Pitch
Wenu Work is a Chilean B Corporation which puts technology in the service of energy and operational efficiency.
Description
Summary
Wenu Work endeavors to help people reduce their carbon footprint, through energy efficiency. Therefore, we develop dashboards and internal platforms to monitor in real-time energy consumption. We created our own low-cost IoT meter that can be installed in our clients’ electrical boards. Connected to a Wi-Fi network, the meter is able to send information and allows the user to know the consumption from seconds to years.
Through our monitoring system, our clients are able to see their consumption in real-time, with the detail regarding the main areas. Also, our dashboards displayed in public areas by clients show information in order to educate their own clients and collaborators, along with promoting the actions taken towards efficiency.
The problem Wenu Work tries to solve, is the lack of control for companies, institutions and houses, regarding the use and price of energy. Also, consumers are rarely aware of the relation between energy consumption and its impact on the environment or the high prices related to this consumption.
We created a service that allows information on electricity consumption to be available in real-time. For any organization, this information is key in order to generate savings in operational costs and demonstrate to the public they’re being sustainable. We developed our solution with the goal of helping people reduce their impact on the environment, along with educating them in matters related to energy and carbon footprint.
Is this proposal for a practice or a project?
Practice
What actions do you propose?
Wenu Work’s purpose is to promote energy efficiency for all organizations. Our monitoring system’s goal is to minimize the impact generated by the excessive energy consumption in all categories of the economy, not only in terms of economical savings, but also to preserve the environment.
With a 3-year experience, we’ve noted that the mere fact of having a monitoring system can lead to a 5 to 15% decrease in the consumption. On top of that, by implementing the relevant strategies, one can reach savings even more important and therefore actively reduce the carbon footprint associated with the energy consumed. One of Wenu Work’s main cornerstones is sustainability, hence the focus on promoting the good use of resources, whether it is water, electricity, fuel, plastic, etc.
There are various actions we promote through the projects we’re putting in place with clients. For example, basic actions can relate to using our monitoring system in order to detect inappropriate use of electricity, that is defining operation and non-operation hours and see where the inefficiencies lie. Thanks to this analysis, the following step consists in implementing new policies in the organization in order for people to change their behavior and become more conscious on the underlying environmental issue.
Some actions required can go further the behavioral change and include changes in technologies, such as LED lighting and solar panels. Indeed, Wenu Work doesn’t simply sell a smart meter to its clients. We serve as consultant in energy for our clients and therefore we advocate for the greatest savings possible, in each singular situation. When the situation requires it, thanks to our broad expertise, we are able to help our clients implement these technological changes within their institutions, companies, houses.
Who will take these actions?
Energy efficiency projects can be implemented by any organization, business, institution and individual. Any energy consumer can have an incentive to adopt our monitoring system, whether it is for economical or environmental reasons, or both at the same time. We seek to work with a variety of partners and act as facilitators for those who choose to put in place energy efficiency strategies.
We provide expertise and the means to truly reduce one’s carbon footprint. We help cut running costs with an understanding of how much electricity is consumed and importantly the sources of the consumption. In fact, our low-cost energy monitoring service allows anyone to make a sustained, long-term impact on their energy-use behavior and management.
Where will these actions be taken?
The scale of our projects is global, as we have the capacity to implement projects worldwide. Our smart meter is fit for electrical boards across countries and our business model is adaptable for any company, household, institution without restriction regarding the geographical location. The issues related to energy consumption and management are global and don’t only concern people in some countries.
However, initially, our expansion projects are focused on the Americas region, in order to consolidate our business model. We already have had success in Chile, Mexico and pilot projects in Peru, Brazil and the US.
In addition, specify the country or countries where these actions will be taken.
Chile
Country 2
Mexico
Country 3
United States
Country 4
No country selected
Country 5
No country selected
Impact/Benefits
What impact will these actions have on greenhouse gas emissions and/or adapting to climate change?
Our involvement contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions as we enable our partners and clients to be more efficient in their daily activities; that is, we help them generate as much value as before, but with a reduced usage of energy. We’re promoting energy efficiency as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For each MWh generated in order to use electrical devices, there is a CO2 emission associated. Reducing the consumption and energy production enables to reduce this negative effect on the environment. The idea of energy efficiency is to be able have the same comfort and activities, while consuming less energy. If we consider the energy matrix in Chile for example, we see that the emission factor related to such an energy mix is about 0.39 tCO2 / MWh. Therefore, for each MWh that our users save, we’re preventing the emission of 0.39 tons of CO2. Such a calculation con be replicated in the other areas our service will be implemented, those places having different energy matrix and emission factor.
What are other key benefits?
The benefits of Wenu Work’s activities are desirable for the environment, the economy and society in general. The benefits for the environmental are, as stated in the previous question, related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. By promoting energy efficiency, we’re reducing the energy consumed and produced without having to impact the activities people have. Therefore, we’re cutting on the CO2 emissions.
As for the benefits to the economy, there are various aspects of the question to consider. The first one is the fact that we enable our users, mainly businesses, to reduce their energy consumption and therefore cut on their operational costs. Also, our tool and service isn’t merely designed to make energy efficiency, it’s also for companies that wish to ensure the efficiency of their operations. For example, we’re able to help telco companies make sure their antennas ae functioning and if not, receive an alert.
As a contribution to society in general, we can consider our solution as an innovation taking part in shaping a more connected future. If we want to create better cities and promote sustainability for society, we need to develop tools and technologies that serve this goal.
Costs/Challenges
What are the proposal’s projected costs?
The main projected costs associated with our solution are related to the development/enhancement of the hardware. Such investments are important, as we’re offering a technological solution.
As for the impact our activity has over the environment, the fact that we import from China implies a carbon footprint for receiving them in Chile (by plane or boat). However, apart from that, in all our company’s processes, we make sure to optimize them in order to reduce the impact on the environment.
Timeline
The monitoring is simply the first step in order to create a management system and energy efficiency. With the information given by our smart meter, stakeholders can make decisions and implement changes, among which are behavioral changes.
In the long-run, the vision for Wenu Work is to be able to add a variety of services to our platform in order to make it even more relevant and useful for users. First of all, the idea is to partner with other companies and institutions in order to enable the use of other sensors than the Wenu and therefore display information regarding water and gas for example, on top of the electricity consumption. Also, we’re developing new versions of our sensor in order to make it even more relevant for our users.
In a few decades, our product will probably be integrated into broader solutions for smart homes and smart offices. The service will include various solutions for managing the living or labor environment; a system that guarantees the best conditions for people, along with sustainability through technology.
About the author(s)
Daniel Santander is Wenu Work’s CEO. His main role is to define and develop the strategies, set the goals. He leads the team towards our goals, giving vision and supervising the daily tasks of each team member.
Daniel has a business background and graduated in a Masters of Finance, before obtaining an MBA in the University de los Andes (Santiago de Chile). He’s had over 6 experiences leading teams in sales and development, and has an extensive network of contacts. He has excellent skills in sales, with a good negotiation skill; he is goal-oriented and knows how to make sure to close deals.
By:
Wenu Work
