoC) project in the area of sustainable building design has been announced by VINCI Energies | DIANE, uptownBasel | QuantumBasel, and D-Wave (NYSE: QBTS), focused on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for complex buildings.
The companies said the project’s first phase transformed the HVAC network generation problem into a constrained quadratic model (CQM), potentially efficiently solvable by D-Wave’s quantum-classical hybrid solvers. This marked a clear step away from traditional computational methods to a more innovative, quantum-classical hybrid approach.
The implementation and experimentation phase saw the CQM translated into Python code and processed by D-Wave’s hybrid solvers. These solvers, utilizing both classical and quantum devices, identified superior HVAC network designs, outperforming the existing data-driven method in significant ways. Notably, the new approach yielded solutions more quickly with shorter duct lengths and fewer construction elements, such as elbows. In addition, subject matter experts from VINCI Energies visually and manually inspected these solutions, confirming their superiority in terms of quality. Importantly, these results were based on one representative building plan and diverse HVAC systems, setting the stage for broader application in the industry.
A crucial factor in the project’s success was the interdisciplinary team. Team members from Europe (Switzerland, France, Germany) and North America (Canada, USA) brought specialized knowledge and experience, resulting in rapid progress and efficient problem-solving. This global team operated seamlessly through collaboration tools, demonstrating the power of virtual teamwork in achieving cutting-edge innovation.
As the project moves forward, the focus will shift to translating these technical improvements into tangible business impact, such as reduced computation time and less manual engineering effort.
This quantum computing project stands as a testament to the power of collaborative innovation in driving sustainable and efficient solutions in building design. It marks another important step towards a more sustainable future, in which human expertise and technology join forces to create environmentally friendly and cost-effective building solutions.
About VINCI Energies: VINCI Energies contributes to the environmental transition by helping bring about major trends in the digital landscape and energy sector. VINCI Energies’ teams roll out technologies and integrate customized multi-technical solutions, from design to implementation, operation, and maintenance. With their strong local roots and agile and innovative structure, VINCI Energies’ 1,900 business units have positioned themselves at the heart of the energy choices of their customers, boosting the reliability, efficiency and sustainability of their infrastructure and processes. VINCI Energies strives for global performance, caring for the planet, usefulness to people and commitment to local communities.
About uptownBasel and QuantumBasel: uptownBasel serves as a global hub for Industry 4.0, seamlessly connected to the world while firmly rooted in Basel, Europe. Situated on the historic Schorenareal site in Arlesheim near Basel, an expansive research and production facility covering approximately 70,000 square meters is being constructed. With the opening of Building 1 and its use by the two European technology groups Bouygues and Vinci (Axians and Actemium), the campus has already created 400 new jobs since 2021. In total, the center will house about 100 companies, generating up to 2500 jobs. The investment volume amounts to over 500 million Swiss francs. uptownBasel is made possible by the private ownership of the Monique and Thomas Stæhelin family and implemented by Fankhauser Arealentwicklungen.
QuantumBasel, a wholly owned subsidiary of the uptownBasel Group, runs “QuantumBasel,” its Center of Competence for Quantum and Artificial Intelligence and the first commercial quantum hub in Switzerland. Seamless access to quantum and high-performance computing is made available to tenants and the eco-system of uptownBasel, including enterprises, research institutes, startups, and universities. Collaborating with esteemed technology partners like IBM, D-Wave, and IonQ, QuantumBasel is also expanding its global network to encompass research institutes and universities.
About D-Wave Quantum: The company is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services, and is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers—and the only company building both annealing quantum computers and gate-model quantum computers. Our mission is to unlock the power of quantum computing today to benefit business and society. We do this by delivering customer value with practical quantum applications for problems as diverse as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, cybersecurity, fault detection, and financial modeling. D-Wave’s technology has been used by some of the world’s most advanced organizations including Volkswagen, Mastercard, Deloitte, Davidson Technologies, ArcelorMittal, Siemens Healthineers, Unisys, NEC Corporation, Pattison Food Group Ltd., DENSO, Lockheed Martin, Forschungszentrum Jülich, University of Southern California, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
