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00:00JOINING ME NOW IS THE CEO OF BLOCK POWER AND THE WAY YOU POINTED -- PUT IT IS YOU ARE TRYING TO TURNED BUILDINGS INTO TESLAS. HOW DOES THE TECHNOLOGY WORK? > > BUILDINGS BURN FOSSIL FUELS FOR HEATING, COOLING, HOT WATER. THAT IS WHAT TESLA HAS TAKEN THE FOSSIL FUELS AND REPLACE IT WITH ELECTRICITY. WE CAN TAKE THAT FOSSIL FUEL, HEATING, COOLING, AND HOT WATER EQUIPMENT, OUT OF BUILDINGS AND REPLACE IT WITH 100% ELECTRIC, CLEAN, GREEN, SMART HARDWARE AND EQUIPMENT THAT USES ELECTRICITY TO PROVIDE HEATING, COOLING, AND HOT WATER, SO WE CAN TOTALLY ELECTRIFY AND DECARBONIZE BUILDINGS. EMILY: YOU JUST RAISED $30 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING. HOW DO YOU PLAN TO SPEND THAT MONEY AND MAKE THIS UNSUSTAINABLE PROPOSITION FOR HOMEOWNERS? DONNEL: WE ARE GOING TO GO BUILDING TO BUILDING ACROSS AMERICA. THERE ARE 125 MILLION BUILDINGS AROUND THAT ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE NEED TO DECARBONIZE ALL OF THEM BECAUSE THEY REPRESENT 30% OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN THE U.S. WE KNOW WE HAVE TO DECARBONIZE BUILDINGS TO REACH OUR CLIMATE GOAL AND SO WE USE MACHINE LEARNING, STATISTICAL MODELING, THE LATEST AND GREATEST TECH OF SILICON VALLEY. WE BORROW MONEY FROM WALL STREET. WE PURCHASE THE CLEAN ENERGY EQUIPMENT. WE LOAN IT OR LEASE THE EQUIPMENT TO BUILDING OWNERS, SO THAT THEY CAN AFFORD IT. YOU LEASE TO THEM OVER TIME. WE SAVE EACH AND EVERY BUILDING OWNER MONEY AND THEY REPAY US OUT OF THE SAVINGS GENERATED BECAUSE OUR SYSTEMS MAKE BUILDINGS MORE EFFICIENT AND PROFITABLE. THEY GENERATE SAVINGS SO BUILDING OWNERS CAN PREPAY US FOR UPGRADING THE CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEM. EMILY: I HAVE TO ASK ABOUT THE DEVASTATING FIRE THAT KILLED 17 PEOPLE. THE THOUGHT WITH THAT SPACE HEATER WAS LEFT ON FOR DAYS, PERHAPS BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH HEAT TO KEEP THE ENTIRE BUILDING. COULD YOUR WORK HELP ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THIS SUPPLEMENTAL HEAT THAT WE KNOW CAN CAUSE FIRES? DONNEL: YEAH, THAT BUILDING FIRE WAS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY. OUR HEART GOES OUT TO EVERYONE WHO WAS IMPACTED. THE BUILDING HAD A BUNCH OF COMPLAINTS GEARED A LOT OF TENANTS AND RESIDENTS CALLED THE GOVERNMENT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT A LACK OF THESE. THAT IS WHY THEY NEEDED SUPPLEMENTAL HEAT BUT UNFORTUNATELY, IN BUILDINGS ACROSS THE BRONX AND AMERICA, THE ENERGY SYSTEMS ARE OLD, INEFFICIENT, OUTDATED, UNHEALTHY, AND IN TOO MANY BUILDINGS, ENERGY SYSTEMS ARE DEATH TRAPS. THERE UNHEALTHY AND DANGEROUS AND YOU WILL SEE THE KIND OF DANGEROUS AND UNHEALTHY IMPACT WE SEE HERE. I GREW UP IN A BUILDING LIKE THIS, IN A LOW INCOME COMMUNITY IN BROOKLYN WHEN IT WAS LOW INCOME IN THE 80 ' S. WE DIDN ' T HAVE A FUNCTIONING HEATING SYSTEM AT ALL AND WE WOULD HEAT OUR APARTMENT BY TURNING ON THE OVEN AND OPENING THE OVEN DOOR AND LETTING THE HEAT FROM THE OVEN HEAT OUR APARTMENT. WE WOULD OPEN UP THE WINDOW TO RELEASE CARBON MONOXIDE AND ALL OF THE TOXINS THAT WERE COMING OUT OF THE OVEN. IT IS FAR TOO MANY BUILDINGS ACROSS AMERICA. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE OLD, ANTIQUATED, INEFFICIENT SYSTEMS AND THEY ARE DANGEROUS. WE THINK BY UPGRADING THESE BUILDINGS, THE MODERN TECHNOLOGY , IS 2022. WE SHOULDN ' T BE USING IT. HEATERS TO THE BUILDINGS. . WE SHOULD USE MODERN, CUTTING-EDGE, CLOUD CONNECTED, HIGH-EFFICIENCY ELECTRIC DEVICES. EMILY: YOU ALSO TEAMED UP WITH THE CITY OF NEW YORK TO CREATE MORE THAN 1000 JOBS IN GREEN ENERGY, HIRING AT RISK WORKERS. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN AND TALK TO US ABOUT HOW THE INITIATIVE WILL WORK? DONNEL: AS PART OF THE COVID RESPONSE, THE WHITE HOUSE ALLOWED CITIES TO USE COVID RESPONSE DOLLARS TO ACTUALLY TRAIN AND HIRE FOLKS FROM HIGH CRIME COMMUNITIES TO DO GREEN CONSTRUCTION WORK, TO BE TRAINED, EMPLOYED, GO BUILDING TO BUILDING, TO INSTALL INTERNET ANTENNA, TO CLOSE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, SO THEIR CHILDREN CAN LEARN REMOTELY. THEY INSTALLED SOLAR PANELS TO DECARBONIZE THEY HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS. WE HAVE CREATED THIS CIVILIAN CLIMATE CORP BY HIRING 500S ADULTS FROM A HIGH CRIME COMMUNITIES IN NEW YORK CITY ' S, THE BRONX AND HARLEM AND JAMAICA, QUEENS, AND BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN. WE TRAIN THEM TO GO BUILDING TO

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2021 Was the 6th Hottest Year on Record

Blocpower CEO Donnel Baird joins Emily Chang to talk about how his organization will use the $30 million funding it received from Microsoft’s Innovation Fund. He also shares about his experience working to try 'green' cities by modernizing heating and cooling systems to make buildings more energy-efficient. (Source: Bloomberg)

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