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Houston eco-focused materials startup launches initiative in Arizona

With a new partnership, NanoTech is hoping to help cool off Arizona. Photo via nanotechmaterials.com

Home to a persistent dry heat, Arizona is a prime market for energy-reducing tools and technologies — and one Houston company is jumping on the opportunity.

NanoTech Materials, which created the Cool Roof Coat that can extend a building's roof lifespan and reduce energy costs by seven to 15 percent, has announced a joint campaign with Cool Roof Coating Systems, a subsidiary of Tesson Roofing. Cool Roof Coating Systems will provide the installation of NanoTech's product, which is available nationwide.

"NanoTech products are designed to provide extraordinary heat rejection, and the team at Tesson is among the very best in the roof restoration market, which made a joint initiative in the extreme heat and intense Arizona sun a natural fit," Mike Francis, CEO and founder at NanoTech Materials, says in a news release. "As a direct-to-installer product, we rely on collaboration with highly qualified contractors. I am delighted at the founding of Cool Roof Coating Systems to bring a new level of sustainability to Arizona.

"Our vision at NanoTech is to transform sustainability in the built environment, starting with one of the biggest energy drains and sources of carbon emissions, one roof at a time," he adds.

The elastic, polymeric roof remediation solution is able to cut internal temperatures by 25°F to 30°F, which can be responsible for cutting carbon emissions by 76 tons annually in a 25,000-square-foot building, according to the company.

"Put simply, the heat-rejection performance of NanoTech Cool Roof Coat is so compelling that Tesson decided to form an Arizona-based company to tackle one of the hottest markets in the U.S. directly," Brett Tesson, president at Cool Roof Coating Systems, says in the release. "During my two decades in the roofing industry, NanoTech Cool Roof Coat is by far the most game-changing product for the roof restoration business because it allows us to coat, waterproof and protect, while adding unprecedented savings in HVAC cooling for our customers."

Last summer, NanoTech announced an oversubscribed funding round that brought onboard a handful of new investors. The details of the round were not disclosed, but the round was raised to help the company continue to roll out its product nationally.

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A View From HETI

Researchers have secured $3.3 million in funding to develop an AI-powered subsurface sensing system aimed at improving the safety and efficiency of underground power line installation. Photo via Getty Images

Researchers from the University of Houston — along with a Hawaiian company — have received $3.3 million in funding to explore artificial intelligence-backed subsurface sensing system for safe and efficient underground power line installation.

Houston's power lines are above ground, but studies show underground power is more reliable. Installing underground power lines is costly and disruptive, but the U.S. Department of Energy, in an effort to find a solution, has put $34 million into its new GOPHURRS program, which stands for Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security. The funding has been distributed across 12 projects in 11 states.

“Modernizing our nation’s power grid is essential to building a clean energy future that lowers energy costs for working Americans and strengthens our national security,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm says in a DOE press release.

UH and Hawaii-based Oceanit are behind one of the funded projects, entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Real-Time Advanced Look-Ahead Subsurface Sensor.”

The researchers are looking a developing a subsurface sensing system for underground power line installation, potentially using machine learning, electromagnetic resistivity well logging, and drone technology to predict and sense obstacles to installation.

Jiefu Chen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH, is a key collaborator on the project, focused on electromagnetic antennas installed on UAV and HDD drilling string. He's working with Yueqin Huang, assistant professor of information science technology, who leads the geophysical signal processing and Xuqing Wu, associate professor of computer information systems, responsible for integrating machine learning.

“Advanced subsurface sensing and characterization technologies are essential for the undergrounding of power lines,” says Chen in the release. “This initiative can enhance the grid's resilience against natural hazards such as wildfires and hurricanes.”

“If proven successful, our proposed look-ahead subsurface sensing system could significantly reduce the costs of horizontal directional drilling for installing underground utilities,” Chen continues. “Promoting HDD offers environmental advantages over traditional trenching methods and enhances the power grid’s resilience.”

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