The True Cost of Decarbonizing our Homes with Manuel Schoenfeld, Founder & CEO of PowerX

In the United States, the average household spends around $4200 a year on energy costs. How can we reduce this burden by building more efficient homes? We ask Manuel about how PowerX is helping consumers save costs and resources, how he attracted investments from the likes of Tesla and YCombinator, and more on today’s episode. 

About ManuelManuel Schoenfeld has been the founding CEO of PowerX since 2019. He was previously a project manager at McKinsey, and consultant at the World Bank, where he advised on innovative energy solutions.  He was a McCloy Scholar at Harvard University, a Van Beek Scholar at the Wharton Business School, and graduated from the Rotterdam School of Management with the highest grade average in history.

In this episode we discuss:

03:45 The problem with the continued use of energy inefficient resources

05:57 The importance of more information

07:44 Legislation and energy conservation

09:41 Cost and financial incentives making change easier

10:58 Why haven’t builders adapted to building energy efficient homes from scratch

12:22 Push and pull strategies between customers and builders

13:12 When the US could become net zero 

15:58 How the pandemic has affected this problem

19:33 The origins and the mission of PowerX

23:59 How PowerX is keeping costs low

30:37 The recommendation algorithm of PowerX

33:34 PowerX’s Kickstarter campaign

35:28 Plans for growth over the next year

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