Why speed and precision both matter

In the built world, more often than ever, building operators are relying on facility management platforms like Willow to monitor their critical systems and prompt them to act when needed to prevent downtime. In this context, every second counts. However, most platforms execute logic with a delay that could be 30 minutes, 1 hour, or even a full day or more behind real-time.  

While this lag behind real-time works for many use cases, it also leaves meaningful, high-value opportunities on the table where running as close to real-time as possible is critical: energy savings, comfort improvements, and responsiveness to unplanned events. As expectations rise around building automation, energy performance, and occupant comfort, the ability to detect and act on signals in near real-time needs to become the new standard. 

A real-world example: Occupancy-driven HVAC with Willow 

Unlike other platforms, Willow can run up to two minutes behind real-time. Imagine the scenario below where this level of detection is essential: 

An air handling unit (AHU) conditions a conference room and maintains temperature during occupied hours at 72°F. As people enter the room, occupancy sensors pick up their presence and turn on the lights. When the meeting ends, people leave and those occupancy sensors detect that the space is no longer occupied. With Willow, this change in occupancy triggers the Willow platform to evaluate its occupancy-driven HVAC skill logic, which evaluates if the space has no occupants and if no other events have been scheduled in the near future. If not, Willow triggers an automated command to raise the temperature setpoint to an unoccupied setpoint of 80° F, immediately saving energy and money. When occupants re-enter the space and the occupancy sensors pick up that change, Willow commands the setpoint back to the occupied value of 72°F. 

But what happens if an unplanned event such as an ad hoc meeting is scheduled and people enter the room later in the day? The greater the delay behind real-time, the longer those occupancy changes will go undetected.  Even worse, if someone books another meeting or event right after, the system may have missed both signals entirely. The result? Comfort is compromised, and energy is wasted. 

Figure 1: An AHU in Willow previously evaluating occupancy on a 30-minute delay.

How Willow works: Real-time where it counts  

This is where Willow’s ability to dynamically adapt to live data streams in near real-time makes all the difference. 

Willow receives millions of data points every day—from HVAC and metering systems to occupancy or conveyance systems—and executes logic to analyze them in true real-time. We do this by evaluating the average latency of all trends referenced in each individual rule or skill instance (meaning the individual copy of skill logic that is applied to a single piece of equipment). Of all trends referenced by the logic, Willow selects the trend with the largest average latency, adds a standard deviation for safety, and uses this value to determine how close to real-time this skill instance can run. The engine then places the instance in a distinct partition that will execute at a predefined frequency and latency with other instances of similar latency.  

 

Figure 2: Willow’s current configuration, with trends being executed much closer to real-time.

Willow has four default execution buckets running; each are configured with a latency and a frequency, which are correlated but not directly related, and more can be configured as needed. For occupancy-driven HVAC, if the referenced occupancy sensors have low latency, there can be almost no delay between detection at the source and Active Control.   

Why this matters now 

As building operators pursue higher energy efficiency, better occupant experience, and operational resilience, the expectations for intelligent automation continue to rise. Meanwhile, the convergence of IT and OT systems is accelerating the flow of usable data, creating an opportunity to make smarter decisions faster. 

Real-time control isn’t just about speed, though. It’s about delivering the right action, at the right moment, with the right context. That’s what unlocks smarter decisions, sharper optimizations, and more seamless occupant experiences.  

When building operators tackle these dynamic use cases where delays aren’t sufficient, they position their facilities to optimize energy use, improve occupancy experience, and operate much more efficiently. 

Key takeaways

  • Not all building logic requires real-time response, but for certain high-impact use cases, speed and precision are critical. 
  • Occupancy-driven actions, real-time ventilation, and anomaly detection benefit significantly from logic that executes as close to real time as possible. 
  • Willow dynamically adapts logic execution based on live data latency, enabling near real-time response where the data supports it, without compromising accuracy. 
  • The platform evaluates trend-level latency and assigns logic to execution buckets, optimizing frequency and responsiveness for each use case. 
  • By aligning logic execution with real-world conditions, Willow helps building operators make more accurate and faster decisions. 

How could real-time logic improve comfort, efficiency, or responsiveness in your buildings? We’re looking forward to seeing the opportunities you unlock.