With rising temperatures, a number of studies are urging mankind to lower global energy consumption. One of the top sectors producing pollution is construction. In the US, commercial and residential buildings generated 10% more emissions in 2018 than the year before, whereas car pollution rose about 1%.
Construction and design companies are increasingly aware of the urgency for sustainable solutions. The percentage of these companies that expect to make the majority (more than 60%) of their projects green jumped from 27% in 2018 to 47% by 2021, according to the research by World Green Building Council.
Available green solutions focus on four key areas: energy, waste, water, and construction materials. Among these, energy plays an imperative role and is tightly related to the other three areas. Over the years, the number of green options has grown from solar and wind power to a whole spectrum of technologies that produce and store energy within a building and integrate a series of smart solutions regarding light, heat, air, water, and energy management.
Take a look at these 5 innovative startups whose disruptive concepts can make your building energy-efficient, save operational costs, and, reduce your environmental impact.
Smart Buildings Powered by Smart Energy
1. View
Funding: $1.75 B
Founded: 2007
Employees: 500+
Headquarters: Milpitas, California, United States
The Silicon Valley based unicorn View developed a technology referred to as dynamic glass. It uses an electrical current to change how much light is let in. The benefits for commercial buildings are threefold: helps reduce heat and glare, allows to reclaim unusable office space near windows, and enhances employee productivity. View estimates that its product can cut energy costs by as much as 20% when the technology is deployed widely in a building. An example of this is their work in the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport where the installation of dynamic glass resulted in a 15℉ decrease in temperature compared to standard windows.
2. Sapient Industries
Funding: $2.5 M
Founded: 2015
Employees: 15+
Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Sapient Industries claims that automation of power delivery to devices in buildings is critical for building efficiency. Plug load from monitors, laptops, lamps, and other electrical devices is the greatest single source of waste in commercial buildings. The Sapient system deploys smart sockets run by a centralized web application based on machine learning that reduces energy consumption and generates insights that drive better decision-making. According to Sapient, the reduction in plug load reaches up to 45%.
3. Sunverge Energy
Funding: $53.5 M
Founded: 2009
Employees: 11+
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Sunverge Energy developed an intelligent energy storage system to manage solar energy flow and consumption. Sunverge helps homes and businesses retain more value from their initial investment in rooftop solar by storing solar power for use at night or during periods of peak demand. The system also includes a backup solution that takes over in case of an outage and gives the option of using the stored power to participate in a dynamic electricity market. Sunverge’s intelligent energy storage system and dynamic virtual power plant were selected by Con Edison, the energy company that serves New York City, for a Smart Home Rate project.
4. Encycle
Funding: $ 36.5 M
Founded: 2005
Employees: 10+
Headquarters: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Encycle focuses on helping commercial and industrial customers to improve the efficiency of their HVAC systems using a wireless energy management solution. The Toronto-based company, formerly known as Regen energy, designed and developed Enviro Grid Swarm Logic controllers that are attached to electrical loads like air conditioning, heaters, compressors, pumps, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers to communicate and coordinate with each other to reduce electrical demand. According to the company, an average Encycle customer can achieve 10-20% reductions in HVAC-related kW, kWh, and CO2. Encycle won Deloitte’s Green Technology award and its two co-founders jointly hold 7 patents in the field of energy management.
5. LO3
Funding: $ 5.8 M
Founded: 2012
Employees: 1-10
Headquarters: Brooklyn, New York, United States
LO3 Energy provides peer-to-peer electricity trading through its Exergy data platform that hosts a localized energy marketplace. The solution, which is backed by investors like Shell Global and Siemens, is set to manage transactions across a microgrid, in partnership with ConsenSys system, a global blockchain technology company building the infrastructure, applications, and practices enabling decentralized structures. In 2016, LO3’s first project, TransActive Grid, matched New York households who generated electricity with those who needed it, executing sales automatically using smart contracts. Since then, the company has expanded the business in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and other developed regions. The last funding round completed in July 2019 was led by one of the largest Japanese business groups Sumitomo, and will support the commercialization of the community microgrids and accelerate the international roll-out of the concept.
Net-Zero Carbon Footprint through Smart Energy
Every owner of a commercial or residential building is responsible for its carbon emission. And, these innovative startups are driving corporations into an eco-friendly future.
Are you ready to take advantage of RocketSpace’s innovation services and expertise to help your organization build an optimal future?
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