WexEnergy bills itself as a climatetech/cleantech company.
Its first product, WindowSkin, is a low-cost window retrofit that reduces operating expenses for building owners by improving the energy efficiency of aging windows, the most porous component of a building’s structure.
WindowSkin potentially improves comfort for building occupants, lowers energy bills for ownership and reduces carbon emissions for communities.
There’s no construction, no tools, no disruption, CEO Rachel Rosen said. Soon, however, there might be a lot more promotion and marketing.
WexEnergy was recently announced as the winner of the $50,000 CleanTech Impact Challenge — a contest, sponsored by Public Service Enterprise Group and TechUnited New Jersey during the Propelify Innovation Festival earlier this month.
In addition to the $50,000 cash prize, the company will get a business mentorship. Rosen already is planning how the company can take advantage of the award.
“We plan to get the message out in New Jersey and raise awareness that WindowSkin is a solution that’s available today,” she told ROI-NJ. “And we hope to work with PSEG to identify some pilot opportunities and provide incentives to the building owners.”
Rosen said she feels her product edged out 58 other entries because it brings help to something everyone can easily identify: drafty windows.
The product certainly caught the idea of Ralph Izzo, the chair and CEO of PSEG, who served as one of the judges. The company, he said, aligns with PSEG’s vision.
“Through safe, reliable and increasingly sustainable energy, PSEG aims to improve the lives of every customer,” he said. “Together, the CleanTech Alliance, PSEG and TechUnited NJ can collaborate directly with New Jersey’s innovators to discover and enable technologies that promote sustainability and energy equity throughout every community we serve.
“This partnership helps promote innovation in energy and creates partnerships within the startup community that foster education, access, clean energy and equity for all of our customers. Congratulations to WexEnergy for their winning entry in the CleanTech Impact Challenge. I look forward to working more closely with their team of innovators in the future.”
The company, founded in 2014 by Ron Wexler, has one driving goal, Rosen said.
The company’s success is based on a steady stream of patented technologies designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the built environment, she said.
Driving all of this is a deep commitment to do something positive for the planet. By providing low-cost, easy-to-deploy, money-saving solutions that allow homeowners, businesses and institutions to reduce energy consumption, the WexEnergy team is contributing to a greener tomorrow.
Aaron Price, the CEO of TechUnited NJ and the founder of Propelify, said companies such as WexEnergy are vital to the future.
“TechUnited is really excited about having this technology here,” he said. “It addressed the issue of the future of the workforce, it addressed a practical solution, and it does so with energy efficiency in mind. We think it has a lot of promise.”