Supercool

In 2009, Amit Gupta, a rising executive at Carrier HVAC, inherited responsibility for Aeroseal, a neglected product line with untapped potential. Aeroseal’s roots trace back to 1993 when Dr. Mark Modera (now a professor at UC Davis) invented a technology that used micron-sized aerosol particles to seal air leaks inside air ducts and building envelopes. The idea was groundbreaking: fix the leaks and tackle one of the world’s most absurd inefficiencies—10% of global energy wasted due to buildings leaking air. Here’s the math: ↳ Buildings consume 40% of global energy ↳ Half of that energy is used for heating and cooling (HVAC)—equaling 20% of all energy globally ↳ Half of that HVAC energy is wasted through leaks—equaling 10% of global energy For Amit, this wasn’t abstract. With relatives in the UK enduring drafty homes and soaring heating bills, he saw the economic, social, and environmental stakes firsthand. Many faced the monthly dilemma: "heat or eat." In 2010, Amit left his corporate career, rebooted Aeroseal, and focused on what customers care about most: ✅ Cutting energy bills ✅ Improving indoor air quality ✅ Creating comfortable spaces At first, he bootstrapped the business, working with homeowners in older, leaky homes. He refined the technology, filed global patents, and grew opportunistically. Then came the tipping point: the world’s biggest builders, cities, and investors embraced the urgency of climate action. Amit was ready. Aeroseal was ready. Today, Aeroseal has sealed over 260,000 buildings, saving billions in energy costs, cutting thousands of tons of CO2 emissions, and improving comfort for millions. Backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and other world-class climate tech investors, including Climate Investment (CI), Aramco Ventures, 2150, Energy Impact Partners, and Building Ventures, Aeroseal is now scaling to seal the cracks in our energy future. Get the full story in this week’s podcast: https://lnkd.in/eRxJyNaA

Our CEO, Josh Dorfman, explains the inspiration for launching Supercool earlier this year and where we’re heading in 2025.

This week, we dive into the Underground Climate Economy, a Supercool trend we've identified after completing our first 20 podcast episodes and newsletter issues. For space-constrained cities contending with growing urbanization (55% of humanity lives in cities, which will reach 70% by 2050), establishing operations below ground presents exciting opportunities to: ✅ Modernize infrastructure ✅ Localize clean energy generation ✅ Retain control of their climate destiny—diminishing reliance on regional, state, and federal governments whose interests and timelines for action are not always swift. Time is of the essence; while cities comprise just 3% of the earth’s land, they account for 75% of global carbon emissions. The underground climate economy centers on three accelerating low-carbon technologies. ↳ Automated Waste Removal Cities from Stockholm to Singapore and London to Lisbon are eliminating curbside trash pickup. Instead, pneumatic tubes run below the streets, whisking away trash at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Last month, the Polo Towers in NYC's Harlem neighborhood operationalized the first U.S. system serving public housing. Its 4,000 residents no longer see garbage trucks or...rats. ↳ Sewer Heat Recovery Vancouver was the first North American city to recapture heat from wastewater sloshing through its sewers. Today, that system replaces natural gas and provides low-cost heating for space and water to over 6,000 apartments and 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use space. The system alters the economics of municipal waste treatment. While waste treatment is a cost center for nearly every North American city, in Vancouver's False Creek Neighborhood, where these systems operate, it's a revenue generator, providing a tax dividend to the local government. ↳ Networked Geothermal Energy Boise, Idaho, operates the oldest and most extensive geothermal system in the country, running warm water through a 20-mile network of pipes from a local aquifer to over 100 buildings in its downtown core. Bonus: the system melts sidewalk snow in winter, Other cities are taking action, including Framingham, Massachusetts, where Eversource Energy, New England's largest natural gas utility, built and operates the first networked geothermal system in America managed by a fossil fuel company. Go deeper into the Underground Climate eEonomy in our Supercool newsletter.

