Irish entrepreneur Norman Crowley, founder of energy-efficiency company Crowley Carbon, is investing AU$100 million (US61.2 million) in the Australian and New Zealand marketplace, including a joint venture with Australian mechanical services business Climatech as well as other new businesses, according to an article published March 2 in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Based in Wicklow, Ireland (with an Australian office in Alexandria, NSW), Crowley Carbon focuses on improving the efficiency of building systems such as air compressors, air handling systems, boilers, cogen, powerGen, lighting, motors, process plant, refrigeration and solar. It works across multiple sectors, including food and drink, buildings, heavy industry and pharmaceuticals and chemicals. “By combining many projects together we can make a big impact on the energy consumption of your site,” the company says on its website.
Climatech, based in Beaconsfield, NSW, Australia, designs and builds cooling, heating and building automation systems, focusing on large-scale commercial, retail, health and data center projects.
Crowley told the Sydney Morning Herald that he is motivated to address the climate crisis. “If you’re going to have an impact, then the most existential threat to the world at the moment is climate change,” he said, “as Australia sadly found over the last couple of months.” The company has already hired 30 employees in Australia with plans to create more than 500 jobs locally.
Crowley Carbon uses sensors to detect energy efficiency issues, saving its clients across 26 countries an average of 19% in energy costs in 2019, the company says on its website.
“The opportunity [in Australia] is just vast,” Crowley was quoted as saying. “Quite a lot of buildings and quite a lot of factories are running quite inefficiently. We have just nearly burnt this place to the ground; people still don’t really get how serious this is.”
Carbon Crowley plans to open in Sydney a branch of its Cool Planet Experience educational center, which shows “the fun side of environmental responsibility in a solutions driven, fun and interactive way,” says the company’s website. The first center, which showcases technologies likesolar power and electric cars,was launched in 2018 in Ireland with entrepreneur Richard Branson.
The company also intends to open a factory in Australia for its Electrifi division, which converts classic cars to run on electricity.
Crowley said that, in the face of inadequate action by political leaders, business people have a role to play in fighting climate change, and “a responsibility, both commercially and morally.”
Marc De Stoop, the founder of Climatech, was quoted as nicknaming Crowley “the messiah” who is “going to save our planet.”
