37 min
Renovation to Regulation: Charting a Course for Sustainable Innovation The Propcast
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- Technology
In this week’s episode of the Propcast, Louisa is joined by Emanuel Heisenberg, CEO and Founder of EcoWorks, and Mauricio Weiss, GP and Founding Partner of Zacua Ventures where they discuss all things renovation, regulation and innovation.
With 40% of emissions being used on buildings and 20% on materials, the guests delve into the short- and long-term costs of going carbon neutral and whether it is a realistic goal with today’s current economic climate. The guests discuss how an increase in sustainability pressure, paired with geopolitical instability and labour scarcity are a handful of the challenges that accompany reaching net zero targets.
Emanuel shares how the EcoWork’s product can help tackle key issues around scarcity of labour and materials from factories, whilst Mauricio discusses the trends he has seen with his portfolio companies in terms of increasing their sales.
Companies mentioned
MIPIM
JLL Spark
Shoutouts
Vivin Hegde
Arnaud Bouzinac
Robert Habeck
Josh Levy, Document Crunch
Previous episodes mentioned
The evolution of global construction technologies
Episode Highlights
Regulation is actually pushing for a lot of technology adoption in terms of higher requirements, and these requirements just make the processes much more complex, right? - Mauricio
So they really tackle the 80 percent renewable energy goal for 2030 and they really decarbonize the heating system with good and aggressive regulations. - Emanuel
The construction sector invests 1 percent in R&D and the housing sector 0.1%. So, they will not bring any transformation towards affordability and decarbonization. - Emanuel
You do need regulators – to start pointing the marketing to the right direction, but you also want to keep competitiveness and ensure a free environment and a secure environment to make investments and to see the return of these investments. - Mauricio
Investors and a lot of stakeholders are questioning whether this is the right moment to be investing in technologies or an economic turn that will potentially slow down the piece of adoption for technology - Mauricio
Previous episodes mentioned
The Evolution Of Global Construction Technologies
Key Takeaways
The use of circular building materials in helping companies reach net zero targets
The need for common standards across Europe, as well as the challenges that this would bring due to difference in buildings and needs for each country
The need for regulators to be very close to investors in sharing short term and long-term goals of decarbonisation and technology adoption
How to position certain aspects of ESG to pitch to create sustainable competitive advantage for that company without changing the core of your business
Emmanuel shares some advice about the German market for founders looking to expand
The lack of construction companies in Germany
About our guests
Emanuel Heisenberg
Emanuel Heisenberg studied history and economics in Munich and Cambridge. He has over 15 years of experience in setting up and developing companies for renewable energies and ESCO and has contributed to more than 50 energy projects. His international network includes numerous funds, utility companies, IPPs, entrepreneurs, and research institutions. After founding a contracting and geothermal energy company, he established ecoworks in 2019, introducing the concept of serial renovation to Germany. An initial pilot project in Hameln proved challenging but was also a significant success. The renovated buildings there have demonstrably achieved NetZero levels. In addition to his role as CEO and founder, he is also active as a speaker and expert in energy and climate policy, advising the German federal government, companies, and private equity funds
In this week’s episode of the Propcast, Louisa is joined by Emanuel Heisenberg, CEO and Founder of EcoWorks, and Mauricio Weiss, GP and Founding Partner of Zacua Ventures where they discuss all things renovation, regulation and innovation.
With 40% of emissions being used on buildings and 20% on materials, the guests delve into the short- and long-term costs of going carbon neutral and whether it is a realistic goal with today’s current economic climate. The guests discuss how an increase in sustainability pressure, paired with geopolitical instability and labour scarcity are a handful of the challenges that accompany reaching net zero targets.
Emanuel shares how the EcoWork’s product can help tackle key issues around scarcity of labour and materials from factories, whilst Mauricio discusses the trends he has seen with his portfolio companies in terms of increasing their sales.
Companies mentioned
MIPIM
JLL Spark
Shoutouts
Vivin Hegde
Arnaud Bouzinac
Robert Habeck
Josh Levy, Document Crunch
Previous episodes mentioned
The evolution of global construction technologies
Episode Highlights
Regulation is actually pushing for a lot of technology adoption in terms of higher requirements, and these requirements just make the processes much more complex, right? - Mauricio
So they really tackle the 80 percent renewable energy goal for 2030 and they really decarbonize the heating system with good and aggressive regulations. - Emanuel
The construction sector invests 1 percent in R&D and the housing sector 0.1%. So, they will not bring any transformation towards affordability and decarbonization. - Emanuel
You do need regulators – to start pointing the marketing to the right direction, but you also want to keep competitiveness and ensure a free environment and a secure environment to make investments and to see the return of these investments. - Mauricio
Investors and a lot of stakeholders are questioning whether this is the right moment to be investing in technologies or an economic turn that will potentially slow down the piece of adoption for technology - Mauricio
Previous episodes mentioned
The Evolution Of Global Construction Technologies
Key Takeaways
The use of circular building materials in helping companies reach net zero targets
The need for common standards across Europe, as well as the challenges that this would bring due to difference in buildings and needs for each country
The need for regulators to be very close to investors in sharing short term and long-term goals of decarbonisation and technology adoption
How to position certain aspects of ESG to pitch to create sustainable competitive advantage for that company without changing the core of your business
Emmanuel shares some advice about the German market for founders looking to expand
The lack of construction companies in Germany
About our guests
Emanuel Heisenberg
Emanuel Heisenberg studied history and economics in Munich and Cambridge. He has over 15 years of experience in setting up and developing companies for renewable energies and ESCO and has contributed to more than 50 energy projects. His international network includes numerous funds, utility companies, IPPs, entrepreneurs, and research institutions. After founding a contracting and geothermal energy company, he established ecoworks in 2019, introducing the concept of serial renovation to Germany. An initial pilot project in Hameln proved challenging but was also a significant success. The renovated buildings there have demonstrably achieved NetZero levels. In addition to his role as CEO and founder, he is also active as a speaker and expert in energy and climate policy, advising the German federal government, companies, and private equity funds
37 min