Who are you?
Doug Lamm, CEO, Building Envelope Materials
What is your business?
We’re developing new technology for zero energy renovations of existing buildings.
What problem(s) are you/your business trying to help solve?
We’re savings customers 30 – 50% on their gas, oil or electric heating and air conditioning bills – in 1/10th the time and at 1/10th the cost of traditional “deep energy retrofit”.
Our process is minimally invasive and can usually be completed in one to two days.
We can eliminate ice dams and reduce heat loss from cathedral ceilings, dormer roofs and flat roofs.
Air quality testing has indicated that, unlike other insulation materials, our process generates virtually undetectable quantities of hazardous particulates.
How is your company changing the world?
In the US, buildings account for 40% of all CO2 emissions. We’re cutting building CO2 emissions in half.
Why do you like being a part of the bigger CI Works puzzle?
We love the diversity of companies at CI Works. If you need a sign painter, there’s a sign painter. If you need an electrical engineer, there’s an electrical engineer. If you need beer, there’s beer.
What do you hope your company’s next milestone will be?
We recently insulated an 88 unit apartment building and demonstrated 25% energy savings. We’re expecting to insulate a 130 unit affordable housing building shortly. We’re also expecting to insulate a municipal building in Amesbury. If we can show comparable savings in these buildings, we should have sufficient case studies to expand to municipal and institutional buildings nationwide.
What’s cool about your team?
Tom was a general contractor building sustainable homes (and built the MIT solar decathlon house). Patrick is a former dairy farmer and current mechanical engineer. Alex is one of the world’s leading experts on the use of foams for energy applications. Doug is a former geologist and glue salesman with a passion for reducing building energy use to zero.
What is your biggest fear?
Demand for our products outstrips our capacity to supply.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Building a diverse team with EXACTLY the right people for each position.
What is something most people don’t know about you/your brand?
We can triple the insulation value of existing buildings – even if are already insulated.
What advice do you have for other small businesses?
Get out of theory-land as soon as possible. Minimize time on analysis and modeling. Don’t over-plan sales and marketing. Start building and selling day 1. Replace analysis with iteration. Replace long term planning with daily improvement.