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TechInsider – May 2022

ZS2 Celebrates 2-Year Anniversary

May 2022

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ZS2 Turned 2!

ZS2 turned two years old on April 23, and what a crazy (in a good way) two years they’ve been!

We got our start at the height of pandemic pandemonium, opened our TechCentre in Calgary and promptly DOUBLED its size in only 6 months, and completed over 30 building projects–All since April 23, 2020! 

In that time, we’ve also been named one of the Foresight 50 top cleantech companies, made the Top 60 in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition, won the StartupTNT Cleantech Investment Summit, were a BuildEx Innovation Showcase winner, won the Calgary Mayor’s Innovation Challenge, and received our Solar Impulse Foundation Efficient Solution Label. 

All of this is thanks to an incredible TechCrew that works tirelessly to build a better planet, and a passionate group of customers and stakeholders who believe in our mission. Buckle up for the next year… Lots of big news on the way!

Making Steel Sustainable with TechPanels™

Construction is underway on ZS2’s first steel structure project! Our TechPanels™ are being used as the outside cladding for this 6,800 sq. ft. structure. 

This building will house emergency generators that supply power to the St. George, Utah area in the case of a power outage. 

The client needed a building solution that could be built quickly, protect the generators, not be affected by material shortages, and be assembled without a big crew. ZS2’s TechPanels™ are the perfect fit
.

The panel cladding installed in only 8 days with just 5 crew members and 1 crane operator, and no disposal bins needed for on-site waste. 

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Cladding the envelope of this building with TechPanels will ensure that the generators are protected from fire and mould. In case of a natural disaster like forest fire or flash flooding, St. George will still be able to get power from their TechPanel™ protected emergency generators.

ZS2 Top 3 - What You Need to Know

Our TechTalk digest this month will help you get up to speed on what’s important. Here are our top picks for May.

ZS2 Carbon Capture & Sequestration Breakthrough

April was a big month for ZS2 with a major recognition of some groundbreaking R&D work that Dr. Doug Brown and his team have been working on in The Lab for the past six months. On April 19, that work was recognized with ZS2 being named one of the top 60 entrants out of more than 1,100 entrants for the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition from the Musk Foundation. 

This milestone recognizes the scientific validity and potential for achieving a fully operational commercialized carbon removal and sequestration solution within the next three years. To reach this milestone, Dr. Doug’s team developed technology that pulls CO2 directly from the atmosphere and then sequesters it in carbon-negative magnesium-based cement, which ZS2 can then use to make sustainable building materials like our TechBoard™.

Based on the technology developed by our R&D team, one commercial plant producing magnesium cement building products could scrub and sequester about 3,000 tons of CO2 per year–double the amount the XPRIZE requires by 2025!

This milestone recognizes the scientific validity and potential for achieving a fully operational commercialized carbon removal and sequestration solution within the next three years. To reach this milestone, Dr. Doug’s team developed technology that pulls CO2 directly from the atmosphere and then sequesters it in carbon-negative magnesium-based cement, which ZS2 can then use to make sustainable building materials like our TechBoard™.

Based on the technology developed by our R&D team, one commercial plant producing magnesium cement building products could scrub and sequester about 3,000 tons of CO2 per year–double the amount the XPRIZE requires by 2025!

What's Trending: Strategic Partnerships

“On March 29, 2022 the Government of Canada (Federal Government) delivered its 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.

The Emissions Reduction Plan describes changes that can be implemented as economic and viable options for decarbonizing the [construction industry], such as switching from fossil fuels to electric heat pumps and upgrading the building envelope with improved insulation. 

Reducing embodied carbon in construction materials such as steel and concrete is [a] key opportunity presented in the Plan as a way to lower emissions in the buildings sector”

Source: 2030 Emissions reduction plan and Canada’s journey to net zero

As prescribed by the Government of Canada, the technology needed to reach net-zero and decarbonize the construction industry already exists.

The hurdles that the industry needs to overcome next are a series of ever-changing regulations and building codes set to evolve in the coming decade. If construction companies thought navigating through COVID was difficult, then they’re not prepared for what’s coming next. Inability to react to these changes means being left behind.

When it comes to carefully managing and ensuring a supply chain is capable of meeting these new carbon emission requirements, material requirements, and other factors, it really boils down to the importance of having a long-term strategy to tackle this ever changing landscape. 

Now is the best time to start strategizing for ways to succeed in light of the changes to come. Interested in how ZS2 is planning to stay ahead of the industry curve? 

Read more about how Strategic Partnerships can tackle these issues on our latest TechTalk blog.

Telling It Like It Is Podcast

Being a part of a startup community that works together to help new businesses thrive has been a key part of ZS2s success. We had the opportunity to discuss that topic on the Peer Guidance – Telling It Like It Is podcast last week.

Closing Thoughts

Have you published an article that you’d like our thoughts on? Forward us news articles that you’d like us to read and share with our TechInsider community.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or to learn more about how ZS2 is building a better planet with our innovative construction technologies.

Can you believe it’s already May? Time flies, and whenever we look back we’re always astounded by the progress we’ve made in these past 2 years.  We’re excited to show you guys what we have in store for the next 7 months of 2022, because as you all know; we’re just getting started!

Scott Jenkins & The ZS2 TechCrew

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