30 Under 30: Lambda Science CEO Arman Mottaghi is building homes with AI

Lambda's software-as-a-service product, StepWin, deploys AI to model the bigger picture in seconds—far quicker and cheaper than trial by error.

Arman Mottaghi, 27

Co-founder + CEO, Lambda Science

Life Story: Six years ago, when Arman Mottaghi immigrated with his parents from Iran, he had few thoughts about becoming an entrepreneur or going into the construction industry. Today, he’s co-founder and CEO of Lambda Science, a two-year-old Vancouver startup that uses artificial intelligence to help homebuilders create cost- and energy-efficient building designs.

Mottaghi started this rapid journey after enrolling in BCIT‘s master’s program in building engineering and science in 2015. Tech-savvy enough for computer science, he was already teaching himself software skills and wanted a degree that would teach him something else. He saw that building codes were moving toward systematic, performance-based assessments of energy efficiency. Most builders are still just looking at individual construction materials like windows and insulation, rather than at how well those parts work together.

Lambda’s software-as-a-service product, StepWin, deploys AI to model the bigger picture in seconds—far quicker and cheaper than trial by error. “It’s also going to show you, by science and evidence, how much carbon reductions are happening in the province,” Mottaghi explains.

Bottom Line: Lambda’s three-person team is piloting StepWin at 15 single-family homes in New Westminster and negotiating demonstration projects in Port Moody, Kamloops and Kelowna.