{"id":1785,"date":"2020-12-15T12:59:13","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T12:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1331210"},"modified":"2020-12-15T12:59:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T12:59:13","slug":"meet-the-4-scale-ups-using-data-to-save-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=1785","title":{"rendered":"Meet the 4 scale-ups using data to save the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Data science may not have the sexiest ring to it, but these dynamic data science scale-ups are using their expertise to help fight one of the most important and pressing challenges facing the planet: climate change. <\/span><\/p>\n

This year the <\/span>Techleap.nl\u2019s Rise Programme<\/span><\/a> \u2014 aimed at helping Dutch scale-ups reach their full potential \u2014 decided to shine the spotlight on 10 forward-thinking companies that are looking to make an impact on a global scale. <\/span><\/p>\n

From sensors and satellites to solar and sustainability, we caught up with four scale-ups from their second batch to find out how they believe the power of data can be harnessed to flatten the climate curve. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPHYSEE<\/b>: Give your building its own SmartSkin<\/b>
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It all started in the desert. In 2014 Ferdinand Grapperhaus and his cofounder Willem Kesteloo took a trip to Burning Man, a last adventure before they each started lucrative careers in the corporate world. Being far away from the opinions of family and friends gave them time to really consider what they wanted for their futures. <\/span><\/p>\n

When they came back, they turned down their high paying jobs for the chance to build a company around a spin-off project they started at TU Delft. Thus PHYSEE<\/a> was born, a company focused on bringing smart sustainability solutions to the real estate industry. As Grapperhaus explained, <\/span><\/p>\n

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Buildings are one of the biggest pieces in the puzzle of the climate change problem. Globally, buildings are responsible for 40% of the total energy consumption and this craves for a complete redesign.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Their unconventional approach was to start by upgrading a 5,000-year-old building material: glass. As physicists studying at TU Delft, Grapperhaus and Kesteloo developed glass coatings with solar cells that could convert sunlight into electricity. <\/span><\/p>\n

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We saw that the skin of a building currently doesn\u2019t have any functionalities, whereas your skin or my skin senses if it\u2019s too warm or too cold or when there\u2019s wind. That way the mind and the body can react. We realized that, if we started integrating sensors with our solar technology, we could bring the skin of a building to life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

SmartSkin, as they called it, is a noninvasive transparent layer added to a building\u2019s windows. While it can\u2019t be seen, it\u2019s continuously collecting data on things like: how to heat certain rooms more efficiently, where heat losses are occuring, whether there\u2019s too much light coming in, and detecting differences in air quality. Then, just like our bodies,\u2019 it responds by adjusting the shading or air controls accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

They found that this approach actually helps to create a more comfortable environment for people in the building. For example, if you\u2019re working by a window you never want direct sunlight in your eyes. Instead of having to get up and adjust the blinds, the SmartSkin will automatically adjust its tinting for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you bring your building\u2019s skin to life, you get the smartest input to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the building,\u201d Grapperhaus told TNW.<\/span><\/p>\n

While a combination of legislation and the potential benefits of energy savings are helping to make real estate developers more energy conscious, PHYSEE ran into a few challenges along the way that helped them to innovate their business model.<\/span><\/p>\n

They saw that project costs were getting too high for real estate developers to take on the full bill. This led them to develop a completely new business model essentially allowing them to go Dutch with their future tenants. While real estate developers pay for the initial hardware that goes into the building, it\u2019s on tenants or future building owners to decide if they want to pay a service fee to PHYSEE to help them decrease their energy consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n

And they don\u2019t just focus on buildings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in the lab they accidentally discovered another type of solar coating which, when applied to a greenhouse, can convert UV sunlight into visible light. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A tomato will not grow from UV light but every percentage of visible light that you add will equal an additional percentage of growth. With this coating we can increase the additional visible light by 7% meaning crops will grow 7% faster and growers will receive 7% more revenue. Considering the Sustainable Development Goals, this means that, with the same amount of land, we can grow more food using less energy resources. And this all comes down to simply using sunlight more efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So far PHYSEE has installed and sold 7,000 square meters of SmartSkin and, in 2021, the goal is to scale up this success. Joining the Rise Programme has given them great motivation and inspiration to keep going.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all swimming against the current and we\u2019re all disrupting a system that seriously needs to be disrupted. I found that, checking in with each other on a weekly basis really reinforces you on the mission that you\u2019re on and helps you to realize that you\u2019re not alone,\u201d Grapperhaus told TNW.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSensorfact<\/b>: Helping industrial SMEs cut energy consumption <\/b>
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To meet its ambitious green goals, in 2019 the European Commission called on member states to step up their game by committing to reduce energy consumption by at least 32.5% <\/span>by 2030<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

