6 startups working to make our buildings more sustainable

Ventures in the inaugural cohort of the Mission from MaRS: Better Buildings Adoption Accelerator are scaling novel solutions that could dramatically reduce carbon emissions.

Canada is in a housing crisis. It’s estimated the country will need to build 1.3 million homes by the end of this decade. But current construction methods exact a heavy toll on the planet. Steel, concrete, bricks and other common building materials are carbon-intensive to produce. Then, once construction is finished, there’s the on-going energy demands of heating and cooling our buildings to contend with. In fact, the building and construction industry accounts for 37 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. “It’s a sector that’s ripe for reconstruction,” says Ria Perrault, who is heading up Mission from MaRS: Better Buildings, an initiative that is working to help startups commercialize solutions that will make our built environment more sustainable.

To help speed up the adoption of some of the most promising technologies — everything from nanocoatings to mass timber — MaRS has launched the Mission from MaRS: Better Buildings Adoption Accelerator. Over the year-long program, the six ventures selected for the first cohort will receive critical supports, including tailored advisory, market insights, connections to capital, mentorship, networking and marketing. And because deployment is such a critical step in the commercialization process, the MaRS team “will be working to find pilot and commercial deployment opportunities and providing ventures with a $10,000 grant to act on them/make them a reality,” says Perrault. “If these technologies scale, we could substantially lower carbon emissions — and we’ll be better prepared for a climate future that we know is coming.”

Meet the six startups working to redesign the world we live in.

Adaptis Technologies

More than a quarter of waste globally is generated through construction and demolition. Sheida Shahi and her team at Toronto-based Adaptis are working to reduce that colossal amount of refuse through its AI platform that helps building owners and operators improve energy efficiency while lowering operating expenses. Growing out of research conducted at the University of Waterloo, its technology can be used at all stages of a structure’s life — from acquisition to demolition. Through its holistic life-cycle assessments, Adaptis can identify thousands of design and retrofit options ranging from walls and windows to HVAC systems and even existing building materials that can be reused or salvaged. The startup can also help building managers qualify and apply for industry environmental certification, and provide recommendations for reducing Scope 1-3 emissions and reporting.

Cence Power

The world runs on Alternating Current (AC) power. But the majority of gadgets, including energy efficient devices like LEDs, run on Direct Current (DC) power. That means those eco-friendly lights become less sustainable as they lose heat energy converting the AC power it receives into the DC power it needs. Markam’s Cence Power has developed power adaptor hubs that can plug into any existing electrical panel, converting power to DC on the spot, rather than putting the burden on devices. Engineered to transmit power over longer distances using less copper, Cence Power’s systems can reduce operational energy consumption by upward of 40 percent, says CEO Bolis Ibrahim. The company’s low-voltage devices can be used in homes, offices and stores, while its higher-voltage models are designed for telecom, data centres and indoor lighting applications.

Evercloak

Keeping cool comes at a cost: Air conditioning accounts for a tenth of global electricity consumption, and that figure is set to skyrocket over the coming decades as more people look for respite from rising temperatures. A spin-out of the University of Waterloo, Kitchener-based Evercloak is working on a tiny solution that could have an outsized effect on the efficiency of cooling units. Founder Evelyn Allen and her team have created specialized membranes — thinner than a strand of hair — that can be applied to existing HVAC systems. This system filters out humidity before it reaches the A/C unit, making it much more efficient to cool down a space. In turn, this can double a building’s efficiency, Allen says. In 2025, Evercloak’s tech will be put to the test at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado.

Intelligent City

When you picture dense, urban areas, visions of concrete and steel come to mind. Intelligent City is taking a different approach. This Vancouver-based startup’s material of choice is mass timber: thick, compressed layers of wood suitable for large-scale projects. The company works with clients from the initial design phase to the final stage of construction, streamlining the process with software automation, modular designs and robotic manufacturing. By pre-fabricating its mass timber components off-site, Intelligent City can cut construction times in half and lower costs by 20 percent, says CEO Oliver Lang. “By bridging the gap between scalability and customization, we can significantly increase the production and affordability of housing,” he told Forbes magazine earlier this year. In 2020, the National Building Code of Canada updated regulations, allowing mass timber to be used in buildings upward of 12 storeys. In Ontario and B.C. that permit has been upped to 18 storeys. The company is working on several projects across the country, including two multi-storey mass timber rental buildings in Toronto and a mixed-use development in Vancouver.

NxLite

Windows are one of the biggest culprits for a building’s energy loss. It’s the first place cooling escapes during sweltering summer heat, and where heating is lost on a cold winter day. Toronto’s NxLite has crafted a transparent, lightweight nanocoating that can be slid into existing window frames. This means building operators can save upward of 40 percent on energy bills, and lower a building’s carbon footprint by as much as 30 percent, says CEO David Mather. Its nanocoating can also be used on passenger and industrial vehicles, as well as industrial refrigerator windows to improve insulation. Having completed a Beta pilot project and modelled two large commercial projects, Mather and his team are now looking to establish a commercial pilot.

Tinybox

Tinybox, with operations in Toronto and Montreal, is developing a system to massively speed up construction — on a small scale. Its modular tiny home kits that can be assembled in as little as 48 hours. The company’s net-zero, self-reliant units feature a solar roof, ultra-insulated walls, a closed-loop shower system and a bioreactor toilet — meaning there’s no need for a septic tank or hydro grid hookup, says co-founder Pooya Saberi. While the homes have a small footprint — modules start from around 106 square feet — the ceiling heights are over 8 feet high, and are decked out with multi-purpose furniture for maximum space efficiency, whether it’s being used as a backyard office or off-grid cabin. In 2025, Tinybox plans to set up more than 15 units, including an off-grid resort in P.E.I., a four-unit cottage in Costa Rica and housing for a new city in Texas.

Learn more about how Mission from MaRS is building a better construction industry.

The Better Buildings initiative is made possible by the Peter Gilgan Foundation. The initiative is also supported by RBC Foundation and donors to the Mission from MaRS Leadership Fund.

Photo illustration: Stephen Gregory; Photos: Unsplash