Shtuka project team proceeded from the fact that heating is one of the most energy-consuming systems of any building and most industrial enterprises, while engineering networks failures lead to extra expenses.
To prevent such situations, the team has developed a service that monitors the status of heating systems online thus bringing significant savings to public institutions. The company successfully participated in the spring business accelerator A:START and became a resident of Academpark.
Ecoterm, led by Vitaly Kochev, has been installing and maintaining weather regulation control systems in residential buildings and municipal institutions for more than seven years. Vitaly graduated from NSTU NETI's Lyceum and then from Radio Engineering and Electronics Faculty.
"We once struggled with a basement flood in a school that housed a food production facility and a lunchroom for students. Naturally, the consequences for the school were dire. And it's not just health inspections and costly repairs, but also disruption of the learning process. We realized that it would be a good idea to have a system in place that prevents accidents and alerts the staff in charge. That's how our company started working on the Shtuka project," Vitaly Kochev recalls.
Specialists have developed special sensors that monitor such physical parameters as pressure, temperature and flow rates in heating, water supply, ventilation and sewage systems. The sensors are connected to the service via the Internet and update readings every five minutes. In case the parameters are out of range, a warning protocol alerts the operating staff. The entire history of system state changes can be seen on the website or through the iOS and Android app.
The management of the education department endorsed the initiative: Ecoterm installed and tested the system in one of the Novosibirsk schools. The results were so successful that the system was also implemented in other schools.
In addition, Ecoterm agreed to cooperate with the Thermal Power Plants Department and NSTU NETI Lyceum. The company plans to show students the systems that are related to their future profession. The systems will help students with their practical laboratory work.
Vitaly came to the spring business accelerator on the advice of Vyacheslav Gergert, a current Academpark resident and the main team member providing mentoring assistance. The team wanted to get feedback from experts, improve their professional skills on a startup implementation and sales, and get acquainted with the practical experience of senior colleagues.
"I am very grateful to the organizers of A: START for creating such a large and useful event. When we first came to the accelerator, we thought that we had a great idea, and that we ourselves were cool experts in our field. A: START quickly took off our rose-tinted glasses, changed our way of thinking and the sales strategy itself. I was positively shocked by each training day. A huge amount of new information, a different world view perspective and new practical tools helped to move our project in the right direction. And thanks to the offline meetings, there was a full-fledged networking and new useful acquaintances," Vitaly said.