Posted by Janet B. Stroud — August 22, 2024 — Carbon Reform, a pioneering climate tech startup headquartered in Philadelphia, proudly cut the ribbon recently for their pilot Carbon Capsule unit at Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE). This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing collaboration between the two companies, aimed at exploring the potential of Carbon Reform’s technology to significantly reduce energy consumption and building emissions while improving indoor air quality (IAQ).
Carbon Capsule retrofit device scrubs building CO2, VOCs, particulates and pathogens. Image courtesy of Carbon Reform
The Carbon Capsule, an innovative retrofit carbon removal system, permanently captures carbon dioxide (CO₂) while effectively filtering volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pathogens and particulates from indoor air. This approach delivers a triple benefit: enhancing air quality for occupants, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and lowering energy costs.
Jo Norris, CEO & co-founder at Carbon Reform, stated:
We’ve seen extremely promising results of up to 50% cooling load reduction at our Philly site where we have the V1 Carbon Capsule demonstration…we’re looking forward to implementing a control sequence to show similar results, with the support of the facilities team.
Click to view video mid-page. Image courtesy of Carbon Reform
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony, held at BGE’s Spring Gardens facility in Baltimore, featured remarks from Jo Norris, CEO & co-founder of Carbon Reform, on the culmination of events that have led to this pilot:
Years of research, countless prototypes, hundreds of hours spent with investors, customers, and partners. Many mistakes, lessons learned, and courses corrected. An evolving, dynamic, hardworking, and exceptionally brilliant team who teach us something new every day about leadership, creativity, and collaboration. All of this has brought us to now, with not only this pilot installation, but an entire line of products, almost all commercially ready, multiple patents filed, two state-of-the-art facilities, and national recognition as an upcoming leader in this space.
The pilot installation helps facilitate BGE’s Path to Clean, aiming to cut their own operational emissions by at least 50% by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. At the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Conference preceding the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Ed Hirsch, manager of Strategic Programs at BGE, discussed the motivation for adopting the Carbon Capsule:
For me, it was about the energy efficiency, the energy cost savings, as well as the carbon capture. But… From a leadership standpoint, it really keyed into the air cleanliness, the employee health and safety benefits that the carbon capture offers, as well as the productivity benefits of having that low carbon dioxide in our facilities.
Hirsch also discussed how Carbon Reform’s preferred business model, hardware as a service, is promising for their expansion after the pilot stage:
As a regulated entity, it’s hard for a utility to spend capital on anything other than energy, so the leasing model really works for us and it really will allow us … to pass the pilot stage of this technology in our public facilities.
Scheduled to conclude in March 2025 and be replaced by a developing commercial partnership, the pilot project promises to deliver invaluable data on energy savings and environmental impact, shaping the future trajectory of clean air solutions. By leveraging the combined expertise of Carbon Reform and BGE, this collaboration sets a compelling precedent for the seamless integration of innovative technologies into mainstream sustainability practices.
Find out more about Carbon Capsule at Carbon Reform.
