A Boston startup that makes energy auditing software for the commercial buildings industry, Retroficiency, raised $800,000 in a seed round led by energy management services firm World Energy Solutions (NASDAQ: XWES), and joined by a number of angel investors including Jean Hammond and Jill Preotle (both early investors in ZipCar) the companies announced today.
Facility managers, auditors or engineers who need to improve the energy efficiency of an aging building input whatever basic information they know about that building into Retroficiency’s system. The software uses the available details, and a comprehensive set of data about tens of thousands of other buildings with similar traits, then uses predictive analytics to generate an energy model for that building. (Retroficiency’s team has been compiling data on commercial buildings and energy efficiency since 2008.)
The site then generates, within hours, suggestions as to what kind of retrofit and renovation projects will have the biggest impact on a building from an energy and cost perspective. Chief executive officer and founder of Retroficiency, Bennett Fisher, offered this example of what the enterprise software can do:
“If you tell us you have fluorescent lights in a certain type of building, we can statistically infer that you have 526 fixtures with four 40-watt T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts. We can then suggest you upgrade to three 32-watt Super T8 lamps and electronic ballasts and show the relevant costs, savings, rebates, increases in ENERGY STAR ratings, decrease in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, etc.
Our optimization engine sorts through thousands of possible combinations like this over all of the building’s systems and builds packages that match the customer’s goal whether that is a specific reduction in energy, a payback period, or total spend limitations. All of the inputs, inferences, etc are fully transparent so a user can go back and change/update any information.”
In pilot testing, Fisher said, the system’s building assessments were at least as accurate as reports done by on-foot inspectors at massive facilities. The company aims to make old-school physical audits obsolete, and instead give auditors a tool to make the whole process faster and easier. “Physical audits take weeks and several employees’ time, and are a bottleneck to advancing retrofit and energy efficiency projects,” Fisher noted.
The market opportunity for a company like Retroficiency is growing. MacGraw Hill Construction researchers predicted:
[By 2015] non-residential green building activity [will likely] triple, representing $120 billion to $145 billion in new construction (40%-48% of the non-residential market) and $14 billion to $18 billion in major retrofit and renovation projects.
Retroficiency’s early customers include facility management firms, which own and operate real estate, and ESCOs or energy service companies which are third-party providers who develop, install and arrange financing for projects to improve buildings’ energy efficiency, and lower maintenance costs over time.
Here's the question: why aren't more architects leading the way in creating these sorts of things? There is soooo much money being thrown around to solid software offerings (this is actually really low on the deal scale) - certainly some of you who are unemployed have a great idea, right?
I was totally gonna write that app myself, but got stuck on basic mySQL and php. Then I tried doing the whole thing in flash with a 15 minute dancing intro and techno music. I'm still picking out the font and pantone color scheme. Not sure what my app is used for yet...
Software development is a multi billion dollar industry. You're not going to write the next Photoshop while sitting in your mom's basement. You need capital investment before doing anything. Not having any programming background makes you an ill fit for a man with a 'million dollar' idea. Executing a software project requires knowledge that equals that of an experienced project architect.
What exactly do you expect an unemployed architect to do here?
I'm launching a software program later this month. Partnering on it with a young software programmer who, yes, does a ton of facebook apps (who I met while, gasp, actually attending an event not hosted by architects). Our total hard costs to get to launch have been less than my lunch budget last year. 6 months of development, testing, feedback, sleepless nights, etc. And, yeah, I've had to act like a PA/PM on a lot of things, but our goal is to do nothing less than revolutionize how people manage construction projects. We may fall on our asses or retire in 3 years - I really don't care. Point is, it's happening - and yes, that whole arena could benefit from the kind of input designers (including architects) can bring. (I once had the pleasure of having dinner with Reny Ramakers, the founder of Droog, who gave the following great advice about working with architects: she generally despised it because they so rarely could marry intellect with emotion. same can be said for so much software - if you can do it though, there's a ton of money out there to be made).
What's your excuse? Lack of ideas or lack of money? Because the latter hasn't stopped me yet from executing on the former.
That's pretty impressive! However, what seems even more impressive isn't so much the software-writing (there are programs that deal with energy efficiency already, although I don't know if they optimize) as the collection of data they have that provides a backup for the models. In addition to software, there is the service. Verifiability is probably even more fundamentally important than the time-saving factor, and working with that data seems like it would be a really interesting and informative task!
