Komfort IQ – Changing the Way the World Heats and Cools Commercial Buildings

Our Story

Komfort IQ was founded to solve a fundamental problem: buildings account for around 40% of all energy usage, and HVAC is by far the largest component of that.

But because a single thermostat controls the airflow to an entire zone, the entire building is heated and cooled as if all rooms are occupied, wasting a third of the building’s energy.

And inevitably, half the rooms are too hot and half are too cold, and occupants resort to space heaters, fans, and sweaters in the middle of summer.

By building an affordable room-by-room control of the HVAC system, we knew we could save money and save energy, and help the environment while making ourselves more comfortable, too.

The idea was simple, but building the product wasn’t. Dumb infrared-based occupancy sensors don’t work well enough and can break the HVAC system.
So we had to invent our own occupancy detectors, sound, CO2 and combining infrared with light sensing to accurately determine whether someone is in the room.

But that wasn’t good enough. We needed to know not only if the room was occupied, but how soon someone was likely to return.

So we created a machine learning engine to differentiate the rooms empty for an hour during lunch or a meeting from the office of the sales manager who only comes into the office once a week.

And then we had to make it inexpensive to manufacture and install to ensure a quick payback, and absolutely bulletproof to guarantee it works without fail. Now the MicroZone system is ready to save you energy and money.

Meet the Founders

Ken Gordon

PRESIDENT KOMFORT IQ CANADA

Ken has been actively involved in the Canadian real estate market for over 35 years in a variety of different entrepreneurial capacities. Initially starting out in the downtown commercial leasing industry he went on build and sell an international business centre network, then became an advisor to many national tenants and landlords who buy/sell/lease commercial properties, and eventually acting as President of a royal family investment company who owned many world wide investments including the 1.5m square foot Suncor Energy Centre in Calgary. Today, Ken is a non-executive partner with his sons who manage 75,000 sf of full service flexible term office centres in Calgary. Ken’s objective is to expand the KIQ technology across Canada through his extensive network of relationships at senior levels in the Canadian real estate industry. Ken enjoys golf, mountain biking, pickleball, cooking and spending his spare time with his grown kids and three grandchildren.

John Ko

FOUNDER & CEO/CTO

John Ko is the founder & CEO of Komfort IQ, a technology startup at the intersection of proptech and climate tech solving the problems of energy waste and comfort in large commercial office buildings. He is a graduate of UCSD with a degree in computer science and has over 20 years of software experience creating and selling software to commercial real estate and hotel companies. Komfort IQ is his third startup and he sold his last software company to an industry partner in 2015. He started Komfort IQ because he saw how horribly wasteful hotel HVAC systems were and he wanted to do something about it. He pivoted to commercial offices because he could make a much larger environmental impact. John enjoys camping with his family and plays a variety of sports including roller hockey.

Scott Maloney

HEAD OF GROWTH

Scott Maloney has worked in the sustainable built environment for over 15 years. In 2006, he started his first company, an environmental asset consulting firm where he provided renewable energy and carbon credits to buildings seeking LEED certification. Through an extensive network of architects, engineers, green buildings consultants and asset owners, Scott provided over 10 million MWh of renewable energy to over 5,000 buildings throughout the US and Internationally. Scott joined Komfort IQ as he saw the immediate need to reduce HVAC energy consumption and his network is the prime audience for the technology. In his spare time, Scott enjoys boating, skiing, cooking and traveling with his family

Matt Condon

HEAD OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS

Before joining Komfort IQ in 2022, Matt spent 10 years leading operations and execution for a commercial solar integration company. In his previous role, Matt was responsible for managing the full project cycle of commercial solar installations across the country. This included design/engineering, procurement, construction planning and project management. As the Head of Customer Success for Komfort IQ, Matt helps guide our customers and installers through the design, installation and operation of our solution. Matt is passionately focused on seamless integration and providing the highest level of customer support and product training. In his free time, Matt enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, gardening and spending time with his wife and two children. Fun fact, Matt has a degree in Landscape Architecture so he may offer you unsolicited facts about trees and plant life when walking outside.

The founders are joined by a diverse team of software developers and UI/UX specialists, as well as an august group of advisors specializing in mechanical engineering, manufacturing, sustainability, and HVAC systems.

Find out how you can save money while improving building comfort.