Sensgreen is a fairly young company; what were the circumstances in which it came to life?
We started Sensgreen to address the energy performance gap of big buildings. Our CTO and Co-founder was researching a project with UC Berkeley in Singapore to optimize cooling loads for buildings in tropical climates. The same issue applies in the Middle East because big buildings are mechanically ventilated by regulation, resulting in energy wastage. We saw that it could be solved through innovative technology and optimized with data.
How have you progressed? What is the company's footprint presently?
We spent the first two years understanding the market and the business. It took a while to adapt to the dynamics but Techstars, one of the top accelerators, helped us close the gap faster. COVID struck just as we were about to enter the market, making it difficult to get through to property managers of empty hotels, airports and shopping malls. On the upside, one of our core products is designed to improve indoor air quality which actually created an opportunity and enabled a bigger market. People understood the importance of indoor air quality and how it impacted their health and cognitive performance, especially in the Middle East which was reeling under air pollution. We closed several deals and partnerships in 2022 that are now driving higher revenue, with most of our big clients testing, understanding, adopting and budgeting our solutions for 2023. The future looks bright.
Smart cities and buildings have been buzzwords for a while whereas nowadays things seem to have moved in a more practical space. What makes a building "smart"?
Smart buildings have different layers. A truly smart building will manage cooling, ventilation or heating by itself and have self-running equipment. Thermostats such as Nest and others have already done that in our homes. But big buildings require complex modeling and hardware innovation. Buildings of the future will be self-managed, efficient, net zero, and truly sustainable, producing more energy than they consume.
By next year already, the UAE will have net zero buildings that will open up to government entities - the new headquarters of the Electricity and Water Authority being one of them.
Beyond our industry, it will be about the occupant experience, or the connection with public transportation, an ignored area. A building may be smart but if you can only get there by a car that runs on gasoline, it does not make sense.
How are Middle Eastern markets responding to smart features and who is more likely to integrate them?
The interest is increasing, but the decision-making process is not easy. Facility managers have low budgets and are often reluctant to new technology or taking risks. Unless urgent, it is difficult to make it into their agenda. Regulations to save energy and improve air quality will, however, drive them to come to us for solutions. Globally, there is a push for energy-efficiency measures and aggressive targets to reduce consumption by 2030 or 2035 because 30% of carbon emissions are attributable to buildings. We can now deal directly with the management of companies who own hospitals and shopping malls that are responsible for carbon emissions. Things are changing.
Are you already seeing progress when it comes to policy support?
Government bodies and municipalities acknowledge our concerns and opportunities, and are making changes gradually. The US and California started with schools where kids - who are more sensitive - spend a lot of time. They regulated air quality and energy performance in schools before enforcing it in public buildings and eventually private buildings. In New York, the government incentivizes decarbonization by covering a bulk of the cost for retrofits. The Middle East should look at these examples - it cannot be done overnight but we can start with certain verticals.
You have recently expanded to Italy. What is your current international footprint, and are you eyeing other new markets?
Most of our revenue and clients are in the Middle East. With improved solutions and complete “plug and play” systems, we are seeing demand from other regions as well. We are now in 20 countries, Australia, Canada, Germany and UK to name a few. Globally, we want people to test our products easily before we find partners who can support us on the ground. Europe, US and Singapore are all on our radar.
What are your main objectives for the next three years?
We want a self-running building and at least one AI-run building in our portfolio by 2025, possibly in the UAE while increasing our footprint in the US and becoming a key player there. The US market is too big for us to go it alone but strategic investments or a merger will help us set up shop there as well.
Do you have a final message for our audience?
Our buildings guzzle energy, with 50% of wastage being attributable to the occupants and users. We have to exercise caution just as we do in our homes about how we spend time or use water and energy in commercial and public buildings. It’s hurting all of us and we are all going to pay the bill in the end. I hope our policy makers will incentivize carbon reductions.