'All of the inputs, inferences, etc are fully transparent so a user can go back and change/update any information.”'
If you're going to do software, *this* is the way to do it. I've seen too many black-box applications where the underlying inferences are either hidden or not changeable. This, in turn, makes it harder to have the software do things it was not designed to do (which makes it more useful to me).
The scary part, however, is this:
'The company aims to make old-school physical audits obsolete, and instead give auditors a tool to make the whole process faster and easier.'
It's important to do field surveys sometimes, because your information will not always be accurate!
Second on wanting to know more about Greg's software project; it sounds great, and congratulations for doing it!
Here's the question: why aren't more architects leading the way in creating these sorts of things? There is soooo much money being thrown around to solid software offerings (this is actually really low on the deal scale) - certainly some of you who are unemployed have a great idea, right?
By the way, they are hiring...
---
Like, I'm sure, many architects, I actually do have a solid idea and I'm running it by a software developer friend for kicks over dinner this weekend. But I'm certainly not telling YOU my idea! Obviously I wouldn't stand a chance in hell of developing it myself. At best, I would be an architectural consultant.
And in a nutshell, that answers your question about why architects don't lead software development.
The website is snap-ca.com. Not much to see just yet. We're in the 'do everything you can to break it down' phase. Debugging, all that. More formal announcements once we're through with that.
Greg the website looks beautiful, so at least you got that first step right!
I'm still struggling with what this means:...she generally despised (working with architects) because they so rarely could marry intellect with emotion.
Donna - I think she meant that they couldn't (as a general rule) create works that were truly original, intellectually driven and filled with emotion. They'd either just focus on surface/structure/skin or effect (in a limited sense). She wanted affect. I'm probably doing a horrible job communicating this, but it made sense.
Mar 30, 11 4:01 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
show me the money
Yes, an architect could have created this:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/09/retroficiency-seed-round-800k/
A Boston startup that makes energy auditing software for the commercial buildings industry, Retroficiency, raised $800,000 in a seed round led by energy management services firm World Energy Solutions (NASDAQ: XWES), and joined by a number of angel investors including Jean Hammond and Jill Preotle (both early investors in ZipCar) the companies announced today.
Facility managers, auditors or engineers who need to improve the energy efficiency of an aging building input whatever basic information they know about that building into Retroficiency’s system. The software uses the available details, and a comprehensive set of data about tens of thousands of other buildings with similar traits, then uses predictive analytics to generate an energy model for that building. (Retroficiency’s team has been compiling data on commercial buildings and energy efficiency since 2008.)
The site then generates, within hours, suggestions as to what kind of retrofit and renovation projects will have the biggest impact on a building from an energy and cost perspective. Chief executive officer and founder of Retroficiency, Bennett Fisher, offered this example of what the enterprise software can do:
“If you tell us you have fluorescent lights in a certain type of building, we can statistically infer that you have 526 fixtures with four 40-watt T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts. We can then suggest you upgrade to three 32-watt Super T8 lamps and electronic ballasts and show the relevant costs, savings, rebates, increases in ENERGY STAR ratings, decrease in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, etc.
Our optimization engine sorts through thousands of possible combinations like this over all of the building’s systems and builds packages that match the customer’s goal whether that is a specific reduction in energy, a payback period, or total spend limitations. All of the inputs, inferences, etc are fully transparent so a user can go back and change/update any information.”
In pilot testing, Fisher said, the system’s building assessments were at least as accurate as reports done by on-foot inspectors at massive facilities. The company aims to make old-school physical audits obsolete, and instead give auditors a tool to make the whole process faster and easier. “Physical audits take weeks and several employees’ time, and are a bottleneck to advancing retrofit and energy efficiency projects,” Fisher noted.
The market opportunity for a company like Retroficiency is growing. MacGraw Hill Construction researchers predicted:
[By 2015] non-residential green building activity [will likely] triple, representing $120 billion to $145 billion in new construction (40%-48% of the non-residential market) and $14 billion to $18 billion in major retrofit and renovation projects.
Retroficiency’s early customers include facility management firms, which own and operate real estate, and ESCOs or energy service companies which are third-party providers who develop, install and arrange financing for projects to improve buildings’ energy efficiency, and lower maintenance costs over time.
