Energy Hacks: The Next Wave of a Negawatt Economy

#sxsw #energyhack

“As a use of sensing and big data, cutting needless energy waste isn’t as sexy as, say, using a snippet of your DNA to create a genetically linked familiar that will stay with you your entire life...But it’s a whole lot more important.” – Brian Walsh, Senior Editor at TIME

It’s easy to say the answer lies in “big data” but this panel will explore what that really means. From a wave of small business energy hacks that open doors, to smart thermostats like Nest that automate efficiency, to increasingly sensorized industrial equipment, there are massive opportunities to drive demand response actions that grow revenues and enable automation that previously existed only in analysts’ dreams.

Learn from the investor, startup, and massively scaling startup perspectives, moderated by Brittany Heyd from DC-based incubator 1776.

Presenters

Brittany Heyd

Founding Team

1776

Brittany Heyd is on the founding team at 1776, an incubation platform that connects startups tackling global challenges with the resources of the nation's capital. At 1776, Brittany drives strategy, leads the media and events teams, and manages the organization's legal portfolio. Before 1776, Brittany worked on business community initiatives and outreach at the White House, led event strategy for Startup DC, the regional component of the Startup America Partnership, and held positions at Latham & Watkins, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and Mark IV Capital. Brittany holds a Juris Doctor / Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of San Diego.

Craig Isakow

Dir of Commercial Solutions

Eyebloc

Craig Isakow is the director of commercial solutions at WegoWise, where he is responsible for deploying WegoWise's commercial platform. Previously, he founded and served as CEO of Melon, an award-winning Energy Star Partner focusing on delivering low-cost, simple Energy Star benchmarks to commercial buildings. Prior to founding Melon, Craig worked for Johnson Controls, the U.S. Department of Energy, and McKinsey & Company.

Grant Allen

SVP

ABB Technology Ventures

Grant Allen is Senior Vice President of ABB Technology Ventures (ATV), the venture capital arm of ABB, a $50 billion power and automation technology company. With offices in Silicon Valley, Washington, DC, and Zurich, ATV invests in disruptive energy, industrial technology and related IT companies. Grant has led investments in Validus DC Systems (acquired 19 months after investment), Scotrenewables, TaKaDu and Industrial Defender. Previously, Grant was with Core Capital Partners, a $350 million venture fund; Microsoft; Jingle Networks (sold for $63 million); and several start-ups including a web services firm he started when he was 19. He is an active angel investor (investments include LivingSocial, Spinnakr, Visually, DrillingInfo), a founding member of NextGen Angels and an advisor to Uppidy, Aquicore and Melon (acquired by WegoWise). Grant holds degrees from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering and The Wharton School.

Roderick Morris

SVP of Mktg & Operations

Opower

Roderick is Opower's chief marketing officer and the global leader of the company's client services and operations P&L. His accountability spans all enterprise Product Marketing and Corporate Marketing, Consumer Marketing on the Opower platform, Analytics, Engagement Management, Professional Services, and all Technical Operations such as Implementation Engineering and QA, Platform Operations, and Client Support.

Working with 93 utility partners and serving more than 32 million households and businesses across eight countries, Opower is a leading provider of cloud-based software to the utility industry. This blue chip client portfolio includes 27 of the 50 largest utilities in the US, and 14 of the 50 largest utilities worldwide.Opower’s platform uses big data analytics and behavioral science to enable utilities to achieve energy outcomes, including energy efficiency, customer engagement, demand response, and thermostat management. Founded in 2007 and privately held, Opower is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices in San Francisco, London, Singapore and Tokyo. Opower’s success has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, Fox Business News, LA Times, Good Morning America, and President Obama. Opower is backed by NEA, KPCB, and Accel.