These binding targets have been translated directly into standards industrial companies will have to comply with in the coming years. The problem is, many, especially SMEs, don\u2019t know where to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having formerly run his own energy consultancy, Sensorfact\u2019s<\/a> founder, Pieter Broekema, quickly realized that industrial SMEs needed to save a lot of energy, but they didn\u2019t have the data they needed to actually see where their energy flows and where their opportunities for potential savings lay.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem is, all companies can see on their energy bill is the number of kilowatt-hours consumed. \u201cIt\u2019s more or less a black box for them,\u201d Broekema said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He browsed the market to find solutions that could help his clients but all of them were quite complicated and too expensive for SMEs to afford. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Imagine that by 2030 they need to save 32% on their energy bill. This is an immense task they\u2019re facing. The biggest complaint is that a lot of energy advisors tell them \u2018you need to install LEDs and solar panels\u2019 but really the main portion of their energy bill comes from the manufacturing process. And, currently, not a lot of players give them advice on how to optimize this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To address this need, Broekema and his team developed a simple wireless system. They send clients a box of IoT sensors that can easily be clamped around the main electricity cables of a client\u2019s machines. These sensors automatically begin processing data using Sensorfact\u2019s algorithms, all without having to stop production.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than a one-off list of recommendations, Sensorfact\u2019s service works in two stages: <\/span><\/p>\n

The first two to three months is a diagnosis phase during which the team collects data and pinpoints where a company could save on energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the next phase, the team tracks how they actually perform against these savings opportunities and provides a weekly feedback report. As Broekema has seen, this continuous tracking and feedback really helps clients change their behaviors. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cImagine a company\u2019s production line isn\u2019t running efficiently and we tell them, \u2018you could save 20,000 euros by making certain changes.\u2019\u201d These savings will only materialize if they really commit to this change.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Sensorfact has calculated that, on average, their clients consume 10% less energy. Putting that into perspective, 10% less energy could be equivalent to saving thousands of euros every year, a benefit that could really help companies in the new economic climate we\u2019ve found ourselves in this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sensorfact\u2019s current goal is to reach 300 B2B customers by the end of this year, and they seem to be on track. For 2021 their ambitions are set on product expansion. The team hopes to raise a series A funding round (which already seems to be in the works) to help them introduce a new sensor measuring gas consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Broekema believes the Dutch scale-up scene is in need of a boost. While there are a lot of resources for startups, funding for later-stage scale-ups is on the rise but still quite small when compared to other European countries. There are also very few programs focused on this level. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe really believe that the Netherlands should continue focusing more on scale-ups and less on startups. We\u2019re very happy with the <\/span>Rise Programme<\/span><\/a> and hopefully the Dutch scale-up community will be fully developed in the coming years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\nhello energy<\/b>: Changing behaviors and mindsets  <\/b>
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Hello energy<\/a> co-founders Benno Schwarz and Kees van Alphen started out as consultants advising large real estate firms on how to go green. But what they were seeing was that a majority of the people within a company were, \u201cnot really feeling sustainability. It wasn\u2019t tangible, it wasn\u2019t understandable,\u201d Schwarz explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, two of their clients were searching for ways to share their progress on sustainability with a broader audience: their employees, the c-level, and visitors to their buildings. <\/span><\/p>\n

This triggered Schwarz and van Alphen to ask themselves: \u201cWhat can we do with all the data we\u2019re receiving from these buildings? And how can we make it simple enough that everyone can understand it and take action themselves?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Realizing that large organizations needed a way to continuously keep sustainability top of mind, they created hello energy, a cloud solution that collects and visualizes a company\u2019s energy and sustainability data. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019ve introduced new efforts to reduce CO\u2082 levels at your manufacturing facilities or you\u2019ve installed new LED lighting, hello energy collects updates on these energy-saving initiatives in a visually appealing way that can be shared on mobile phones, laptops, or monitors throughout the building.<\/span><\/p>\n

But their goal isn\u2019t just to share data, they also want to use this information to motivate individuals in the building to take action. They do this using a few different methods:<\/span><\/p>\n