BlocPower

BlocPower is a developer of climate technology and solutions intended to make city buildings more environmentally friendly, including reducing their carbon emissions and energy usage. To do this, the company uses data, thermodynamic models, structured finance, and edge computing. This makes the buildings greener, smarter, and healthier for the residents of the building. Further, property owners, through BlocPower, are able to save as much as 30 percent of total income on energy costs.

The company was founded in 2014 by Donnel Baird and Morris Cox and is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company has been backed by Kapor Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, AccelR8, The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Elemental Excelerator, Bezos Earth Fund, and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.

To do this, other than proprietary software for analysis, leasing, project management, and monitoring, BlocPower uses heat pump systems for heating and cooling. The process begins with a qualification, to ensure the building is capable of using the system developed by BlocPower. This qualification process ends in the final scope of the work and pricing delivered, and once agreed upon, an installation.

The heat pumps at the core of BlocPower work through electricity and refrigerant, which move heat from one place to another. This is done through the use of electricity to absorb heat when the refrigerant vaporizes, and to release heat when it condenses. Heat pumps are already in common use with common refrigerators and air conditioning units.

In the winter, heat pumps are suggested to be two to three times more efficient than any boiler-based heating system until the temperature reaches below -17 degrees Fahrenheit. In the summer, heat pumps are considered to be 20 to 50 percent more efficient than conventional window air conditioning units and work more efficiently than air conditioning units until the temperature reaches above 105 degrees Fahrenheit.