AI Spotlight | Optimus
AIAG: Quick intro — who are you and what does Optimus do?
Dominik (Optimus): I’m Dominik, one of the founders of Optimus. We automate building planning. We support everyone from real estate developers to general contractors and also asset/facility management in planning buildings better, selecting the right building services systems, choosing components, and improving renovation planning.
AIAG: How does a project typically start — what do you need from the client?
Dominik: A client provides building data. If the building data is available as a 3D model, it can go straight through our system. If it’s more “traditional” data — PDFs, DWGs, or photos — we convert it.
AIAG: What happens after the upload?
Dominik: The client can upload data very easily. It takes a few minutes and our system converts it into a 3D model or even a BIM model. Our team then performs a quality check so you can be confident the model matches the source documents.
AIAG: What if the client has very limited documentation?
Dominik: They can still upload whatever describes the building. If there isn’t much, we complement it with archetype-based assumptions so a usable model can still be created.
AIAG: What information do you extract or recognize from the documents?
Dominik: We recognize building physics, spaces/rooms, and the architecture and generate a BIM model. We also pull information from reports and store it in a structured way — for example window U-values, window quality parameters, and material information.
AIAG: What is the model used for?
Dominik: It becomes the basis for automated building planning. From the building model we can run energy analyses, create energy certificates, and generate different kinds of planning outputs. For us, it’s a universal model.
AIAG: What goals do clients typically define?
Dominik: Often it’s: “I have a building and I want to invest less,” or “I want to optimize operating costs,” or “I want to achieve a sustainability/certification goal.” We generate multiple variants and can show which option is optimal or most cost-effective.
AIAG: Where do you go deepest — what’s your core domain?
Dominik: Everything that’s building-physics related and technical — engineering topics — that’s our world, especially building services.
AIAG: Can you give examples of variants you compare?
Dominik: For example, a heat pump with underfloor heating versus a heat pump with radiators. Or hybrid systems where the heat pump covers the base load and gas covers the peak load. We look at investment and operating costs, and also feasibility questions like whether geothermal is an option.
AIAG: Do you also evaluate interactions, like envelope measures impacting system sizing?
Dominik: Yes. For example, we check whether installing modern windows actually changes heating demand and how that affects the heating system. We go very deep and can show hourly impacts on building performance.
AIAG: What kind of savings can be possible?
Dominik: Depending on the project, you can save up to around 10% of construction costs.
AIAG: Are you a standalone tool, or do you integrate with other systems?
Dominik: At the moment we are a standalone tool. We don’t currently have other applications integrated.
AIAG: Where are you heading next — what’s on your roadmap?
Dominik: Some companies want to go all the way to the bill of quantities and tendering. We are planning to move in that direction — to make outputs usable up to tendering, not just reading reports.
AIAG: You mentioned “orchestration” — what do you mean by that?
Dominik: On top of the model we trained systems that help customers navigate what to do next and what to look for. For example, in facility management, if you need to replace a pump you can replace it — but how do you replace and improve it? Our system asks additional questions so the right information flows into the model.
AIAG: How do you ensure trust, especially when AI is involved?
Dominik: In the end, the calculation systems need to rely on methods that are proven in the industry. Customers want to know: which standard or calculation method is behind it? Nobody builds something just because “AI suggested it.” That’s why the core has to be established calculation methods.
AIAG: What topics are your customers focused on right now?
Dominik: A lot of them focus on renovating existing buildings and then selling again — that’s a big topic. And some are moving away from typical commercial office buildings toward more specialized, complex asset types that the market is asking for.
AIAG: Where do you see the biggest lever in projects?
Dominik: A major lever is building services engineering, because it has a big impact on costs and performance. Land is what it is, architecture is often driven by the developer’s needs — but the technical systems must meet specific standards, and that’s where optimization can make a big difference.