Initially launched in 1999 as an online marketplace for Chinese-made products, The Alibaba Group has gone on to become one of the biggest companies in the world with a market cap of over $210 billion. While online retail remains Alibaba’s core service offering, the firm has expanded into a huge range of activities, including comprehensive cloud services for smart buildings. In this research note, we examine Alibaba’s cloud-based approach to the smart buildings and cities markets, how it sits in the global cloud market, and what it has done to drive smart building policies in its own large real estate portfolio. Alibaba’s Smart Buildings & Campus Alibaba has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, vowing to reduce carbon emissions by 1.5 gigatons. Since 2020, the Hangzhou-based firm has taken significant measures to drive innovative technologies and green approaches across its established campuses and new buildings. Responsibility for Alibaba’s real estate portfolio falls on the […]