As cities race to reduce carbon emissions, going underground to tap clean energy sources, decarbonize day-to-day operations, and harden infrastructure for resilience to climate impacts is high on the agenda. In this podcast episode, host Josh Dorfman describes what we call "The Underground Climate Economy," now taking root beneath cities around the U.S. and across the globe. Josh shares insights into this key driver accelerating the low-carbon economy. He draws upon conversations and insights from guests during Supercool's first twenty episodes, including: ↳ David Miller, Former Mayor of Toronto and Managing Director at C40 Cities ↳ Gregor Robertson, Former Mayor of Vancouver and Special Envoy for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) ↳ Joakim Karlsson, CEO at Envac ↳ Tina Riley, Geothermal Coordinator at the City of Boise ↳ Lynn Mueller, Founder and Chairman of SHARC Energy ↳ Kathy Hannun, Founder & President of Dandelion Energy ↳ Stephanie Novak Pappas, Principal of Holabird Academy at Baltimore City Public Schools What emerges is a picture of how going underground to cut carbon emissions enables cities to modernize, prepare for the future, and enhance urban life for their residents above. Listen: https://lnkd.in/eRxJyNaA

This week's Supercool newsletter features a deep dive into Iowa's roots and rise to wind energy dominance. Iowa wind energy delivers economic benefits to farmers, towns and counties, and the overall Iowa economy. Today, the state ranks 12th for lowest energy costs. A big reason is the widespread growth of wind power. Iowa now generates enough wind energy to meet 77% of its own energy demand. That tracks with data from investment bank Lazard showing that wind energy has been the cheapest source of new energy generation in the U.S. for nearly a decade. Find the details and data here: https://lnkd.in/es4SEZDq

This week, we dive into the remarkable rise of Iowa as a wind energy powerhouse and the people who make it happen. In a state where 85% of the land is farmed and over 97% of farms are family-owned, making sure farmers get a fair shake from turbines installed on their property is a big deal. That's where Kathy Law steps in. Kathy was raised as an Iowa farmer and has been on farms her entire life. But in her mid-40s, she made a bold career move. She went to law school. When Kathy graduated and joined Nyemaster Goode, P.C., Iowa’s Largest Law Firm, she set herself on a trajectory to become one of the state's foremost wind energy dealmakers. A corporate lawyer who is also a farmer? That combination makes a ton of sense in a state hell-bent on farming all its resources, including the wind. The results of all this dealmaking? Iowa generated enough wind power between October 2023 and September 2024 to meet 77% of its energy demand. The state is accelerating toward the low-carbon future. Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/ejRYVBkQ

In the 1980s, a bi-partisan deal was struck in Iowa that would forever change the energy landscape. Signed into law by Republican Governor Terry Branstad, it created a Renewable Energy Standard requiring the state’s two biggest utilities to buy or contract some of their power from renewable energy. A decade later, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and his U.S. Senate colleagues hammered out the Wind Energy Incentives Act, establishing the first-ever wind energy production tax credit in America. And then? Then wind energy in Iowa took off. Today, Iowa generates enough wind energy to meet 77% of its own electricity demand for its population of 3.2 million people. Some of that wind energy gets exported to neighboring states, like Wisconsin and Illinois. But most of it stays put. Which means Iowa’s grid consumes more wind energy as a percentage of total consumption than any other U.S. state. There are multiple economic benefits: 1️⃣ Farmers leasing land earn about $10,00-$15,000 per year per wind turbine. Those payments escalate annually. 2️⃣ Taxes from wind energy are the top source of revenue for many towns and counties, funding everything from fire stations to libraries to road repairs. In 2022, it amounted to $60 Million. 3️⃣ Iowa’s energy rates are now the 12th lowest in America. 4️⃣ 3,974 Iowans work in the wind industry. To understand the profound impact of wind energy in Iowa, this week on the podcast, we turn to the town of Newton. For a century, Newton proudly wore the title of “Washing Machine Capital of the World,” thanks to Maytag. But when the appliance giant shuttered its factory in 2007, it left behind a devastating economic void. In one stroke, the company town of 16,000 people lost 2,000 jobs. Then came the Great Recession, pushing Newton further into crisis. Times were so tough that Scott Pelley from "60 Minutes" turned up and ran a national story on Newton titled "Anger in the Heartland." But Newton came back—with wind. Mayor Chaz Allen led a relentless campaign to turn disaster into opportunity, recruiting TPI Composites, Inc. to manufacture wind turbine blades and Arcosa Inc. (formerly Trinity Structural Towers) to manufacture wind turbine towers, collectively creating hundreds of much-needed jobs. Wind energy alone didn't bring Newton all the way back from the brink, but the jobs that showed up starting in 2008 made a difference in a lot of people’s lives and their families’ lives too. Today, Chaz Allen is the Executive Director of the Iowa Utility Association. In this episode, Allen shares how Newton reinvented itself, diversifying its economy and laying the groundwork for 21st-century success. He also discusses the current state of Iowa's wind industry and how Iowans view it. And we hear from Kathy Law, a farmer-turned-corporate lawyer whose wind energy deals have empowered Iowa’s farmers and transformed local communities. Listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/ejRYVBkQ

