The Brick by Brick 2024 Challenge, organised by UNSW Sydney and hosted on AIcrowd, is a global competition focused on improving building data classification to enhance energy efficiency and sustainability.

“Can you help build smarter buildings? Buildings are among the largest energy consumers in the modern world, making energy efficiency essential for a sustainable future,” shares the CSIRO team on LinkedIn.

“However, understanding and managing energy use information across diverse facilities is time-consuming and costly due to inconsistent data formats.

“To help resolve this, we're collaborating with UNSW on The Brick By Brick Challenge.”

Buildings account for a significant portion of global energy use, yet managing them effectively is often hindered by inconsistent data formats across different systems.

This challenge aims to develop automated solutions for classifying time-series data from IoT devices using the Brick schema, a standardised metadata framework for smart buildings.

The dataset consists of real-world sensor data from three anonymised Australian buildings, including readings such as temperature, pressure, alarms, and other environmental signals.

Participants will create models to automate the organisation of this data, reducing the need for manual classification and enabling scalable smart building management. By improving data interoperability, the competition seeks to advance automation in energy-efficient buildings.

The challenge is part of The Web Conference 2025, attracting researchers, data scientists, and AI developers worldwide to contribute towards smarter, more sustainable built environments.

Entrants from around the world are invited to automate data to create smarter and more energy-efficient buildings (and the chance to win up to $11,000).

Learn more about the challenge and how to participate here.

Image: Melbourne skyline / Melbpal on Wikimedia Commons

Clémence Carayol

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