Meet the man 'turning buildings into Teslas' and making back and brown communities energy efficient

Record ID: 1625558

  • Title: Meet the man 'turning buildings into Teslas' and making back and brown communities energy efficient
  • Date: 8th July 2021
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 18, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND FOUNDER, BLOCPOWER, DONNEL BAIRD, SAYING: "Black and brown people care a lot about clean energy. We are also worried about financial gimmicks. The greatest loss of black wealth in American history occurred in 2009 in the real estate collapse when all of the homes that black and brown people had worked so hard to buy were lost in the subprime mortgage crisis. And so now when you approach black and brown communities talking about, hey, I have this new financial tool, people like, oh, this kind of looks and feels like the subprime mortgage crisis. So, the challenge isn't done black and brown people want clean energy? We do. We learned that from (President Barack) Obama, we understand that our communities have the most pollution. We have the most lead. Our buildings have asbestos. None of that is good for our health and our kids' health. We want clean energy. We want the jobs that come from clean energy. The question is, can we build that trust with black and brown communities and say we're going to come into your building and do something that's good for you and you can have a 15-year financial relationship with us and we're not going to screw you over. So that's the hard part." BAIRD EXPLAINING SYSTEM (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND FOUNDER, BLOCPOWER, DONNEL BAIRD, SAYING: "It has two parts, right? There's an indoor part, what you guys filmed, and then there's the outdoor part. So, it's sucking in some of that air, right? And as the air kind of gets sucked in, it flows through here. It gets heated, it gets hotter and hotter and hotter than it goes inside. So, you have air coming in, air going out." (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND FOUNDER, BLOCPOWER, DONNEL BAIRD, SAYING: "This building had oil, fossil fuel-based heating and cooling hot water systems. We're taking that out and we're putting in a smart, modern, all-electric heating system and cooling system that you can operate from your smartphone. That's going to reduce this building's greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent. And it's going to save this building owner, you know, tens of thousands of dollars a year on lowering their energy bill. So that's what we do, we build software to analyze and finance and project manage these projects. And if folks don't have their own capital, then we lend them capital to pay for the construction workers and the equipment and then they pay us back over 10 to 15 years. So, this is how we hope to introduce clean energy equipment to black and brown communities across the country." VARIOUS OF WORKERS INSTALLING UNIT INSIDE HOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND FOUNDER, BLOCPOWER, DONNEL BAIRD, SAYING: "We've developed a partnership with Daikin, this Japanese manufacturer, to train women, minority-owned construction firms, like the firm that we saw today. They were trained by Daikin on how to install Daikin systems in Queens a couple of miles away. And that's one of the ways that we're having veterans, women, minority-owned businesses, partner with this Japanese manufacturer to install these systems. These systems are 100 percent clean, 100 percent green, 100 percent all-electric. And this is what lets you turn your building into a Tesla." BAIRD LOOKING AT AN ALTERNATIVE POWER UNIT (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND FOUNDER, BLOCPOWER, DONNEL BAIRD, SAYING: (ON BEING A BLACK PERSON IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRY) "No, it's terrible, I mean, it's, you know, being a, being a woman or a person of color and being a founder of a business of any kind is not easy. Trying to start a technology company is not easy. Only three percent of capital from venture capitalists in Silicon Valley went to women and minorities and people of color. So, three percent, right? But even worse, people who donate money from their foundations for climate change activism, people who donate to environmental organizations, donate a lower percentage of money to people of color than even the private sector venture capitalists. So, they're at three percent, and the private sector in the philanthropic sector, it's like two percent or 1.7 seven percent. So, it's even worse being a person of color in the environmental movement." SYSTEM CONNECTED TO HOME, BARID TALKING TO WORKER (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND FOUNDER, BLOCPOWER, DONNEL BAIRD, SAYING: "We get to solve the climate crisis and we get to make black and brown communities and low-income white communities healthier, greener and wealthier. So that's what block power is about. And that's what I'm about." EXTERIOR OF HOME
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2021 18:10
  • Keywords: african american black blocpower clean enery electric environment fossil fuels power wealth
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Pollution,Environment,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA007EKZD0SN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITOR'S NOTE: Reuters is featuring stories of Black individuals and organizations in the USA making a difference to their local communities. For more coverage, please see edit numbers 1203-NEW YORK-COMMUNITY FOOD BANK/ 3074-USA-BLACK MALE DANCER/ 4037-GLOBAL-RACE/FRANCE-BLACK-CHAMPAGNE/ 2082-USA-ALTERNATIVES TO POLICING/STREET OUTREACH / 3090-USA-ALTERNATIVES TO POLICING/GANG OUTREACH
    Donnel Barid is playing with color, hoping to turn black and brown communities into multiple forms of green.
