Macnica Ltd. to Begin Offering CoolAutomation Solutions as a Comprehensive Point of Contact in Japan, from Sales to Installation and Support - Contributing to the Spread of Smart Buildings and Acceleration of GX in the Japanese Market through Collaboration with CoolAutomation Japan

Macnica (Headquarters: Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan; Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter Macnica) has concluded a distributorship agreement with CoolAutomation Japan LLC, a provider of smart air conditioning solutions (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Hiroki Yokoyama; hereinafter CoolAutomation Japan), (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Hiroki Yokoyama, President & CEO; hereinafter referred to as "CoolAutomation Japan") as a comprehensive contact point for CoolAutomation solutions in Japan, and today announced that it will start providing a full range of services from sales to installation and technical support after installation. In addition, the company will drive the smart building market in Japan by collaborating with its proprietary product Indoor air quality monitoring solution.

■Background/issues
With the goal of achieving carbon neutrality and promoting GX (Green Transformation), reducing energy consumption in buildings and facilities has become a social imperative. Among these, air conditioning (HVAC ^{* 1}) accounts for the largest proportion of energy consumption in a building, but because it has historically been built as a closed system by each manufacturer, it faces challenges such as difficulty in integrating control and utilizing data across the entire building.
Furthermore, existing buildings typically have mixed air conditioning systems from various manufacturers, making it difficult to implement advanced energy management, remote monitoring, and AI-driven optimal operation in conjunction with BMS (Building Management Systems), EMS (Energy Management Systems), and cloud services. This "closed air conditioning" system is a bottleneck for smart building development and a major obstacle to the expansion of the smart building market.

■CoolAutomation Solution: An open platform that transforms air conditioning into "digital infrastructure"
CoolAutomation provides HVAC automation solutions that integrate air conditioning systems regardless of manufacturer, enabling smart control, visualization, and cloud management. Its flagship product, the CoolMaster series of integrated air conditioning gateways, supports various air conditioning system communication protocols, connecting air conditioning equipment within a building via a common digital interface. As a result, it integrates previously individually managed air conditioning systems, enabling centralized monitoring, remote control, visualization of operating data, and energy optimization, thereby facilitating advanced operational management of air conditioning systems. Furthermore, its compatibility with international standard open protocols ^{* 2} facilitates easy integration with BMS, EMS, IoT platforms, and cloud services. This allows air conditioning systems to be utilized not merely as equipment, but as a digital infrastructure supporting energy optimization throughout the entire building.

<CoolMaster Series: Integrated Air Conditioning Gateways>

■ Macnica 's hands-on support
Macnica, as the comprehensive point of contact for the deployment of CoolAutomation solutions in Japan, provides one-stop service with reliable implementation capabilities and hands-on support unique to a technology trading company. In the initial phase of implementation, we strongly support everything from pre-verification based on existing air conditioning equipment and building environments to consideration of the optimal system configuration. During implementation, we thoroughly provide on-site implementation support and operational verification in cooperation with construction partners. Furthermore, in order to broaden the scope of the smart air conditioning business in Japan, we actively provide educational support to partner companies such as SIers, promoting the raising of the overall technological level of the industry and the construction of an ecosystem. Even after implementation, we have a system in place to consistently undertake technical support such as primary support and troubleshooting, minimizing customers' technical anxieties and operational burdens, and strongly supporting the successful realization of smart buildings.

■ Aiming to build a next-generation "smart building management platform" through the integration of visualization and control.
Macnica has previously developed its own Indoor air quality monitoring solution, "AiryQonnect" ^{* 3} Through our services, we have been working to visualize air quality in offices, public facilities, factories, and other locations, and to support the acquisition of WELL certification. Now, by adding the CoolAutomation solution to our lineup, we aim to build a next-generation smart building management platform that integrates "visualization of air quality" by AiryQonnect with "optimal control of air conditioning" by CoolAutomation. On this platform, AI will autonomous driving the air conditioning based on air quality data such as temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration, simultaneously achieving maximum reduction in power consumption (energy saving) and reduction in the amount of manpower required for management while maintaining user comfort.

■Regarding the future
Through its collaboration with CoolAutomation Japan, Macnica will promote the openness of air conditioning systems in the Japanese market, contributing to the widespread adoption of smart buildings, including existing buildings, and accelerating GX (Global Energy Innovation). Positioning air conditioning not merely as a piece of equipment, but as a core infrastructure supporting the overall energy optimization and intelligence of buildings, the company aims to build a smart building ecosystem starting with air conditioning.

Daiki Yokoyama, President and CEO of CoolAutomation Japan LLC, stated the following:
In Japanese buildings, air conditioning is the largest energy-consuming component, and at the same time, one of the most important components for realizing smart buildings. However, until now, air conditioning systems have often been built as closed systems for each manufacturer, which has been a major challenge in promoting the digitalization and energy management of entire buildings. CoolAutomation solves this problem by providing an open platform that connects air conditioning systems across different manufacturers and allows the data to be utilized. Furthermore, it goes beyond just connecting air conditioning systems and utilizing the data, enabling remote control and optimal operation of the equipment, making it possible to use air conditioning as the core of energy management and equipment operation for the entire building. CoolAutomation Japan's philosophy is "By making air conditioning smart, buildings become smart."

By openly connecting air conditioning systems, utilizing the data, and even enabling control, we can expand the possibilities for new building operations that were previously difficult to achieve, such as energy optimization, remote management, and AI-driven equipment operation. Until now, air conditioning has often been considered the "last piece" in the realization of smart buildings. By collaborating with Macnica, which possesses world-leading technological capabilities and a global network in the fields of AI and IoT, we are confident that we can solve the challenge of this last piece and greatly accelerate the development of smart buildings in Japan.

CoolAutomation Japan will continue to contribute to the digitalization of Japanese buildings and the advancement of GX (Global Energy Integration) through the opening up of air conditioning systems. We aim to realize an era where air conditioning is not merely a piece of equipment, but a core infrastructure supporting the intelligence of buildings, starting from Japan.

*1: HVAC (an abbreviation for Heating, Ventilation, and​ ​Air Conditioning) is an industry term referring to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (heating and cooling) equipment. It mainly refers to a system that comprehensively manages temperature, humidity, and air quality in office buildings, factories, vehicles, and overseas residences.

*2: International standard open protocols are communication protocol (procedure) standards that can be freely used and implemented by anyone worldwide, without depending on a specific manufacturer or company. Representative examples include BACnet (a standard communication standard for interconnecting and centrally managing various building equipment such as air conditioning, lighting, disaster prevention, and security, regardless of the manufacturer), Modbus (an open communication protocol developed by Modicon in 1979 that enables data exchange between industrial equipment regardless of the manufacturer), and KNX (an open communication protocol that enables communication between various devices and systems within a building, such as lighting, heating, ventilation, security, and audiovisual equipment). Supporting these protocols makes it easier to achieve flexible system integration that is not dependent on a specific manufacturer, and to manage systems using the cloud.

*3: AiryQonnect is a total solution service that provides high-precision sensor terminals for measuring air quality such as temperature, humidity, CO2, TVOC gas, and PM2.5, wireless communication using LTE SIM and BLE routers for exchanging data collected by the sensors, a dashboard for visualizing the acquired data, and external integration via API.

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