Atlanta startup Joulea helps building owners lower carbon emissions

The built environment has an emissions problem. Around 37% of combustion-related emissions come from the construction and operation of buildings, according to McKinsey & Co. 

Atlanta startup founder Ramtin Motahar is trying to be part of the solution. His company, Joulea, has pioneered a software platform that helps building owners to lower and track their carbon emissions, optimize their building system's performance and reduce their energy costs. 

What led you to your career? I went to Georgia Tech for undergrad. I was a double major in economics and industrial engineering. After graduating, I went into the world of commercial real estate development. After working within the industry for a couple of years, I started seeing that buildings could be built better. I started seeing there were academic processes about designing building better. From the beginning to the end, there's room for improvement. I was thinking about this more deeply. I realized we could take gleanings from the aerospace industry to help real estate become more efficient. So I went to get my master's in aerospace engineering. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job? Having a team of people who are very excited about they're working on, and how to learn how to be comprehensive in addressing how buildings can reduce their energy usage. But also seeing the client, the building manager or asset manager, [understanding] what you show them. You notice that they're really appreciating seeing this new light, that there are parts of their building or parts of their portfolio where they can reduce their energy usage. 

What is the biggest challenge in your position? We have computer scientists working on computer models to find anomalies on the building envelope, and others doing data analytics to find anomalies inside of the building, as far as how the HVAC and the lighting system are working. Sometimes parlaying this to the ownership group — so that they understand what you're showing them — takes a bit of time. You have to figure out the best way to be empathetic to help someone understand this. 

What is the hardest business lesson you’ve had to learn? I think the main thing would be what it means to self-fund a technology company like Joulea. I learned from having done real estate development projects myself where I had to create a budget and still try to account for being overtime and over-budget.

What are you reading or watching? I read trade publications and academic journals, and sometimes books about startups and companies. I'm also reading the Lord of the Rings for the third time. I like to read a few books at the same time. I also tend to watch baseball during baseball season. It helps me relax.

What led you to working within the built environment? I’ve always had a fascination with buildings. My father would give me books on skyscrapers. But I didn't necessarily think of being an architect because I'm not good with drawing. My handwriting is bad, too. That's essentially what brought me to this arena of real estate. It was interesting to me.

At any point within the last five years, have you felt like it's become easier to explain what you're doing and why you're doing it, given the increased attention the industry is paying toward sustainability and energy efficiency? Efficiency has gotten more attention. Even during Covid, the attention sparked up even more. There are a few things happening with office buildings. Some of them are being repurposed into residential. But those office buildings that are trying to get tenants to come back, they're having to do two things. They have to have amenities. Secondly, given that many large tenants are Fortune 1,000 companies, they're more than likely publicly traded, they want to reduce the amount of emissions from their general operations within the company. If the building is energy efficient, then that really helps a tenant to win their employees' approval, and help with their emission reporting. 

What are your goals for growth within the next year? We have a team of about 25 people. And from there, I would really like to more than double that, as we add more more buildings and [work with] more building owners throughout the United States. That's definitely our goal for the end of 2024.

Ramtin Motahar

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' / We are not now that strength which in old days / Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; / One equal temper of heroic hearts, / Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will / To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. — Ulysses, James Joyce