Climate change demands intelligent buildings. Here’s one way to make them smarter.

You rise at 7 a.m. Your schedule shows just one appointment for the day, at noon. Immediately, you head out to your car, start the engine and let it run until it’s time to go.

Hours later, you depart for that errand and return home. Now it’s 1 p.m. but you decide to keep your car humming until dark. After all, you may need to venture out again. And hey, you’re only mimicking the carbon-belching behavior of each office tower, shopping center and apartment complex in town.

“That is what every commercial building does today. It’s outrageous and incredibly wasteful,” says David Greschler, chief executive officer and co-founder of Nomad Go. The Kirkland, Washington company creates computer vision technology to help physical spaces reduce their carbon footprint, become healthier and save energy.

“It turns out the No. 1 emitter of greenhouse gas emissions is not industry. It’s not transportation. It’s buildings,” Greschler adds.