Environmental Tech Lab 2025 Climate Resiliency and Data Management Proof of Concept Results
April 22, 2025
“Identifying and integrating new technologies is critical to everything we do, but it is especially useful in helping us make New York City more resilient in the face of extreme weather and to maximizing the value of every dollar we spend. Our collaboration with the Partnership Fund for New York City allows us to attract and acquire innovative, new technology and implement it at scale with benefits for all New Yorkers.”
Rohit T. Aggarwala
DEP Commissioner and New York City Chief Climate Officer
Overview
The Environmental Tech Lab (ETL) launched in 2023 in partnership with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to apply new technology solutions to address critical challenges posed by climate change and the need to build a sustainable future for our water and wastewater systems.
In June 2024, the ETL launched the second annual call for challenges, inviting growth-stage companies worldwide to apply to help DEP enhance their climate resiliency goals and improve their data management and governance.
Over 20 DEP subject matter experts and executives evaluated 100+ applications, selecting six companies to test their technology over an eight-week proof-of-concept phase to see if the technology could help solve DEP’s challenges. This report details each company’s solution, how it was used, and its potential for future impact—bringing new tech to the public sector while improving critical infrastructure to ensure New Yorkers continue enjoying safe drinking water.
Resilience Challenge
How can DEP advance climate resiliency goals including carbon reduction actions, noise/air/water compliance initiatives, flooding mitigation, and water conservation strategies?
DNOTA Air Quality Corp
Coral Gables, FL, United States
DNOTA manufactures solar-powered air/noise pollution devices, BettAir, that can monitor critical air and noise pollution factors including pressure, temperature, relative humidity, noise, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3, NO, and CO.
Eight BettAir devices with solar panels were deployed at two locations in Queens and the Bronx. The devices collected hyperlocal air and noise quality data including noise, pressure, humidity, and hazardous gases (ex. nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc.). The project demonstrated easy installation, continuous monitoring with complete data availability, proactive alerting, and seamless report generation, enabling DEP to access accurate environmental insights with minimal technical overhead. By leveraging BettAir’s remote data and advanced dashboards, DEP found they could reduce routine inspections and deploy on-site inspectors only when necessary. This not only saves staff time, but also reduces DEP’s carbon emissions with every trip saved.
“By automating and streamlining these various aspects of air quality monitoring, BettAir technology significantly reduces the daily workload while improving the quality and accessibility of environmental data management.”
Executive Director
Bureau of Environmental Compliance
GenH
Boston, MA, United States
A next-generation clean energy technology development company that has created a first-in-class, rapidly deployable, and modular hydropower system termed Adaptive Hydro™.
*This is a generated model and not an installation at an NYC DEP site.
The GenH team conducted a technical feasibility study to demonstrate how their modular hydropower system, Adaptive Hydro, could generate clean energy and revenue for DEP at the East Branch/Sodom Dam Spillway and Croton Falls Diverting Dam Spillway. After using a drone to assess whether the Adaptive Hydro units could be deployed on the dam, GenH projected they could generate 3.55 GWh per year at the two dams, achieve a return on investment in four years, and offset 1,630 tons of CO₂ emissions annually, which equates to 355 cars off the road, all at no cost to DEP.
“We were impressed by how GenH was able to offer DEP such an innovative product to generate power with minimal impact to our existing infrastructure.”
Senior Project Manager
Bureau of Water Supply
Intelligent Instruments
Southampton, United Kingdom
Intelligent Instruments manufactures intelligent sensors to monitor noise, vibration, and dust.
Intelligent Instruments deployed a noise monitoring device in Long Island City to demonstrate its ability to monitor noise levels, analyze data, and send alerts. The system provided real-time data and high-quality audio samples, enabling DEP to accurately and remotely determine when and where noise code violations occurred. In the future, this data can help increase enforcement efficiency for 311 complaints by potentially reducing unnecessary inspections by 70-80%, saving staff time while reducing carbon emissions with every trip saved.
“We (DEP) end up doing multiple re-inspections if there are no issues when inspectors arrive at the complaint location. This tool will allow us to understand if and when an issue is happening (and with audio, what is causing it).”
Executive Director
Bureau of Environmental Compliance
Prezerv
Boston, MA, United States
Prezerv collects 3D electromagnetic data from the field and uses AI to convert the data into 3D underground maps.
Using its 3D electromagnetic sensor scanning technology, Prezerv conducted a 3D underground scan of the Owl’s Head Wastewater Treatment Plant, surveying 63,000 square feet in one hour. One week later, Prezerv delivered a 3D map of 20,000 square feet of underground pipes detailing pipe depth, diameter, and potential leaks. These maps have the potential to provide valuable insights into underground conditions before digging begins, helping prevent construction delays caused by unforeseen obstacles underground.
“It was exciting to work with Prezerv and see their innovative use of AI and sensors to scan underground utilities. The technology is advancing rapidly, making it easier to detect and map infrastructure with incredible accuracy. Seeing these advancements firsthand was a great experience, and it’s clear that the future of utility scanning is becoming more efficient and precise.”
Deputy Director
Bureau of Engineering Design & Construction
Segura Water
Oxford, United Kingdom
Segura Water leverages the technology used in glucose strips to provide a portable water quality monitoring device.
DEP used Segura's portable monitoring device to test twelve water samples from four different pipelines in Queens and City Island in the Bronx. The project highlighted how the technology can help detect lead in drinking water, reducing the sample processing time from 6 weeks to under 5 minutes, on average. Though further testing and refinements are needed to improve its accuracy and reliability, Segura’s instant cloud-connected water quality tests have future potential to free up thousands of staff hours annually by reducing the number of people involved in collecting and processing a sample.
“The lead sensor that Segura has developed is incredibly user-friendly, and does not require any technical expertise to take measurements. (...)You can get real-time measurements in a matter of minutes, which would normally take hours. The potential for this device in field applications alone is immense in helping to identify sources of lead corrosion in drinking water.”
Assistant Compliance Supervisor/Scientist
Bureau of Water Supply
Data Management & Governance Challenge
How can DEP integrate and analyze disparate data sets to drive business strategies, deliver capital construction projects, optimize critical data models, and better protect people and infrastructure?
Gryps
New York, NY, United States
Gryps is an AI-powered search & data platform for capital project owners.
Using their construction-based, AI-data management platform, Gryps analyzed 80,000 DEP capital project files in under 24 hours. DEP then used the platform to ask questions and quickly retrieve insights from hand-written notes, images, and PDFs. By using the tool, DEP was able to reduce search times by 10 fold, identify insights from 21,000 data points on consultant rates, and perform previously impossible tasks, such as quickly confirming site meeting attendance and payment details in construction projects. Gryps estimates that if scaled, the platform could save each DEP user 80 hours per year.
“Gryps allowed for substantial time savings when used instead of searching through eBuilder for invoices. It also allows for things that just could not have been done in the past, like searching sign-in sheets to see when people attended site meetings, or finding details about payment units in construction payments.“
Chief
Analytics, Bureau of Engineering Design and Construction
“This year’s proof-of-concept results demonstrates how cutting-edge technology can help government work smarter and more efficiently. The Environmental Tech Lab creates a bridge between DEP’s operational teams and the entrepreneurs building next-generation solutions, enabling government to test, refine, and adopt solutions that make a real difference. Technology is changing quickly, and this kind of collaboration ensures that we can not only address today’s challenges, but prepare for tomorrow’s.”
Maria Gotsch
President & CEO, Partnership Fund for New York City