In the United States, the average household spends around $4200 a year on energy costs. How can we reduce this burden by building more efficient homes? We ask Manuel about how PowerX is helping consumers save costs and resources, how he attracted investments from the likes of Tesla and YCombinator, and more on today’s episode.  About Manuel Manuel Schoenfeld has been the founding CEO of PowerX since 2019. He was previously a project manager at McKinsey, and consultant at the World Bank, where he advised on innovative energy solutions.  He was a McCloy Scholar at Harvard University, a Van Beek Scholar at the Wharton Business School, and graduated from the Rotterdam School of Management with the highest grade average in history. In this episode we discuss: 03:45 The problem with the continued use of energy inefficient resources 05:57 The importance of more information 07:44 Legislation and energy conservation 09:41 Cost and financial incentives making change easier 10:58 Why haven’t builders adapted to building energy efficient homes from scratch 12:22 Push and pull strategies between customers and builders 13:12 When the US could become net zero  15:58 How the pandemic has affected this problem 19:33 The origins and the mission of PowerX 23:59 How PowerX is keeping costs low 30:37 The recommendation algorithm of PowerX 33:34 PowerX’s Kickstarter campaign 35:28 Plans for growth over the next year Fast Favorites Podcasts Residential Tech Talks Newsletter/Blog Fortune Term Sheet CleanTechnica Tech Gadget BB8 New Trend Anything in the climate change arena Putting value on human relationships and physical interaction post-COVID Book Books on Quantum Physics Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here! Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency