Empowering HVAC Contractors to Electrify Buildings

We are addressing the problem of carbon emissions from the US building stock which comprises over 123 million homes and 5.9 million commercial buildings. It consumes 75% of the nation's electricity and accounts for 35% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions.

Our solution specifically targets the electrification of HVAC systems in residential homes, as they are the primary contributors to energy consumption and carbon emissions within homes. By assisting HVAC contractors in presenting comprehensive electrification proposals and guiding homeowners through the tax credit qualification process, we aim to increase the adoption of electric, energy-efficient appliances. This will reduce reliance on fossil fuels, lower energy consumption, and ultimately decrease carbon emissions from the US building stock. Just within the US, this has the potential of touching 123 million homes and 330 million Americans.

Additionally, our solution addresses the financial burden on American households caused by inefficient appliances. On average, each household spends between $1,050 to $2,585 more per year on energy bills due to inefficiency. Considering that 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, the potential savings from upgrading to energy-efficient appliances become crucial. Our platform maximizes tax credits, rebates, and energy bill savings, helping make energy-efficient upgrades more accessible and financially viable for a wider range of households.

We're building a platform to help HVAC contractors offer tailored electrification proposals to homeowners, while also guiding them through the tax credit qualification process. The platform streamlines the entire proposal creation process for HVAC techs by automatically matching proposed appliances with available tax credits and rebates, and presenting the financial incentive information alongside energy bill savings, payback period, and more. This allows homeowners to make informed decisions when upgrading their HVAC systems to energy-efficient electric appliances.

The platform relies on a database that continually updates with information on tax credits, rebates, and energy-efficient appliances, ensuring that HVAC contractors have access to the most up-to-date information. It also features a two-sided user interface that allows contractors to generate custom proposals with ease on one end, while homeowners can quickly navigate the platform to understand the benefits of upgrading their appliances on the other.

In addition to the platform, we are developing an API that can be integrated into third-party project management platforms that contractors currently use. This API will allow contractors to seamlessly access our platform's features and data within their existing workflow, further simplifying the proposal generation process and promoting the adoption of energy-efficient appliances.

Our solution primarily serves two stakeholders: HVAC technicians and homeowners.

HVAC techs are either unaware or don't know which appliances qualify for tax credits. For that reason, the majority of HVAC technicians don't include this savings information in their proposals. This results in homeowners being unaware of the full picture of potential savings and energy efficiency when deciding to upgrade their appliances. Our platform equips HVAC technicians with the tools and information needed to create persuasive proposals. As a result, technicians can secure larger projects and generate more revenue.

Homeowners, particularly the 64% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, are directly impacted by the financial burden of inefficient appliances. Our solution addresses this issue by helping homeowners maximize their savings through tax credits, rebates, and energy bill savings when upgrading their HVAC systems. By providing comprehensive information on energy-efficient electric appliances and guiding homeowners through the tax credit qualification process, our platform allows homeowners to make informed decisions that will lower their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.

Our team is uniquely positioned to deliver this solution due to our close connections with the HVAC community in the Chicagoland area through our consulting work. We have conducted interviews with numerous households and HVAC technicians, enabling us to identify and understand their pain points and needs.

As official vendors of Johnstone Supply, a leading wholesaler of HVAC/R appliances in the US, we have access to thousands of HVAC technicians in the Chicagoland area. This connection allows us to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry and stay up-to-date with the latest information and trends, especially as it trickles down from their manufacturers. Additionally, we are also official vendors of the Illinois EPA and have a direct understanding of the roll-out of rebates from the IRA in Illinois.

Our team is working directly with 3 different HVAC companies to gain insights into their proposal generation processes. This collaboration allows us to automate their processes and ensure that our platform delivers the value homeowners are seeking when making decisions about appliance upgrades.

We have a working calculator and API that calculates the tax credits and rebates of a specific appliance in addition to the estimated annual energy bill savings and payback period. We are testing it with the HVAC companies we are partnered with.

We have about 15 HVAC technicians in total that we are serving. Thus far, we have supported 3 homeowners in understanding their upgrade options, yet it has only been a week since our partnerships have begun. We anticipate much higher results over the next several months as well as when the IRA rebates roll out.

