Arch Nexus and Terzo Power Draw Big Crowd at Final 2018 MeetUp

Arch Nexus and Terzo Power Draw Big Crowd at Final 2018 MeetUp

It was Standing Room Only Tuesday night as Cheryl McMurtry and Erica McBride of Arch Nexus talked about how they met the Living Building Challenge and Rich DiGirolami touted the heavy-equipment hybrid systems it is developing for off road equipment.  The MeetUp was held at the impressive new offices of Valley Vision in Oak Park at the corner of 34th Street and 3rd Avenue.

Arch Nexus took an “ugly duckling”, nondescript office building across from the Fox and Goose on R Street and renovated it into a knockout demonstration structure showing how to meet the tough Living Building Challenge (LBC) goals of net energy production and net water export, much tougher than any LEED platinum goals.  So far it is the ONLY such LBC-compliant building in California. Arch Nexus had to be very creative, but the result speaks for itself. The building captures all rainfall, re-uses grey water, is extremely energy-efficient and is covered with PV panels, as well as having “living walls” of foliage inside and out. They are now looking to do the same for a whole city block of buildings or a small neighborhood to come closer to showing how the Living Building goals can be economical.  The current demo had costs about 30% above what a LEED renovation would have required. That was largely due to installing equipment that was far oversized for their needs, but was the smallest size available.

Professor Rustin Vogt at Sac State is preparing to lead a team of engineering students to renovate the Solar Challenge building on campus to meet the LBC rules, so there may be another outstanding example in our area soon.

Rich DiGirolami gave a short presentation on the technology from Terzo that just won the award for Sustainability Innovation of the Year in the region.  As we have written about before, Terzo is attacking a largely overlooked market segment that is responsible for using a lot of diesel fuel and creating massive emissions.  It is the market for off road heavy equipment that uses a lot of hydraulics. By converting to more efficient Terzo modules and becoming an electric hybrid, users can cut fuel use dramatically, downsize the engines they use, and save a great deal of weight. Terzo is getting a great deal of interest from the major OEMs in this space.

Given the amount of Q&A on each presentation, the crowd clearly was very interested in what these companies are doing.   We had a number of first-time attendees who discovered what a gem these MeetUps have become. If you haven’t been to one, you are really missing out.

The MeetUps will return in January, with ten planned sessions for 2019.  Be sure to be on the lookout for our announcements.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

Cleantech Meetup Catalyzes Launch of Company

Cleantech Meetup Catalyzes Launch of Company

CleanStart started the Cleantech Meetups with CSUS and BlueTechValley because we wanted to bring back the excitement of launching clean tech companies and connect like-minded people.  It is all part of the steady push to bring 10,000 cleantech jobs to the region and $5 billion in company revenue.

How do the Cleantech Meetups do that? Well we caught up with Peter Moritzburke who spoke about desalination at our May Cleantech Meetup on water. At that meetup Peter was introduced to BlueTechValley and afterwards he followed up with CleanStart for a introduction.  

Peter wants to build a business around groundwater desalination. CleanStart connected him with BlueTechValley’s CEO Crash Course and he is now in their Valley Ventures accelerator program.  These have helped him refine his business model and gave him knowledge about running a business, from human resources to finance. It also connected him with Startup Legal Garage to assist with incorporating and contract structures. Through all of this Peter has met stakeholders and mentors critical to developing his business. Valley Ventures accelerator at BlueTechValley has helped him to shape his business of providing solutions to water shortage and contamination problems.

 

Through BlueTechValley Peter connected with Dean Smith at the Cleantech Meetup. Now the College of Engineering and Computer Science is working with him to find space in Sacramento to start his business.  Peter presented with AquaOso, who also has been through BlueTechValley and knows California water issues, at the Cleantech Meetup and has built upon that relationship to expand his network and refine his value proposition.

And now Peter has a new company, Aguanaut.

All these connections – Dean Smith, BlueTechValley, CEO Crash Course, and Valley Ventures Accelerator – started at the May Cleantech Meetup.   These connections happen all the time at our Cleantech Meetups. Our meetups have quickly become a driver of cleantech growth in the Sacramento Region.  If you have an interest in being a cleantech entrepreneur, these Meetups are a great way to start to build the connections you will need.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | Tobin, Moss Adams, River City Bank, GreenbergTraurig

BlueTech Valley, PowerSoft.biz, Revrnt, Synbyo, Califronia Mobility Center

Analyst More Bullish on Stationary Electricity Storage

Analyst More Bullish on Stationary Electricity Storage

In a new report, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has upgraded its view on the amount of battery-based stationary energy storage systems that may be installed through 2040, reaching 7% of all global installed generating capacity.  BNEF now sees that over 900 GW may be installed representing $1.2 trillion in investment. Part of the reason is that BNEF sees battery costs falling by half over this period. Most of the installations will be utility-scale but will be overtaken by on-site, behind-the-meter systems near the end of the period.  As large as this market for batteries maybe, it will still be much smaller than the market for batteries in vehicles.

The increased investment is good news for regional startups SPIN, Renergage, and Empower.  A summary of the report is available here if you want to learn more.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

November 2018 Newsletter

Profile: Box Power

UPDATE: Box Power CEO, Anglos Campus named to Forbes 30 under 30 list! 

What started as a project at Princeton University, in response to the Port au Prince Earthquake in Haiti has evolved into an emerging business with the goal of bringing clean, affordable energy to energy consumers worldwide. BoxPower was established in 2016 by Angelo Campus, a Princeton University undergraduate. By taking advantage of lowering solar panel prices and advancements in battery technology, BoxPower has developed a business model that allows  them to cost effectively bring resilient and off-grid, clean energy solutions to rural sites. BoxPower’s systems are rapidly deployable solar generators shipped in and structured around 20ft shipping containers. The container allows it to be transported efficiently nearly anywhere in the world by truck, train, or ship. The systems that BoxPower provides include options for batteries, back-up combustion  generators and linked containers for a multi box microgrid solution that can be used as a temporary or a permanent energy solution.

BoxPower is currently penetrating the market of disaster preparedness, rural utilities like Alaska, and off-grid homesteads with plans for international deployments in the next year. With a modular system that is capable of withstanding 180 Mph winds, extreme weather, and includes multiple generation sources, BoxPower is able to offer 100% reliability and rapid installation in less than a day. BoxPower’s products also come with a smart energy management system that will integrate deployable load scheduling and predictive energy storage based on future meteorological conditions, maximizing energy output and storage. With such a total packaged energy alternative, BoxPower can provide an energy solution for areas where diesel generators are the expensive status quo.  

We where excited to hear from Anderson Barkow, VP of Finance, at our September Cleantech Meetup on Solar. He also represented BoxPower as a Finalist at the 2018 Innovation Awards.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CleanStart has a new face supporting the region’s Entrepreneurs.  Renonedo Williams is a CSU Sacramento Mechanical Engineering Student who is the newest intern at CleanStart.   He is entering his final semester at Sac State and is looking forward to connecting with as many clean tech startups as possible and understanding each of their value propositions, to connect his enthusiasm of building things to his goal of being his own boss. Renonedo has a background in design and material selection