connect people to each other by showing them how everyone's actions affect the greater environment in their area. We connect people to taking action, by telling them specifically what to change. We believe connecting individuals can fuel a movement of many to do what one person simply cannot. We are all participants. With our system we will all be involved.

DESIGN
What's your product?
Our product has print and web components. With print, on every household utility bill we place an "Environment Stamp". The stamp summarizes household usage of electricity, water and gas through time. The Environment Stamp is the viral mechanism to get people engaged with the website. The website is customized for each house and places household usage in context with a neighborhood. The website also has "Environment Widgets". A widget is a to-do item such as "Replace 5 light bulbs". A widget describes how to make the change and motivates action by showing estimated $ savings. People are overwhelmed with environmental information; our product puts it in simple terms.

How will your product or service reduce greenhouse gas emissions en masse?
The utility bill "Environment Stamp" is the viral mechanism to get people engaged with the web site. The stamp is our "trim-tab"; it is a small device placed in a position that can exert maximum leverage. Where else can we market our environmental ideas to an audience for free? In fact, utilities companies will pay us to do this marketing. Further, maximum leverage is achieved because of the repetition of the message (i.e. on every utility bill) and personalization of the message (i.e. it is about you). Everyone seeing the stamp collectively results in mindshare leading to larger effects. .

Our aim is to reduce emissions by changing individuals' behavior. Specifically, strategies for changing behavior include:

• Feedback – seeing the effect of your actions repeatedly, on every bill electric, water, and gas bill forever
• Participation - the more you participate online the more you care
• Knowledge – through technical (1 ton CO2) and non-technical terms (4 trees saved) explanations
• Ease of change – by letting people plan out their savings
• Campaigns of change – "Toronto - let's save enough energy to light up the C.N. Tower"
• Curiosity – By showing things in a neighborhood context people's curiosity will take over; they will ask, "How has my electric usage dropped compared to everyone else?" The environment is the one thing that can tie people together. We provide the forum to make that happen.

In our initial deployment we aim to reduce emissions by 1% in the first year, and 3-5% year round in 2-3 years. How will you measure that reduction? The basis of everything we do is tracking utility usage. For each household, over the entire utility company area, we will have this information (actual emission drops). How will you produce your product or service? We will build a sales/marketing team, and a software development team.

OUR MARKET
How much will consumers have to pay for it?
Nothing. In fact, our user research shows that $ savings will drive user behavior. We encourage this self- interest by showing $ savings prominently and over a 3 year period, which is a better time frame for planning. A new fridge looks cheaper today when 3 years of future savings are considered.

Who will buy it?
We will charge utility companies for it, and will charge them a fixed fee plus yearly maintenance.

How are you going to get them to buy it?
Utility companies have the resources and incentive to get involved. We help utility companies and governments promote environmental conservation. In 2006, state governments across the USA allocated $1.9 billion to utilities for conservation programs. Conservation programs typically provide rebates on technology (e.g. new light bulbs, fridges). However, government reports indicate the end-goal should not be short-term technology modification, but instead creating "a culture of conservation". Utility companies need a product that can tackle the problem of inspiring people to conserve in the first place – so they actually go out and buy new light bulbs or fridges.

FINANCIALS
Our immediate focus is on funding the Research and Development (R&D) phase (year 1). We are in the process of securing $200K in corporate research IRAP grants for the R&D phase of our project. When we begin pilot testing in late 2008, we will apply for a IRAP-TPC grant that will cover $400K for the commercialization of this technology.

As you can see from our business plan we intend to start selling our product from our first test site in 2008 onward. Within 3 years, we expect to have $6 million in sales and be cash flow positive. We offer a much higher return on investment for utility companies – as we will be able to show measurable conservation progress by reduced utility usage. The utilities have a financial incentive to continue conservation, because they wish to avoid the huge costs of generating new electric, gas, and water capacity. Instead, they wish to reduce how much people use. Our product will help them do this. A 3-year business plan is in the Financials section.

How much money do you require?
We will need $1.16M in our first year. We are securing $200K in grants, and so still require $960K USD. We are working until the 2nd quarter of 2008 to secure funds and partners including private investment.

Where do you see your product or service in five years' time?
We believe the product will be deployed to 15 million people (3-5 utility companies) at this time. The total emissions drop should be 1% in the first year in every installation. We've modeled our environmental, business, partnership and development goals for the next 3-5 years.

What do you need to execute your plan that you don't have yet?
1) Seed investment for the idea.
2) A seasoned individual from the energy industry to be VP Sales and Marketing.

ABOUT US
Who's on your team, and what does everyone do?
Navid Sadikali is the President
Navid will be responsible for building a local development team as well as outsourcing. Navid will work with the team to ensure that the business direction, design direction, and technology development line up.

Iles Guran, is the VP Design
Iles is responsible for creating a user experience that works. He will also be responsible for building a brand and marketing strategy to ensure utility companies and Governments have a strong marketing story.

Who we are looking for:
VP Technology: He/she will also be the lead developer.
VP Sales and Marketing: Must have experience in the energy industry and in conservation. Will be responsible for securing government grants.

What is your experience, what else have you done?
Navid Sadikali, Designer
B.Sc. Neuroscience, Brown University
M.Sc. Computer Science, University of Waterloo
Manager, User Experience, Agfa Healthcare

I have ten years of software experience as a programmer, and as a lead architect. But my passion is design. I currently practice interaction design at Agfa, where my goal is to change healthcare by making products that physicians are excited to use. I love the process of bringing a design to life.

Iles Z. Guran, Designer
I have eight years of design experience in a wide variety of media including print, digital, web and interface design. My strength is my ability to solve visual communications problems in a strong and simple way. I own and run my own design studio, Bonzai Design, which specializes in brand creation and cultivation for a variety of clients. My core abilities are understanding key issues, dissecting those and then rebuilding them into visual communication campaigns.

I AM MANY
Draw my attention, show me why I am important. Make it clear what I can do for the environment. Present it to me simply, visually, and interactively and I'll get involved. Allow me to set goals and provide me feedback on how well I am achieving them.

But it isn't just about me, I now see. The more I look at this in a greater context and the more you campaign for what we must all do, the more urgent it becomes for me. The more I am connected, the more I interact, the more meaningful this is... the more I care.

And then who knows what is possible…

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