China is currently the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, but is committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Globally, cities already contribute to 70% of carbon emissions, and close to half of that is generated purely by buildings. 

Three Chinese companies supplying energy efficiency solutions and low-carbon technology for commercial and industrial buildings are highlighted in this article – Anjie IoT, EQuota Energy and Persagy. 

Tianjin Anjie IoT Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (Anjie) is a leading Smart Energy AIoT technology solutions company in China and a dominant provider in its home province of Tianjin. It is a major supplier of energy management solutions to buildings in China utilizing AIoT, big data, and cloud infrastructure. With almost two decades of experience in building energy systems, Anjie helps its real estate clients to save 15% to 30% of their energy-related costs, which currently represents a reduction of 2.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. 

Since May 2020, Anjie IoT has been a portfolio company of Venturous Group, a smart-city technology company in China which recently increased its shareholding to a 22% stake. According to a December 2021 Venturous Group presentation, Anjie achieved 2020 revenues of $73 million.

It is the first company in Tianjin to be certified by the British Standards Institute (BSI) for carbon neutrality using the PAS 2060 standard. The firm has also established joint ventures with famous industrial parks in Beijing's Yizhuang and Shanghai's Zhangjiang. 

EQuota Energy is a Shanghai-based intelligent energy management service provider. As an AI and big data-driven energy technology company, EQuota optimizes energy usage to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs without the need for new hardware or machinery. The company provides its software to commercial and industrial users and distributed utilities in China and collects the data as part of its SaaS business model. Through disaggregating and analyzing the data, EQuota makes recommendations as to how energy usage can be reduced without negatively affecting business operations. 

The company was established by Charlotte Wang in 2014, who having grown up near coal-fired power plants in Liaoning Province, China, experienced the pollution first-hand. She subsequently studied at MIT in the US and founded the company with a core team of MIT graduates, according to their web site.

The company serves Chinese high-tech industrial zones/parks, commercial and industrial buildings, distributed power plants and commercial buildings such as department stores and hotels. To date, EQuota has reduced CO2 emissions by 8,104,897 tons, prevented 189,877,938 MWh in energy consumption, and saved customers around $22.8 million in USD. These accomplishments represent savings equivalent to the energy use of half a million homes over a year and translate into reduced particulate matter.

Recognition has followed. In 2021, EQuota became the only private company to serve the state grid on its carbon management platform. It was also recognized as a 2021 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

Founded in 2009, Persagy Technology is a Beijing-based Chinese technology company using “Digital Technology & AI Technology” to enhance operational efficiency in building management.  The company was listed on China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations Market For Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises from September 2014 until November 2017, but was subsequently delisted. The company reported 2016 revenues of RMB 61 million ($9.55 million) prior to delisting.  Private equity firm, Sequoia Capital became the largest shareholder with a 21% stake in 2019. 

Persagy claims to be the first high-tech enterprise in China to focus on energy management solution development, implementation and operation, and can provide energy management system (EMS) design and development services, on-site implementation services and related full-cycle energy-saving management services for commercial and public institutions, medical, education and manufacturing industries. Persagy Technology customers include Chinese real estate developers, Dalian Wanda Group Co, Future Land Holdings, SOHO China and Longfor Group. 

This article was written by Daphne Tomlinson, Senior Research Associate at Memoori.