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Green Building Alliance Announces Winners Of Innovation Grants
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Green Building Alliance this week announced the five newest recipients of its Product Innovation Grants. Selected through a competitive process, these Pennsylvania-based award winners will share a total of $250,000 to address challenges in the fast-growing green building marketplace.
The targeted innovations include advanced energy efficiency solutions, improvements for indoor air quality, lighting that mimics daylight, and recycled and bio-based inclusions for concrete-type products.
GBA's Product Innovation Grants are designed to help recipients accelerate the introduction of green building products to the market while encouraging growth in Pennsylvania's manufacturing sector. This is the fifth round of grants awarded since GBA began its Green Building Products Initiative in 2006. In total, 24 Pennsylvania projects have received more than $1.2 million through the program.
"Pennsylvania has always been a leader in innovative products and manufacturing. We are excited that these grants can help continue this legacy by accelerating growth of local organizations in the development of new green building products for the local, national, and international markets," said Mike Schiller, GBA's Executive Director. "Our unique Product Innovation Grant program has encouraged collaborations between private-sector companies and university teams throughout Pennsylvania, advancing state-of-the-art technologies and creating revenue and jobs across the green building spectrum."
For this fifth Product Innovation Grant round, five proposals were selected to receive grants, including:
-- $100,000 to Thar Geothermal LLC to implement and evaluate a novel ground-source CO2 geothermal heat pump system at a commercial scale. Carnegie Mellon University will partner with Thar to monitor and verify the system's performance and to assist with building integration and optimization.
-- $100,000 to Energy Wall to efficiently manufacture and beta test a passive heat and moisture transfer membrane for ventilation air recovery. Energy Wall will collaborate with The Pennsylvania State University to monitor and evaluate the ventilation systems for residential, commercial, and industrial building markets.
-- $20,000 to Drexel University to develop an automatic diurnal/seasonal daylight-matching LED luminaire in collaboration with Appalachian Lighting and other partners. This project will produce a prototype for installation and evaluation in interior spaces.
-- $20,000 to EcoBuilt Efficient Buildings to test, evaluate, and market "MaqCrete" post-industrial/bio-fiber structural insulating masonry blocks. EcoBuilt will work with Drexel University to evaluate the patented MaqCrete formula for strength and energy efficiency.
-- $10,000 to Pennsylvania State University to investigate the possibility of utilizing recycled gypsum in concrete, which may ultimately reduce the amount of drywall waste sent to landfills. This project will collaborate with USA Gypsum to advance gypsum recycling initiatives by testing and developing a use for recycled gypsum in concrete building products.
"Over the past five years we have been very impressed by the quality and quantity of applicants for this competitive grant program," stated Dr. Aurora Sharrard, GBA's Director of Innovation. "Since GBA is involved in all aspects of green buildings, we look forward to helping products and technologies from our newest and past Product Innovation Grant recipients enhance many pioneering green building projects throughout Pennsylvania."
Product Innovation Grant proposals submitted for this round were assessed based on the criteria of green building leadership, technical merit, commercialization plan viability, partnership resources, and potential market impact.
Grant award decisions were made at the discretion of GBA on the recommendations of the Product Innovation Grant Review Committee, which is comprised of a variety of manufacturers, investors, economic development stakeholders, academic researchers, and consultants.
For more information, visit the Green Building Alliance website.
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5/9/2011 |
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