A company that retrofits homes to higher levels of energy efficiency has raised $18.2 million in a Series C round.
Boston-based Next Step Living is one of many companies that offers homeowners energy audits and then implements retrofits that increase energy efficiency.
Upgrades like insulation, replacing inefficient heating and cooling systems, and installing solar, save 20%-40% on utility bills.
But Next Step is aggressively pursuing this market like few others. Since 2008, it’s worked on over 25,000 homes and conducts about 1,600 audits a month, mostly in Massachusetts, which leads the country with programs that support energy efficiency.
This new funding will help Next Step expand into Connecticut, Maryland and other mid-Atlantic states.
It can cover so many homes because rather than doing the retrofits itself, Next Step brings in local contractors to deliver on energy audit recommendations.
Recently, Next Step worked with the City of Boston and the Mass Save program to upgrade more than 6,000 homes in the city under the Renew Boston initiative.
New investor VantagePoint Capital led the funding round, joined by existing investors Black Coral Capital and Mass Green Energy Fund.
“Next Step Living has established an important record of accomplishment in just a few short years,” says Lee Burrows, Managing Director at VantagePoint. “As consumers and businesses start to fully appreciate the economics of energy efficiency, we believe that the industry, and this company, holds the potential for impressive growth.”
Homes contribute about 22% of US greenhouse gases and they are getting more efficient. Under Obama’s Recovery Act, over a million homes across the US have been retrofitted since 2009.
Portland, Oregon is an example of a city that’s significantly cut emissions because of improved efficiency of homes and other buildings.
Last year 26% of all new single-family homes in the US met voluntary Energy Star standards and some of the biggest US home builders have pledged to build to those standards.
Green-certified homes and those that have solar, have higher sales prices than average similar homes.
Here’s Next Step Living’s website:
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