How can climate marketing and communications stand out and rise above a "sea of same?" Even the most visionary climate entrepreneurs and established global brands need creative solutions-focused marketing communications to survive, thrive, and shape the future. This week's Supercool newsletter focuses on climate tech marketing. We cover how: 1. Jaguar’s approach to climate marketing is to blow up its brand foundation and heritage in exchange for something new as it prepares for an all-EV future. 2. GM embraced humor, turning to Will Ferrell to arouse consumer interest in the announcement that its lineup of electric vehicles was on the way. Will and company weren’t going to let Norway, the top country in the world for EV adoption, hold that title for long. 3. Volvo invested heavily in emotional storytelling to convey that though it's moving into an EV future, the brand will continue to put the safety of your most cherished loved ones first. Plus, we cover why most climate tech startups often miss the mark regarding marketing communications, why it matters, and what to do about it. Effective climate tech marketing enables companies to shape the low-carbon future. Gather more insights in the newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e3RFTyvQ

Marketing holds the key to many of today's climate challenges. Companies trying to break through and reach potential buyers with their world-changing, carbon-cutting solutions must separate from a "sea of same," says this week's podcast guest, Adam Malik, co-founder of Bloxspring. That's true whether touting new software that helps businesses cut costs and carbon or introducing carbon-negative building materials into the residential and commercial building industries, like Plantd, the company co-founded by host Josh Dorfman before starting Supercool. Even the most innovative climate tech startups face marketing challenges. By their very nature, startups are typically under-capitalized and under-resourced. To gain traction or raise capital, they must generate brand awareness, educate the market, and build trust with prospective customers that their products are world-class and that their company will be successful and well-capitalized to service and update products well into the future. But climate tech startups have an ace up their sleeve: a mission to help solve one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity: climate change. Communicated effectively, mission and vision —together with all the other brand attributes—can pierce through risk-averse corporate cultures and entrenched business practices to gain the ear of decision-makers. Creativity and effective communication are how climate tech startups compete. Not all do it; many don't prioritize it, but those who are bold tend to win or at least shift the odds further in their favor. Bloxspring, a "B2B marketing agency for visionary brands radically changing the future of our buildings, cities and planet," is betting on bold. Adam started Bloxspring in 2020 after a career in the marketing and advertising industry. Though colleagues advised him against starting a firm targeting industries known for resisting change, Adam and his co-founder, PJ Appleton, saw an opportunity. They also saw that concerns about climate would increasingly compel large companies to seek innovative solutions. So they set out to help those young companies get noticed and grow, to play bigger and stand out. Headquartered in the UK, Bloxspring works with clients on both sides of the Atlantic, which gives Adam an interesting lens on how these markets are developing, their similarities and differences, and why now is the moment for bold marketing in the world of climate tech. Listen to the episode: https://lnkd.in/eRxJyNaA

What's the plan to bring clean, renewable energy to the 2 billion people in countries with unreliable or no energy grids? d.light was founded out of Stanford in 2007 with a mission to figure it out. Today, the company is the largest home solar provider in the world, powering 30 million homes and impacting over 180 million lives. Now, the target is to light up the lives of 1 billion people across Africa, India, and beyond with solar power by 2030. The company's co-founder & CEO, Nedjip Tozun, joins Supercool CEO and host Josh Dorfman to share the d.light playbook for bringing affordable renewable energy to many of the most remote, rural communities on earth. Listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/eRxJyNaA Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/g99RifC2