Meet Suhaib Arogundade, a visionary environmental engineer and founder of Carbonetrix, who is transforming how the construction industry approaches carbon emission reduction. With a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and hands-on experience as a carbon reporting manager for one of the UK’s largest construction companies, Suhaib recognized a critical gap in the industry: the lack of accessible, specialized knowledge needed to achieve net zero targets by 2050. His innovative platform harnesses the power of AI to democratize carbon literacy and make sustainable construction practices achievable for companies of all sizes.
Humans of Fuzia is proud to feature Suhaib’s inspiring entrepreneurial journey as part of our mission to showcase leaders who are creating meaningful change in the world. His commitment to environmental sustainability and his innovative approach to solving complex industry challenges resonates deeply with our community of 5.2 million entrepreneurs and changemakers across 35+ countries. Through his story, we aim to inspire others to pursue purpose-driven innovation that not only builds successful businesses but also contributes to a more sustainable future for all.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Carbonetrix and what the platform does?
The idea behind Carbonetrix started from my PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, where I focused specifically on construction carbon reduction – looking at carbon emissions associated with delivering construction projects and how we can reduce that carbon to ensure the built environment sector achieves 2050 net zero targets. While doing this research, I was also working with Balfour Beatty, the biggest construction company in the UK, as a carbon reporting manager, managing carbon emission data for the UK, US, and Hong Kong business. I discovered the complexity involved in calculating carbon emissions related to our supply chain partners – more than 10,000 suppliers – and the challenge of educating team members on what they need to do to reduce carbon emissions while executing construction projects.
After attending COP28 in Dubai and seeing discussions around reducing carbon emissions in the built environment sector, I realized there was a common thread: literacy. Not everybody has access to the right information they need at the right time. We decided to utilize AI to quickly harness all this information and make it very accessible to people – not just generalistic tools like Google or ChatGPT, but something purposefully built for construction sustainability.
What is Carbonetrix’s mission and how does it work?
Our mission is to see that everybody within the construction industry has the right tools they need to reduce carbon emissions related to construction projects. This drive comes from a UK government parliament report that stated for the UK to achieve its net zero target, the built environment industry needs to decarbonize, and every professional within the industry needs to be upskilled on carbon management.
We use AI in several ways – for example, we automate data capture using computer vision models. Rather than manually sitting down and looking at receipts, material delivery notes, and weight transfer notes, you can just scan those documents. The AI reads the document and picks all the details required to calculate carbon emissions related to that particular activity. This frees up time and reduces human error from manual data input.
What are your thoughts on AI – do you see it as replacing humans or augmenting human capabilities?
I don’t think AI is going to replace human beings in the work that we do. AI is only going to augment human intelligence to make us function better. However, there are two sides to the coin. A lot of people will need to upskill to understand what AI is and how to utilize AI to improve their work efficiency.
I like Simon Sinek’s analogy about when the IRS adopted digital platforms – they initially fired accountants thinking they wouldn’t need them, but then had to hire people with digital knowledge who also needed accounting understanding. What should have happened was the accountants should have been trained to improve their digital knowledge, allowing them to utilize the platform much better because they had both accounting knowledge and could suggest improvements.
It’s the same with AI. For everybody doing particular tasks, especially repetitive ones, we need to understand how to utilize AI to improve our efficiency. AI will not replace us – it will only improve what we’re doing, and everybody needs to upskill to meet that challenge.
What are your goals for Carbonetrix in the coming years?
Our short-term goal is to partner with small and medium-scale enterprises within the construction industry, as well as local authorities, to support the delivery of more than 100+ low carbon projects within the UK over the next 18 months. We’re focusing on SMEs because they have limited budgets to hire full-time sustainability managers or carbon data analysts, so our platform streamlines that process and makes it easily achievable for SME contractors.
In the long term, we want to be known as a platform that can support the delivery of low carbon construction projects not just in the UK, but across the world, while also equipping professionals within the built environment industry to improve their carbon literacy skills. This is very critical to achieving the 2050 net zero target set by the World Green Building Council.
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Go look for a community – that’s number one. It’s very critical when you’re trying to build a startup. You need a community of people who are also doing what you’re doing, at different stages of the journey. Some will have started earlier, some will be on the same journey as you, some will have gone further along. You need to relate to those people, learn from them, and share your challenges.
When I started Carbonetrix, we got into the Royal Academy of Engineering Regional Talent Engine program. That community was instrumental in supporting us with business registration, trainings on financial management and communication, and even some grant funding. Later, when I joined the Tees Valley Labs program, I learned from another young entrepreneur whose platform approach greatly improved how we’re thinking about building our own platform.
Also, never be afraid to share your idea. People are always scared that someone might steal their idea, but ideas aren’t unique to one person – they say almost 1,000 people have the same idea every day. It’s the way you execute that really matters. Nobody can steal your idea and execute it the way you would because they are not you. You are a unique human being, and that idea has been placed in your mind along with how you’re going to execute it.
“Never be afraid to share your idea with people. You are a unique human being, and that idea that has been placed in your mind will be executed in your unique way. If you don’t share with others, you won’t get the navigation on how to implement that idea – because you can’t implement something alone.”
Connect with Suhaib Arogundade: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suhaibarogundade/
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