Scientific Conservation Inc. (SCI) — a San Francisco company that makes software to diagnose and help stop energy-wasting problems in commercial buildings — raised $15.6 million in a series B investment led by DFJ Growth Fund the companies announced today. DFJ Ventures and The Westly Group also joined the round, which brings the company’s total funding raised to $24.6 million.
SCI’s software-as-a-service specifically analyzes HVAC systems, refrigeration, lighting, controls and renewable energy sources within buildings to help their owner-managers manage them, consume less power, and cut annual energy expenditures. The company’s clients include Harley Davidson, 7-Eleven, Intel and Santa Clara County.
McGraw-Hill Construction’s Green Outlook 2011 report estimated that the U.S. non-residential green buildings market in 2010 rose to $43 billion at the low-end, or as much as $54 billion.
The trend should continue over the next five years, the report said, in part driven by public policy and law. As of September 2010, 12 federal agencies, 33 states and 384 local government programs put green building legislation or policies in place, requiring institutional buildings, like schools and court houses, to be green.