concept e
Many companies strive to become more sustainable and crisis-proof by reducing their ecological footprint and using less grid energy. The software solution from concept e creates a concept for them that enables the switch to an ecologically and economically optimized, holistically designed energy system.
It is the starting point for the long-term reduction of energy costs and CO2 emissions for customers.
concept e presents a high-performance software that is easy to use and enables the careful planning of an optimized energy system.
Utilizing synergy effects in the energy circuits
The software enables a holistic design by taking electricity, heating and cooling into account simultaneously. This comprehensive approach helps to exploit the synergy effects between the individual energy circuits and thus save costs and energy. Conventional energy system designs usually neglect these effects and consider the three energies individually. This means that they neglect important savings potential. concept e uses this potential and finds the best individual solution for its customers with holistic system optimization.
Machine learning for optimal clustering
The individualization of the results is made possible by specific input data. For this purpose, the customer's consumption load profiles (e.g. seasonal electricity or heat consumption) are expanded as required. This results in individual load profiles based on the given location and operating factors. concept e uses machine learning to aggregate the input data. This clustering provides a realistic representation of the input data in which the results of the energy system optimization continue to ensure an optimal solution.
The software also optimizes according to several different target functions. This approach enables efficient optimization, taking into account various aspects such as the net present value and CO2 emissions.
How did you get together as a team?
The concept e team consists of two founders: Joel Rogawski, Marie Ossenkopf and Pia Hildebrandt. The team combines expertise in software development, AI, mechanical engineering, energy technology and sustainability consulting.
Pia Hildebrandt is an industrial engineer with a degree in mechanical engineering (B.Sc. RWTH) and additional training as a full-stack developer, making her the ideal person to design highly complex system optimizations in terms of information technology and implement them in user-oriented software solutions. Thanks to her experience as a software developer at BOSCH, she has valuable insights into the industry and its requirements for software solutions. Pia is proficient in a broad portfolio of programming languages, including Python, Matlab, JavaScript, C#, HTML and CSS.
Joel Rogawski is an industrial engineer in energy technology (M.Sc. RWTH), has developed the optimization on which the concept e model is based in his master's thesis and is determined to implement sustainable solutions in the field of climate protection. He has gained practical experience with energy systems at ZWi Technologies, where he was able to analyze, evaluate and optimize the existing energy system as part of his master's thesis. Implementation of the energy system developed for the company in this context is already planned for fall 2024.
Marie Ossenkopf holds a degree in mechanical engineering (B.Sc. RWTH) and automation technology (M.Sc. RWTH), a doctorate in computer science on the subject of artificial intelligence and practical experience in management consulting on sustainability and CO2 emissions, providing her with an extremely high level of cross-sectional knowledge to ensure that the software solution developed meshes perfectly with practical customer needs. Her in-depth knowledge of machine learning algorithms enables the mathematical optimization to be further developed. At the same time, Marie is able to communicate complex technical contexts in a way that is easy to understand, even for non-experts, so that she can create a basis of trust among customers in the solutions offered.
What has Gateway ESC helped you with?
Our company has benefited enormously from Gateway. Thanks to the excellent coaching, we received valuable support in developing our business strategy and optimizing our processes.
The networking opportunities gave us access to important contacts and potential partners, which significantly expanded our network. We also received expert support with funding applications, which helped us to obtain financial support for our projects.
Last but not least, we were connected with investors through the Gateway, which opened up new opportunities for us to finance our business goals. Due to this broad range of support and our positive experiences, we definitely would recommend the Gateway to any founder.