The preliminary release of our 2Q12 numbers confirmed what many have been talking about for months…significantly lower global cleantech VC investment by both deal count and dollar amount.

Yet, the Energy Efficiency sector remains a bright spot amidst the gloomy discussions of shakeouts and a transition away from the term “cleantech.” And, as both VCs and corporate strategics reassess the broader cleantech landscape and refine their approaches, there is renewed interest in understanding the potential of this continuing bright spot. As Rob Day of Black Coral Capital put it in this great review of the numbers yesterday, “even while the overall cleantech sector is in a down period, it’s clearly still an exciting time to be investing in energy efficiency and related plays.”

Within energy efficiency, digital solutions to building efficiency continues to be a particular area of investor and entrepreneur interest. From enterprise energy management and lighting control systems, to remote auditing and benchmarking, entrepreneurs and investors are developing scalable digital solutions to tackle the building efficiency market. Some of the industry’s hottest companies like Redwood Systems, Gridium, Adura Technologies, Vigilent and essess have raised recent rounds from some of the industry’s top investors including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Claremont Creek Ventures, Chrysalix, VantagePoint, NGEN Partners, Battery Ventures, and Navitas. As investors search for the smart bets, many are looking to better understand the investment thesis that’s driving the trend, the players on the landscape, and areas of new innovation.

To take a deeper look at this important area, we’ve teamed up with Greenstart to bring you a webinar entitled Exploring Investment in Digital Solutions to Building Efficiency.

The conversation will cover emerging trends as well as an overview of how Greenstart, cleantech’s top accelerator, thinks about investing. It is also a great opportunity to hear from two of the industry’s hottest young companies, SCIenergy and Greenstart alumn kWhOURS.

This webinar is intended for entrepreneurs, corporates, and investors, and will:

• Define the market and current investment trends
• Review Greenstart’s investment thesis and key criteria
• Examine specific solutions from kWhOURS, SCIenergy
• Discuss areas of technology innovation

To sign up:

http://info.cleantech.com/BuildingEfficiencyWebinarJuly2012_Registration.html