Conservation Labs

Conservation Labs develops an AI platform that converts audio data collected in the built environment into operational insights aimed at reducing water use, energy use and carbon emissions. Its flagship product, H2know, is a sensor that attaches to the outside of a water pipe in residential, multifamily and commercial buildings and continuously measures the sound signature created by water flowing through the plumbing. Proprietary, patented machine learning models trained on thousands of hours of pipe acoustics translate those signals into flow estimates, fixture-level classification of water events (toilet, sink, dishwasher and similar), leak alerts and conservation recommendations. Data and alerts are delivered through the H2know mobile app, which supports email and text notification of catastrophic leak events, sensor disconnect notices, benchmarking against weekly averages, usage-by-daypart trends, configurable reporting, and integration with third-party automatic shut-off devices.

Installation is designed to require no plumbing work or pipe cutting: the sensor clamps onto the inbound water line, connects over Wi-Fi and plugs into a nearby power outlet, with setup described as completable in under 10 minutes. After installation the device collects data for roughly 7-10 days to learn the property's water-use patterns. Sensors can monitor individual units or whole buildings, providing remote visibility for property operators.

Building on the same edge-to-cloud audio AI platform, the company also offers Sustainable Machines, a product suite that interprets a machine's sound profile to assess equipment condition and generate operational insights and predictive maintenance recommendations, targeted at OEMs and large service providers seeking cost-effective condition-monitoring programs.

Founding story

The company was founded out of a stated desire to merge analytic innovation with environmental stewardship, with a mission of helping customers save money and better manage natural resources. Founder and CEO Mark Kovscek is an entrepreneur and mathematician with more than 25 years of experience in data science who previously led early-stage analytic startups and global teams, and holds a degree in Applied Mathematics and Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Business model

Conservation Labs sells connected hardware sensors paired with an application and analytics layer. Sensors are deployed at properties and machines, with insights, alerts and reporting delivered through software; the company reports having sold nearly 10,000 sensors nationwide.

Traction

The company reports having sold nearly 10,000 sensors nationwide, clients reducing water use by 20% or more since H2know was unveiled in 2021, and early adopters of Sustainable Machines generating an ROI of over 100% through improved maintenance efficiency and uptime.

Latest developments

In March 2025 Conservation Labs announced a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by RET Ventures' Housing Impact Fund with participation from Sustain VC and Serra Ventures, intended to accelerate H2know deployments and build additional product lines on its edge-to-cloud AI platform. The company published H2know installation documentation in January 2025 and is recruiting residential beta testers ahead of residential availability.