CAALA - Computer Aided Architectural Life-cycle Assessment

Project Information

CAALA

Grant agreement ID: 808861

DOI

10.3030/808861

Project closed

EC signature date 2 February 2018

Start date 1 March 2018

End date 31 August 2018

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

CAALA GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CAALA (CAALA - Computer Aided Architectural Life-cycle Assessment)

Reporting period: 2018-03-01 to 2018-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

CAALA is a German GmbH headquartered in Munich. Founded in 2016, the company is specialized in developing software for different stakeholders in the construction industry. The company’s mission is to supply building planners and building material manufactures with the tool needed to achieve energy and GHG emission savings on a large scale and thereby strengthen a sustainable construction industry in Europe.

The goal of this feasibility study was to validate the business model behind the CAALA sales software for building material manufactures (BMMs). The overall value proposition for the BMMs is to improve efficiency, traceability and hence profit through a white label sales software that uses artificial intelligence to select the best-suited materials for a specific building project very early on in the design stage of a building and hence, overcome today's limitations when selecting suited building materials based on experience, rather than data-driven calculations. Sales representative have a tool to visualize building material variants and calculate energy consumption changes and costs in real time on a tablet during meetings with customers (e.g. architects).

The visual output provided by CAALA allows decision makers such as building owners to make informed decisions. Through the adoption of a life-cycle perspective in the early planning phase, the environmental impact of the building sector can be minimized. Supported by the BMMs themselves, this technology can also be spread through already established marketing and sales channels at a higher speed. All in all, the CAALA GmbH supplies with its software solutions BMMs and architects with the tools needed to achieve energy and GHG emission savings on a large scale. As stated in the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council COM (2016) 765 final, one of the ways to improve energy efficiency and reach this goal is to tap the huge potential for efficiency gains in the building sector, which is the largest single energy consumer in Europe. To this extent, CAALA could save ~18% of all GHG emissions and is therefore perfectly in line with the “SMEInst-09-2016-2017: TOPIC: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system ”. The support of BMMs could be paramount for CAALA to reach this goal.

Our objectives during the grant period were: to conduct an in-depth market study, engage in negotiations with potential customers (BMMs) and secure our first large-scale pilot project for our white label solution. Additionally, we were also eager to validate the technological and economic feasibility of our product and conduct several interviews with potential users to validate the customer journey and the needed software functionalities as well.

We are very happy with the results of our campaign and were able to achieve our goals. We have updated our original business model and product to accommodate the learnings from our interviews and market research and are eager to start the implementation of our sales software for our first customer and partner.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Our objectives during the grant period were: to conduct an in-depth market study, engage in negotiations with potential customers (BMMs) and secure our first large-scale pilot project for our white label solution. Additionally, we were also eager to validate the technological and economic feasibility of our product and conduct several interviews with potential users to validate the customer journey and the needed software functionalities as well.

During the grant period, we have been able to learn more about our customer’s needs (BMMs) and adjust our value proposition to suit their needs. We have also realized, that the best way to mitigate the risk of low market adoption of our software is to partner with a large corporation because their marketing and sales channels are established and efficient. With direct connections to thousands of craftsman companies as partners in Europe and their ability to scale the sales software powered by CAALA to a Pan-European level, we see great potential in engaging in a long-term partnership with established BMMs. On the downside, we are also dependent on their sales and marketing efforts and cannot influence the speed of market adoption. Hence, we need to be careful and plan accordingly.

Based on our in-depth market study, we selected a specific type of BMM that we want to work with during market launch. Also, follow up markets and suited BMMs were selected and contacted. Due to the above-stated facts, we engaging in negotiations with BMMs of this type to continue with this strategy. During negotiations, we also conducted workshops and were able to verify our assumptions about the technical processes and workflows between building material manufacturers, architects and the CAALA database. As a result, we refined the intended user journey and derived further functionalities that will be implemented in the near future. Also based on the conducted workshops with BMMs we refined our business model for this innovation project and derived financial projects, pricing policies and go-to-market strategies from it.

We are very happy with the results of our campaign and were able to achieve our goals. We have updated our original business model and product to accommodate the learnings from our interviews and market research and are eager to start the implementation of our sales software for our first customer and partner.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The EU represents the largest market of buildings insulation materials globally in terms of value, closely followed by North America, Asia–Pacific and South America. With the CAALA Software we aim to support architects in their decision-making process by providing them the necessary information to compare different building materials at a glance.
Since the insulation materials contribute significantly in improving the overall energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings by reducing the energy losses through the building envelope (walls, roofs, etc.) our go to market strategy focuses on this product type at first. Governmental measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve cost efficiency and adopt regulations on energy efficient buildings are key drivers of growth. The global demand for thermal insulation materials in building applications in Europe is projected to increase dramatically.

By supplying BMMs and architects with the tool needed to achieve energy and GHG emission savings on a large scale we actively support the energy efficiency strategy described in the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council COM (2016) 765 final stating, that one of the ways to improve energy efficiency and reach this goal is to tap the huge potential for efficiency gains in the building sector, which is the largest single energy consumer in Europe. CAALA could help save ~18% of all GHG emissions and is therefore substantially reduce GHG emissions. This would help the EU reach its climate change goals and push the construction industry towards a greener future.

CAALA_Logo