Y.I.C. Business Plan
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Executive Summary
The super tree is a new technology that we wish to add to many cities
across the globe. These trees use a process very similar to photosynthesis where
they take in "dirty air" filled with carbon dioxide and germs, and release it again
as clean filtered air. When the air enters the super tree, thermodynamic pressure
combines toxic elements in the air with water, and then the newly purified air
leaves the tree. Each one of these trees costs around $100,000 and purifies the
same amount of air as 1,200 real trees. So far, these trees have been seen in Peru
and Lima, and are noticeably cleaning the air in the major cities there. Singapore
has also implemented some super trees which are bigger (costing $700,000 each)
and also include solar panels on the inside of the structure. These super trees
collect rain water in the funnel that is then purified and circulated through
nearby buildings. Both versions in both parts of the world have significantly
reduced pollution numbers.
Our idea is to bring these super trees to the United States. We would begin
by putting them in some of the most polluted cities in the country such as Los
Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Sacramento. Major cities like these lack the
clean oxygen produced by real trees, and that is why we would put the super trees
in to make up for what is lost through industrialization. At the beginning only a
few trees would be installed, but as time went on more and more would be added
to the cities. In 5 years we would hope to see our first few project cities have
around 3 super trees each. 20 years later we predict that most cities containing
the super trees would experience a noticeable change in air quality. And finally 50
years later, we hope that there would be super trees in almost all major cities in
the United States, helping the country to create very clean air for all of its
citizens. The United States is a major industrial country that creates a lot of
pollution. We hope that some of that pollution can be reduced by implementing
these super trees across the country.
The Initiative
Our business concept is to get super-trees into cities so that the air quality in
these areas increases noticeably. The purpose of these trees is to benefit everyone
in the city with clean air.
We will be able to implement these super-trees into cities because other cities
have already done it. Currently, Singapore, Lima and Peru already have these
trees.
The experience, skills, and knowledge for this business is minimal because once
the trees are set up little to no maintenance is required. People would have to be
trained to know how to set the trees up but that is the extent of the experience
needed.
Connections with the individual city legislatures is necessary because we would
need permits and things of that nature to get permission to build these trees.
Our idea is already in use, we are not trying to take credit for this idea, but we
would like to see it in use in cities all around the world.
Simply the government would buy the trees and then they would get installed in
the cities.
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Marketing & Sales
Our Product: Super-Tree- Product that purifies the air via thermodynamic
pressure to combine the dirt in the air with water and then return the clean air to
the environment.
o This is an innovative idea because it is one of the only products that
purifies air. It is effective and not incredibly expensive.
Market
o The market is large cities with a pollution problem. It could also be large
cities in general.
 Unique Selling Point- Air purification at a relatively small cost.
 Competitors- Trees. We have no real competitors
Product: Great product with does a crucial job controlling pollution in large cities
Price: Cheap considering the job and size of the product.
Place: Large cities all over the world
Promotion: Public awareness and advertisements.
Social Purpose
The primary benefactors would be all the people living in the city with the super
trees. These people would experience the cleaner air every day. Also, people who
visit the city would benefit when they were there.
There is a need for a social enterprise because this project will affect a lot of
people. A social enterprise will allow maximum benefits from the idea. They will
make sure that the main goal is not to get money from the project but to produce
results of cleaner air so that everyone is receiving the benefits and not only a few
people.
Running a social enterprise will meet the identified need because the enterprise
will take into account all the factors of the idea. They will discuss the benefits and
costs of the program to discover the most efficient way to implement the trees
and help the citizens.
Our social impact will be measured by citizen satisfaction. We will ask people
who live and/or work in the city to complete surveys a few times throughout the
implementation of our idea. These surveys will allow the people to express their
opinions on the air quality to see if our idea really is working and if the people
can see benefits from it. Another way that might help measure the social impact
is by measuring the growth rate of the city. If more and more people are moving
into the city or touring it, then this could mean that our idea was working. This
would be difficult to measure though because the city will most likely grow with
or without our project and we would have no way to tell if more people were
coming to the city because of the cleaner air or not. Either way, both of these
could be ways in which we measure our social impact
The biggest support is the citizens of the city. They are the ones experiencing our
project firsthand everyday. If they are happy with the project then it is most likely
working.
Growth
The growth potential for our idea is endless. The social and economical benefits
will outweigh the cost, and we believe the citizens of the city in which we
implement our idea will be very receptive to improvements and expansions to our
ideas.
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The growth of our idea will be measured twofold: the number of cities and areas
we implement our project and the amount of good it does for environment,
overall and on the small scale.
Finance
This process would require a lot of money. Our expenses would include the price
of each tree, $100,000. We would like to see around 20 little trees in each city
after the first few years, totaling up to around $2,000,000 per city. We would
also need to pay the workers who will decide where to put the trees, and the
people who would actually put the tree in the ground. We realize this cost is very
high so raising money would take a few years. As far as money goes, we would
receive no profit because these trees have no way for us to bring in money. Their
sole purpose is to benefit the citizens with cleaner air.
Our funding strategy would be through tax dollars. No individual company will
want to fund a project like this because there is no profit associated with it. The
super trees will benefits the citizens in the city so they will essentially pay for it
with their tax dollars. This seems to be the most efficient way to fund for our
program.
Sustainability will hopefully be achieved within 15 years. It will take about 7 years
to get the money and put all the trees up, then about 8 years until the trees have
cleaned a sufficient amount of air in many major cities. After 15 years we will
begin seeing noticeable results in air quality, and the cities will have much
cleaner air.
Implementation Plan
Milestones that we have are getting the first trees set up and in the cities so that
they are starting to clean the air. We hope to have this achieved within a year of
starting
Each super-tree costs about $100,000, so the cost of the tree plus the cost of
installation would be the only cost because once the trees are set up, maintenance
is minimal.
Your Biography
We feel very passionately about helping global warming and creating a
sustainable city. We have put in a good deal of work developing our plan.
We are currently researching the topic and solutions of global warming as well as
learning about how to put a design concept into action. We feel that our
knowledge and learning about the subjects will lead us to a successful project.
Team Individual Biography
o Matthew McCallion- Graduate from General McLane High school
(Edinboro, PA) student and current student at Penn State University.
o Joseph Varillo- Graduate from Penncrest High School, Current student at
Penn State University
o James Kenna- Graduate from Vincentian Academy high school in
Pittsburgh, PA. Current student at Penn State University. Engineering
Major