Colorado Green Tech Meetup Blog

Our inaugural meeting at the CU Leeds Deming Center in Boulder was a pleasant surprise. There was a great turnout with representatives from legal, venture capital, academic, incubators, entrepreneurs, and others interested in green technology. There was great enthusiasm and a clearly educated crowd on the topics presented.

Our meeting started off with organizers Kris Wiesenfeld and Kevin Geminiuc introduced. Kris then started with some quick informal votes on meeting format and then started into a quick powerpoint framing green entrepreneurship and the potential in our current economy. Kris introduced green investment segments that saw funding in 2007 which including the following areas ( Energy Generation, Energy Storage, Transportation, Energy Efficiency, Recycling & Waste) . Green infrastructure investment was a total of 5.18 Billion in Europe and United States in 2007.

Jonah Levine, Smart Grid
jonah.Levine@Colorado.EDU

Our first presenter, Jonah Levine, shared his research on how to work with energy systems, like wind, that can vary in power output. How does an energy utility work with peak demand (above traditional sources)? It may need to bring on-line stored energy such as pumped water or natural gas turbines. Jonah expressed some new ideas of using smart grid technologies to allow excess green (e.g. wind, solar) energy sources to provide to remote areas where they are needed.

Scott Canby,  Airius Thermal Equalizers

Next Scott Canby from Airius Thermal Equalizers presented on their turbine-system that allows for both cooling and heating efficiency in buildings. Scott had some great success stories to share on cost saving from HVAC systems reduced usage. Their thermal equalizer uses a turbine to produce laminar flow(smooth) air versus traditional fan (turblent air) and the efficiency gain is significant. Also a natural benefit of a portal system allows placement of their turbines at different heights and sections in a factory or office building.

Michael Izatt, Matt Emm,  One Button

Michael Izatt and Matt Emm from One Button gave an enlightening talk on consumer/professional green home entertainment solutions. Their company advises on energy efficient components that also provide similar or superior sound quality. There were some good discussions on “phantom load” and types of solutions to address power hungry theater devices that draw power even went not being used.

Casey Verbeck, GenGreen

Casey Verbeck from GenGreen was the last presenter. His presentation really impressed the crowd with his passion to build a product portal to support green products. There is a good market for both home-spun and commercial products and with a true “green certification” (displays like a FDA food label). The green certification displays a product’s carbon footprint allowing the purchaser to make informed decisions. Casey came from the music promotion industry and is using a wealth of environmentally-conscience performers to help support his site. GenGreen has grown past its first round of funding and is experiencing terrific growth – it sounded like a great opportunity.

Thanks to everyone for making this a great event. Hope to see you at our next meeting!

Kevin Geminiuc