We are primarily applying to Solve in order to access the extensive network that the program offers. Electrifying the entire US building stock is a complex and labor-intensive task that involves a wide range of stakeholders, including homeowners, contractors, manufacturers, municipalities, utility companies, and more. By joining Solve, we hope to establish strategic partnerships that will help us overcome various financial, technical, legal, cultural, and market barriers that we may face in our journey.

Our solution is innovative because it revolutionizes the way homeowners and HVAC technicians approach appliance upgrades. We're simplifying and automating the process of identifying the most optimized set of energy-efficient appliances that align with homeowners' budgets and preferences. By integrating real-time information on tax credits, rebates, and energy-efficient appliances into a user-friendly platform, we eliminate the need for homeowners to independently research financial incentives while empowering HVAC technicians to offer the most cost-effective proposals. If successfully scaled, our solution can catalyze the electrification of residential buildings and significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Our impact goals for the next year and the next five years focus on reducing carbon emissions and promoting the electrification of residential buildings. In the next year, our goal is to electrify 100 homes, while our five-year goal is to lower carbon emissions by 1 million tons.

To achieve these goals, we will develop a scalable solution for contractors that can be easily integrated into their existing third-party project management platforms. This integration will ensure that our platform has maximum impact with minimal behavior change required from contractors, facilitating seamless adoption and usage.

We are measuring our progress toward our impact goals using a combination of specific indicators:

1. Tracking the number and types of old appliances in homes and comparing them with the new, energy-efficient appliances installed through our platform. This will help us assess the overall improvement in energy efficiency resulting from appliance upgrades.

2. Monitoring the energy usage of homes before and after the installation of new appliances. By comparing these figures, we can accurately determine the amount of energy saved and the corresponding reduction in carbon emissions.

3. Calculating the number of gas-powered units replaced with electric, energy-efficient appliances. This will provide a direct measure of our progress in promoting the electrification of residential buildings and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Our theory of change focuses on simplifying access to information on incentives and cost-effective options to promote energy-efficient appliances and residential electrification. By developing a user-friendly platform integrated with HVAC technicians' existing project management tools, we empower both homeowners and technicians to make informed, sustainable choices.

The immediate outputs include comprehensive proposals and increased awareness of financial incentives for energy-efficient upgrades. Long-term outcomes involve higher adoption of energy-efficient appliances, energy savings, reduced carbon emissions, and increased revenues for HVAC technicians. Supported by the fact that 77% of homeowners face annual HVAC issues, we expect comprehensive information on savings and incentives to drive the adoption of energy-efficient appliances.

Our solution is powered by a combination of traditional software technology, including frontend, APIs, and backend systems. We leverage APIs from various sources, such as third-party energy efficiency organizations and federal databases, to collect and consolidate information on energy-efficient appliances, tax credits, and rebates. As we progress, we plan to incorporate AI technology to automate and optimize the appliance selection process, ensuring that homeowners and HVAC technicians are provided with the most cost-effective and energy-efficient options tailored to their specific needs and preferences.

We are committed to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into every aspect of our work. From hiring climate change fighters to collaborating with partner companies and assisting homeowners, our goal is to ensure diversity remains at the core of our business. By focusing on supporting and benefiting underrepresented communities, we actively address the disproportionate impact of environmental disadvantages faced by minority communities.

Our business model is centered around providing value to HVAC technicians and homeowners through a subscription-based platform and leveraging API integration. Initially, we will charge HVAC technicians a subscription fee to gain access to our proposal-making platform, which enables them to create comprehensive, persuasive proposals that incorporate energy-efficient appliances and available tax credits or rebates.

In the next phase, we will develop a separate API to sell to third-party management platforms that HVAC contractors already use. By integrating our technology into these existing systems, we can seamlessly expand our reach and impact without requiring significant behavioral changes from the contractors.

Our plan for achieving financial sustainability involves a combination of revenue generation through sales and leveraging venture capital funding. We will generate revenue by offering our proposal-making platform to HVAC technicians via a subscription model and selling our API to third-party management platforms for seamless integration. These revenue streams will help support our operational expenses and further development of our platform. Given my background in venture capital, we also plan to raise investment capital from venture firms.

While our current business is still in its early stages and does not have examples of sustainable funding yet, we have had experience in raising capital in the past. In my previous startup, we successfully raised over $100k from venture capitalists, which provided us with a 12-month runway to explore and establish viable business models.