Building energy efficiency analytics provider FirstFuel Software raises $2.4M

FirstFuel Software, a provider of analytics software that tracks energy usage in commercial buildings, announced today it has raised $2.4 million from Battery Ventures in its first round of funding.

The company tracks energy usage in a building without installing energy-tracking devices like smart thermostats and plugs. Instead, the company tracks energy usage data from utilities and then combines it with weather data — such as how hot or cold it is near the building — to create an energy use profile for each building.

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“The software analyzes available utility and weather data to create profiles of how the building uses energy, and makes the efficiency recommendations off of that,” a FirstFuel Software spokesperson told VentureBeat. “Plus, they do deep analytics on the whole building’s energy consumption, which provides them a view of end-uses, such as:  lights, heating, cooling, plug loads and data centers.”

Those recommendations can include retrofitting the building with more insulation or more efficient lighting systems. FirstFuel Software makes all those recommendations without sending a professional out to the building to make an in-person assessment. The company carries out the entire process remotely through the Internet.

Rather than act as a consultant, the company licenses its software out to utility companies that are looking to remove some strain on the power grid. For example, retrofitting commercial buildings with better windows or insulation can reduce energy consumption from air conditioning units at peak load times — the hottest parts of the day, when everyone else is running an air conditioning unit.

FirstFuel Software was founded last year and is based in Waltham, Mass.