Quake’s Post

I don’t visit too many companies as there simply are too many cool tech ventures to meet and need to focus on Techleap. But every now and then I make an exception, like Protix Nearfield Instruments Battolyser Systems Monumental to get interesting insights into scaling deeptech. And last week I visited a truly European deeptech impact company Paebbl based in founded across Stockholm, Helsinki and Rotterdam. Its Rotterdam factory is impressive in size, housing a relative modest installation, clearly anticipating exponential growth, following a 20m+ seriesA investment. Paebbl captures CO2, which it mineralizes and turns into building material (concrete and cement), solving a massive climate problem with innovative technology. On hearing this proposition, I assumed that Paebbl was one of many deeptech impact startups seeking a problem for their unique solution. But I was wrong. Paebbl started with a market problem, identifying a clear demand, scoping the addressable market, determining the business potential and business model before identifying and developing the technology and choosing the best location to build a pilot plant. The technology had been developed over 15yrs by Pol Knops before, while Paebble pulled it all together into a high growth business. Then they designed and developed a prototype, hired seasoned engineers, on boarded industrial partners and iterated the design to go from batch to continuous production. The speed and agility of this development process is typical for software but pretty rare in hardware businesses. The founders were also very keen to produce a competitive product that could be profitable from day 1. I share this because there are some important insights for many deep tech companies: ✔️Start with a highly complementary and diverse team, ✔️identify a market problem, the demand and target customers first, ✔️then find a suitable technology and iterate fast to develop a solution that solves the problem, is scalable and makes business sense, ✔️choose a location most suitable for your company, ✔️hire the best people and engage industry partners early on. Congratulations Paebbl! Will closely follow your progress.

📢 Save the Date: Conference on circular composite materials on the 23rd of September in Hamburg What would Europe look like with circular composite materials? This is a question we asked ourselves and decided to come together and find some answers. 🗓 On Monday, the 23rd of September we will host the first EoLO-HUBs conference. Join us at the Hotel Hafen Hamburg and get introduced to the latest trends, challenges and solutions in the composite world. Listen in on interesting expert insights throughout the supply chain during a keynote speech and a panel discussion, and get involved yourself together with circular wind industry experts! 👀 On Monday, the 8th of April the registration form will open (limited access) - so keep an eye out for that and stay tuned for more information soon! #CircularEconomy #WindEnergy #WindTurbines #TurbineBlades #Design #Sustainability #innovation #HorizonEurope #composite #recycling #conference

🌍🔧 Join our virtual conference on efficient and successful retrofit projects! Learn how to accelerate decarbonization, enhance business growth, and overcome challenges with expert insights and case studies. Don't miss this chance to improve your retrofit designs and implementation! 📅 10 July 10:00 - 12:00 👥 Hear from Technical Advisers and Contractors, and get your questions answered by experts at: NG Bailey, Wates Group, Canary Wharf Group, Swansea University Register here: https://lnkd.in/efjZkbyF #RetrofitSuccess #Decarbonization #Sustainability #VirtualConference

Concrete is all around us. It’s resilient, durable, customizable, and found in almost every project. But making and using concrete has a large embodied carbon impact, affecting sustainability across the AEC industry. In this webinar excerpt from our “Cutting Carbon” series, SGH’s Matthew Sander, P.E. details the concrete life cycle and each step’s carbon impacts, and reinforces the need to address this issue. https://lnkd.in/ejnA-ceF

Wrapping up our SpliTech journey with a spotlight on the third paper, presented by Professor Effrosyni Giama 📄💡: "Smart Readiness: A Tool for Green Building Certification Schemes Towards Carbon Neutrality in the Built Environment" - Authors: Effrosyni Giama, Konstantinos Chatzikonstantinidis, Georgios Chantzis, Merope Manataki, Paris Fokaides, Agis M. Papadopoulos. This paper introduces a methodology to correlate environmental certification schemes such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB) with the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). The study presents a holistic approach to evaluating the #built environment 🏠, focusing on key aspects like #energyefficiency, water and waste management, transportation, construction materials, air quality, and social factors related to occupant health and well-being. The objective is to identify the synergy between green building certifications and SRI methodology to create a comprehensive framework for evaluating buildings and achieving the energy efficiency and decarbonization targets of European policy. By encouraging the integration of automation and control technologies, the SRI facilitates the adoption of energy-efficient practices and reduces the carbon footprint of buildings. This methodology not only enhances decision-making in #smartbuilding technology implementation but also furthers energy efficiency goals 🚀. This paper will be publicly available soon! ✨

Intentional, disruptive design addresses climate issues by fostering innovative, human-centered solutions. It involves understanding the problem from a human perspective, creating, prototyping, and testing solutions that lead to net-zero carbon consumption. Every shift in approach that reduces our carbon footprint while still delighting users will encourage climate-forward thinking in every aspect of daily life.

Missed yesterday's insightful webinar on "Efficiency and Sustainability in Future Transportation"? You can still catch up on this session by accessing the recording from below link. Gain valuable insights into the future of transportation, explore sustainable practices, and discover innovative efficiency solutions. #Sustainability #UrbanTransportation #Decarbonization https://lnkd.in/gWCgB628.

What does low carbon building look like to you? Check out this webinar on Transforming Sustainability Commitments to Action: Building Electrification and the Power of Air-Source Multi-Pipe Systems!

✅ There's still time to register for our #INDICATE project webinar, ‘Unlocking the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Data in Buildings’ on 27 February.   #INDICATE is a collaborative European project which aims to meet one of the most fundamental challenges to decarbonise European buildings – the lack of data availability to support policy making and strategic business decision-making. 📈   🏢 The building and construction sector accounts for approximately 40% of global carbon emissions. #INDICATE pushes for policy and industry to tackle the reduction of both operational and embodied carbon – known as ‘whole life carbon’ (WLC).   📅 Join us on 27 February at 10:00 GMT to discuss LCA data challenges within the European built environment, with several guest speakers delivering a focused view on what's happening nationally in Ireland, Czech Republic and Spain.   Register here: https://bit.ly/4bDvlSm   Learn more about #INDICATE: https://bit.ly/3SF4v3l   #HorizonEU #Indicate #BuildingTheTransition  European Commission, Smith Innovation, Green Building Council España (GBCe), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), KU Leuven, University of Galway, Czech Green Building Council, Czech Technical University in Prague, Irish Green Building Council