    After seeing Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" in college and becoming a climate activist, Baird began his mission to tackle climate change and wealth disparities through his company BlocPower.
    Founded in 2014, Baird created a technology platform that could help small apartment buildings and other urban structures become energy efficient.
    "We're going to have to green 100 million buildings across America. Who gets those jobs? Who gets the wealth that gets created from that transition? And are we as people of color, are we going to be at the forefront of that or are we going to be like left behind? And so, I think, I think we should lead it," said Baird.
    The company hopes to go public in 7 years, with its ultimate goal being to reduce greenhouse gases by 30 percent.
    Barid explains BlocPower as it "turns buildings into Teslas."
    "We're putting in a smart, modern, all-electric heating system and cooling system that you can operate from your smartphone that's going to reduce this building's greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent,"
    And if customers don't have their own capital, the company lends them capital to pay for the construction workers and the equipment, and then they pay BlocPower back over 15-20 years.
    Currently, Father Rudolph Gonzalez, the pastor of St. Margret church in the south Bronx is financing their units through the company.
    "It has brought down our electrical costs and we don't have a boiler to deal with or oil to have delivered or what have you. So, we're very, very happy with it," said Father Gonzalez.
    The church would normally spend thousands of dollars a year on oil and was about to spend $90,000 (USD) to repair their boiler before deciding to transition to clean energy.
    "Nowadays when we're thinking about clean air and energy this is a wonderful option," said Father Gonzalez.
    Recently, the native New Yorker become the recipient of one of the largest early-stage funding rounds ever raised by a Black entrepreneur. BlocPower raised $63 million (USD) in debt and equity, with the help of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and other investors. The bulk of the money will go toward financing energy-efficient heating and cooling systems for BlocPower's clients.
    However, Baird said being a person of color in the tech/climate world can sometimes be "terrible."
    "Being a woman or a person of color and being a founder of a business of any kind is not easy," he explained."
    "People who donate money from their foundations for climate change activism, people who donate to environmental organizations, they donate a lower percentage of money to people of color than even the private sector venture capitalists. So, they're at three percent and the private sector in the philanthropic sector, it's like two percent or 1.7 seven percent."
    Another hurdle has been convincing minorities of the benefits of investing with his company after suffering during the 2009 mortgage crisis.
    "The challenge isn't do black and brown people want clean energy? We do. We learned that from (President Barack) Obama, we understand that our communities have the most pollution. We have the most lead. Our buildings have asbestos. None of that is good for our health and our kid's health. We want clean energy. We want the jobs that come from clean energy. The question is, can we build that trust with black and brown communities and say we're going to come into your building and do something that's good for you and you can have a 15-year financial relationship with us and we're not going to screw you over."
    In 2019 former President Bill Clinton toured the system BlocPower installed at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York, and praised Baird for the work his company is doing. Baird counts this moment as one of the highlights for the company, which received early support from the Clinton Foundation.
    "We get to solve the climate crisis and we get to make black and brown communities and low-income white communities healthier, greener and wealthier. So that's what block power is about. And that's what I'm about."
    (Production: Hussein Al Waalie, Alicia Powell)
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