Here's the question: why aren't more architects leading the way in creating these sorts of things? There is soooo much money being thrown around to solid software offerings (this is actually really low on the deal scale) - certainly some of you who are unemployed have a great idea, right?
By the way, they are hiring...
I was totally gonna write that app myself, but got stuck on basic mySQL and php. Then I tried doing the whole thing in flash with a 15 minute dancing intro and techno music. I'm still picking out the font and pantone color scheme. Not sure what my app is used for yet...
Software development is a multi billion dollar industry. You're not going to write the next Photoshop while sitting in your mom's basement. You need capital investment before doing anything. Not having any programming background makes you an ill fit for a man with a 'million dollar' idea. Executing a software project requires knowledge that equals that of an experienced project architect.
What exactly do you expect an unemployed architect to do here?
Maybe do some iPhone apps?
I'm launching a software program later this month. Partnering on it with a young software programmer who, yes, does a ton of facebook apps (who I met while, gasp, actually attending an event not hosted by architects). Our total hard costs to get to launch have been less than my lunch budget last year. 6 months of development, testing, feedback, sleepless nights, etc. And, yeah, I've had to act like a PA/PM on a lot of things, but our goal is to do nothing less than revolutionize how people manage construction projects. We may fall on our asses or retire in 3 years - I really don't care. Point is, it's happening - and yes, that whole arena could benefit from the kind of input designers (including architects) can bring. (I once had the pleasure of having dinner with Reny Ramakers, the founder of Droog, who gave the following great advice about working with architects: she generally despised it because they so rarely could marry intellect with emotion. same can be said for so much software - if you can do it though, there's a ton of money out there to be made).
What's your excuse? Lack of ideas or lack of money? Because the latter hasn't stopped me yet from executing on the former.
Congrats Greg! I am interested to know more about it.
Congrats, Greg!
That's pretty impressive! However, what seems even more impressive isn't so much the software-writing (there are programs that deal with energy efficiency already, although I don't know if they optimize) as the collection of data they have that provides a backup for the models. In addition to software, there is the service. Verifiability is probably even more fundamentally important than the time-saving factor, and working with that data seems like it would be a really interesting and informative task!
'All of the inputs, inferences, etc are fully transparent so a user can go back and change/update any information.”'
If you're going to do software, *this* is the way to do it. I've seen too many black-box applications where the underlying inferences are either hidden or not changeable. This, in turn, makes it harder to have the software do things it was not designed to do (which makes it more useful to me).
The scary part, however, is this:
'The company aims to make old-school physical audits obsolete, and instead give auditors a tool to make the whole process faster and easier.'
It's important to do field surveys sometimes, because your information will not always be accurate!
Second on wanting to know more about Greg's software project; it sounds great, and congratulations for doing it!
Here's the question: why aren't more architects leading the way in creating these sorts of things? There is soooo much money being thrown around to solid software offerings (this is actually really low on the deal scale) - certainly some of you who are unemployed have a great idea, right?
By the way, they are hiring...
---
Like, I'm sure, many architects, I actually do have a solid idea and I'm running it by a software developer friend for kicks over dinner this weekend. But I'm certainly not telling YOU my idea! Obviously I wouldn't stand a chance in hell of developing it myself. At best, I would be an architectural consultant.
And in a nutshell, that answers your question about why architects don't lead software development.
Yeah, but you don't need code writers in the lead- you need vision.
Hopefully you're not doing the same thing I am - we're soft launching next month. I'm going to be inviting everyone here to play...
No, not the same idea at all. That's awesome that you have a launch!
The website is snap-ca.com. Not much to see just yet. We're in the 'do everything you can to break it down' phase. Debugging, all that. More formal announcements once we're through with that.
Greg the website looks beautiful, so at least you got that first step right!
I'm still struggling with what this means:...she generally despised (working with architects) because they so rarely could marry intellect with emotion.
my intellect and emotion separated due to irreconcilable differences.
Apollo v. Dionysis. epic
Sorry, a bit off topic. Best of luck to you Greg. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it.
Donna - I think she meant that they couldn't (as a general rule) create works that were truly original, intellectually driven and filled with emotion. They'd either just focus on surface/structure/skin or effect (in a limited sense). She wanted affect. I'm probably doing a horrible job communicating this, but it made sense.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.