The startup BlocPower uses software to identify buildings that are prime candidates to receive more efficient energy systems.
That might mean installing an electric heat pump or a microgrid to make a building's power system self-sufficient. BlocPower works with commercial apartment buildings and public housing in addition to single-family homes and works to train local construction crews to install the modern systems.
The company operates in New York, Oakland, California, and Milwaukee, with plans to expand to Baltimore, Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago. It has worked on 850 buildings in Brooklyn alone.
Vandana Shiva, a scientist and environmentalist known for her activism against GMOs, globalization, and patents on seeds and traditional foods, co-founded Navdanya.
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