Carbon Lighthouse, a San Francisco-based firm which specializes in energy-efficient building technologies, has attracted investment for a total of $32.6 million, the company said in a statement.
The round was led by a $20 million investment of Cox Enterprises. Carbon Lighthouse intends to use the new funds to continue scaling nationwide, and hire software developers, data scientists, and engineers.
The company uses monitors and sensors to identify and correct building energy efficiencies, reducing emissions and generating financial value for building owners and operators.
The firm says it has already worked in more than 600 buildings across commercial real estate, hospitality, industrial, and educational industries.
?We believe that we need to do work that is very profitable for clients and ourselves, otherwise there is no way to scale large enough and quickly enough to actually stop climate change,? said Brenden Millstein,?Carbon Lighthouse co-founder and CEO.
With the global market for energy-efficient building technologies expected to grow to over $360 billion by 2026, Carbol Lighthouse believes that its energy optimization technology and ongoing service is set to help commercial real estate owners and operators ? REITs, hotels, schools, industrial assets, and more ? turn energy savings into revenues that can be leveraged during financial transactions.
The company highlighted that increased energy efficiency can save building owners $0.40 to $0.60 per square foot, boosting net profit by $5 to $10 per square foot when a building is sold.
?As we continue to double year-over-year for the next many decades, we are grateful for existing investors and new partners like Cox Enterprises who are committed to growing companies for long-term impact,? Millstein added.
In April, the company opened a regional office in Los Angeles to focus on the Southern California commercial real estate and industrial building segment. The company also operates commercial offices in San Francisco, New York and Honolulu.
Initial staff in the new Los Angeles office includes engineering, sales and marketing roles focused on scaling the firm?s?Efficiency Production?process with?enhanced technical and business development capabilities for more?energy efficient commercial buildings.
Since 2014, Carbon Lighthouse has worked in nearly 100 Southern California buildings from Los Angeles to San Diego, including commercial office buildings, hotels and educational institutions. Some of the firm?s clients in California include Rising Realty Group,?Kilroy Realty Corporation,?Ohana Real Estate Investors?and?Aspire Public Schools.
Currently engaged in a pilot project with Carbon Lighthouse at a large commercial property in downtown Los Angeles, Rising Realty said in a statement that ?by partnering with Carbon Lighthouse, we?re able to collect data and analytics on an asset?s energy usage, identify hidden inefficiencies and potential solutions and implement the best solution to improve and drive real financial value ? while improving environmental performance.?
“Efficiency Production” helps commercial building owners tap their efficiency reserves, Carbon Lighthouse explained. The process starts by deploying dozens of sensors throughout a building to collect thousands of original thermodynamic data points ? from air and water temperature and flow rates in HVAC to lighting and occupancy
Supplemented with utility, weather and other available data, Carbon Lighthouse uses its proprietary CLUES software to model thousands of energy scenarios and optimize existing equipment to arrive at the most financially and environmentally beneficial solution.
