Brightcore Energy, a leading provider of end-to-end clean energy solutions to the commercial and institutional (“C&I”) market, announced today the expansion of its services offering to include commercial and community solar, high-efficiency renewable heating and cooling (geothermal), electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and battery storage.
Brightcore will deliver the new services through its innovative Efficiency as a Service (EasS) model under which Brightcore provides 100% of the capital for the projects, enabling its customers to reap lower operating costs with no upfront capital investment. Brightcore’s EaaS model is a complete turn-key approach, spanning project development, design, procurement, installation, maintenance and financing.
Founded in 2016 as a company focused on transforming legacy lighting within the C&I market, Brightcore’s rapid growth and success in the LED arena prompted the Company to add the additional service lines, featuring:
Solar – Commercial-scale roof-top, parking canopy and ground-mounted arrays will enable Brightcore’s customers to lower their energy costs or generate income while achieving their sustainability objectives.
High-efficiency HVAC – Ground-source (geothermal) and air-source heat pumps will afford Brightcore’s customers the ability to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to heat their facilities while lowering operational costs, improving comfort and lowering their carbon footprint.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure – On-site charging stations will enable Brightcore’s customers to offer an amenity to employees and visitors and generate a new revenue stream while supporting the transition to clean transportation.
Battery storage – On-site batteries will allow Brightcore’s customers to use stored power when peak rates are in effect, improve resiliency and lead the charge to a cleaner electric grid. In addition, pairing battery storage with solar will increase the value of customers’ solar assets.
Brightcore management brings significant expertise to the launch of these additional service lines. Its co-founders, Rob Krugel and Konstantin Braun, previously co-founded Smart Energy Capital, a C&I solar development and finance company in 2009. The company completed $250 million in projects for a wide range of customers throughout the U.S. before selling the business to NextEra Energy Resources, one of the largest owners of solar and wind projects in North America, in 2013. In addition, Brightcore’s president, Mike Richter, has spent the past decade developing and investing in clean energy projects and businesses, both as a private equity investor and project developer.
To lead the expansion, Brightcore appointed two seasoned industry veterans. Dave Hermantin, P.E. was named vice president, renewable heating and cooling, while Stan Tolstunov was appointed to the post of vice president, solar.
Hermantin brings 15 years of deep experience in geothermal project design to his new role. Most recently, he served as founder of RENU Engineering, a geothermal engineering firm specializing in the design of geothermal systems for both new construction and retrofit applications. Prior to RENU, Hermantin served as geothermal engineer at P.W. Grosser, where he led the firm’s geothermal design services. Throughout his geothermal career, Hermantin established a leadership market position, having designed several high-profile renewable heating and cooling projects, including the retrofit at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.
Tolstunov has been developing and installing commercial solar projects for the past 11 years, most recently as managing director of Dobtol Construction, a leading solar EPC company in N.J. Prior, Tolstunov launched the solar energy division of Dobco, Inc., a N.J.-based general contracting firm. Over the course of his solar career, Tolstunov developed and installed more than 100 megawatts of commercial scale solar projects for a wide range of customers including public utilities, major solar developers, Fortune 500 retailers, large commercial property owners and several public-school districts and municipalities.
“In a relatively short period of time, Brightcore has established itself as a leader in LED lighting transformations, having completed more than 100 projects in less than three years. Leveraging this expertise and the deep finance and solar experience of our two founders, coupled with the addition of key industry experts to our team, we now have the ability to help our clients realize additional benefits across five core areas within clean energy. The appointments of Dave and Stan to the team will enhance our capabilities and further strengthen our industry presence,” explained Mike Richter, president of Brightcore Energy.
“Brightcore clients are quickly seeing a decrease in their operating costs and improvement in their buildings’ overall performance, which ultimately reduces their carbon footprint. Based on the technical and financial expertise we bring to our clients — which they have embraced — we have helped maximize their financial benefit while virtually eliminating project risk and will continue to do so under this expanded portfolio of services,” Richter added.