CoClear Carbon Output Charts

At The Spry Group, we help companies understand their data. Our goal is to use data and analysis to help your business not only save money, but also increase efficiency, reliability, and profitability.

We are excited by the potential of energy data to improve outcomes for our businesses, our homes, and the environment. Here are some examples of what we can do with data for energy providers: Turn decades of data on coal plants into a robust analysis and budgeting tool. Manage the online presence, customer data and technology infrastructure for a Biofuels recycler and wholesaler. Help analysts build a toolkit to perform Carbon Life-Cycle Analysis for Household Brands.

We help analysts use data to optimize their supply chain and find ways to conserve energy, time, money, and (of course) the environment. Here are some recent examples of what we’ve done:

AER-Electricity Generation - data analysis for capital planning and maintenance for coal power generators

Our very first project was organizing data from public sources such as NERC, FERC, EIA and the EPA. We wanted to analyze the reliability, availability, and maintence cost of coal-powered turbines generating electricity by AER Inc. Specifically, we analyzed coal generators that were being operated across the entire North American coal fleet.

We based our product on the econometric analysis of Dr. Marie Corio. She used stochastic frontier analysis (a type of economic modeling) to examine the way that utilities are operating their generators. With these models, she could project the reliability or maintenance costs of a generator as it ages and benchmark it against similar cohorts across the North American coal fleet.

That’s where we came in. We took the data she had collected over the past several decades and combined it with public data. From there, we created a data warehouse that streamlined her data analysis, saving a significant amount of time that would otherwise be used combing through data.

As time went on, we built a software platform with an analytic dashboard and deployed it as a web app. Our app is currently being used by one of the largest utilities in the country.

This helps Dr. Corio advise the people in power to make smarter decisions. And it applies to both executives handling top-down financial decisions and plant operators handling bottom-up maintenance decisions.

Tri-State Biodiesel - Website, SEO, Database Administration and IT services

When our friends at Tri-State Biodiesel approached us, we were thrilled. We knew their history: they’re one of the earliest commercial distributors of biodiesel in America. Their business model is inspired, they created a supply chain that allowed restaurants in New York City to recycle their waste grease and convert it into biodiesel. Then, they took that biodiesel and used it to power trucking fleets and provide heating oil to New York businesses and residents.

As such, they topped SEO rankings for much of their existence. When they were rebuilding their website they came to us to ensure continuity in their PageRank. Today they’re still number 1 in New York for Biodiesel. Tri-State Biodiesel has become “The Sustainable Biodiesel Company.” and they’ve expanded. They now have franchises in multiple cities as well as a 13,000,000-gallon refinery in Bridgeport Connecticut called Bridgeport Biodiesel. We have helped them maintain their online presence and their IT infrastructure in their offices, warehouse and refinery.

CoClear - dashboards and d3.js data visualization for Carbon Life-Cycle Analysis

CoClear made a name for itself analyzing the financial and environmental footprints of giants like Nike and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. They contracted us out to help with building their Life Cycle Analysis Reporting platform (essentially for identifying the costs of carbon from cradle to grave at every segment of their supply chain).

We worked with data designer Erika Whillas to build dashboards, presenting their findings to top executives at Nike and Ben & Jerry’s. Our format was Open Source data visualization libraries from d3.js (or data-driven documents). We also integrated with their carbon accounting software Foundation Footprint.

We use d3.js because of Michael Bostock, the New York Times data-visualization pioneer. His work has added the element of data-analysis to journalism worldwide, creating a depth of data and an ease of access that was previously impossible with print media.

And now, with these libraries, it has never been easier to create custom dashboards that can help decision-makers understand the carbon footprint of their enterprise. More than just data

The work we do goes beyond just data analysis. We act as consultants, helping our clients to “do something” with the data we provide them.

We build data warehouses, APIs (Application Program Interfaces), and front-end visualizations.

We handle development and operations (correspondence between software and IT professionals) and help clients maintain and deploy their infrastructure on the cloud or locally as needed.

We aid in product development. We create marketing campaigns and assist in operational capacities. We connect our clients with our extensive network of high-quality partners that can turn a software application into a product with its own life and revenue streams.

In short, we help our clients grow in smart and sustainable ways.