Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Solar Farm in Fall Foliage
The HOOSAC Solar Farm in Florida MA is now done. Here are some aerials taken in October.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Energy Giving Back Houses in Boston
In the Boston Globe today was great story of how MA is working to keep in the for front of building energy positive house
The proposition sounds
far-fetched: Build a home in Boston so efficient that it produces more
energy than it consumes, and price it for less than $400,000.
But on Tuesday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino will kick off a building program designed to do just that, at a groundbreaking for the city’s first so-called energy-positive homes.
While the technological feat itself is significant, perhaps as noteworthy is the fact that public officials and private builders agree such homes can be built using straightforward designs and materials that won’t break the bank.
“It’s really not rocket science,” said Kamran Zahedi, president of Urbanica Inc., the developer building the first wave of homes, on Highland Street in Roxbury. “People are now realizing it’s good business to build in this way.”
Urbanica is one of three companies selected by the city to design and construct 10 energy-positive homes — those that produce more energy than they consume annually — on city-owned land in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Eleven teams submitted proposals in a city design competition for the development rights, and city officials said the high level of interest will lead to additional projects in coming years.
“There are a lot of architects and builders that have the
expertise to do this,” said Sheila Dillon, director of Boston’s
Department of Neighborhood Development. “We see this project as
something people can learn from and then begin to build on larger sites
using the same energy practices.”
Construction of efficient homes is beginning to rise across the United States. Although there is no accurate count on the number of energy-positive homes, commercial contractors have started building them around the country. Depending on the market where they are being built, prices range from $180,000 to $400,000.
The Urbanica project achieves its energy-positive goals largely through the use of rooftop solar panels, although the homes have numerous other energy-efficient features. City officials said homeowners should be able to sell excess power to their electric company and use the proceeds to further lower their utility costs.
Each of the four town homes will have 39 solar panels that should produce more electricity than a typical household consumes during a year. The houses will face the sun so they need less electricity for lighting during the day, and will be air-sealed and have double insulation to maintain comfortable temperatures without as much heating or cooling. Other measures include high-efficiency windows, Energy Star-rated appliances, and a smaller heating system that uses less duct work and electricity.
The houses will have three bedrooms, 2½ baths, and about 1,800 square feet.
Specialists in energy-efficient building say that demand for such homes has risen significantly in recent years, especially as home builders try to differentiate themselves by emphasizing environmentally friendly products.
“We’ve got builders trying to focus their entire product line in this direction,” said Drew Smith, president of Two Trails Inc., an energy consulting firm in Sarasota, Fla.
“We’re seeing demand for this in affordable housing and in multimillion-dollar homes,” he continued. “People used to say it was something only the rich could afford, but that’s not the case anymore.”
Smith said his business has grown consistently in recent years, even as Florida’s housing market has struggled to recover from the foreclosure crisis and broader economic downturn. He is now looking to expand to Las Vegas.
In Boston, Dillon said, the three builders designated by the city will price their homes for less than $450,000. In addition to the Urbanica project, GFC Development will build two town houses at 64 Catherine St. in Jamaica Plain, and a team of Sage Builders and Transformations Inc. will build four homes at Highland Park in Roxbury. The latter two projects are expected to start by early next year.
Dillon said the city has not set a specific goal for the number of energy-positive homes it wants to build in coming years, but it is already beginning to explore additional development sites.
“Building in an efficient way and contributing energy back to the grid is one of the mayor’s top priorities,” Dillon said. “And to be able to so in such a way that produces housing for middle-income families is really perfect for us.”
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
Giving back to the electric grid
City embarks on program to build energy-positive housing — homes that produce more electric power than they consume
But on Tuesday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino will kick off a building program designed to do just that, at a groundbreaking for the city’s first so-called energy-positive homes.
While the technological feat itself is significant, perhaps as noteworthy is the fact that public officials and private builders agree such homes can be built using straightforward designs and materials that won’t break the bank.
“It’s really not rocket science,” said Kamran Zahedi, president of Urbanica Inc., the developer building the first wave of homes, on Highland Street in Roxbury. “People are now realizing it’s good business to build in this way.”
Urbanica is one of three companies selected by the city to design and construct 10 energy-positive homes — those that produce more energy than they consume annually — on city-owned land in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Eleven teams submitted proposals in a city design competition for the development rights, and city officials said the high level of interest will lead to additional projects in coming years.
‘Building in an efficient way and contributing energy back to the grid is one of the mayor’s top priorities.’
Construction of efficient homes is beginning to rise across the United States. Although there is no accurate count on the number of energy-positive homes, commercial contractors have started building them around the country. Depending on the market where they are being built, prices range from $180,000 to $400,000.
The Urbanica project achieves its energy-positive goals largely through the use of rooftop solar panels, although the homes have numerous other energy-efficient features. City officials said homeowners should be able to sell excess power to their electric company and use the proceeds to further lower their utility costs.
Each of the four town homes will have 39 solar panels that should produce more electricity than a typical household consumes during a year. The houses will face the sun so they need less electricity for lighting during the day, and will be air-sealed and have double insulation to maintain comfortable temperatures without as much heating or cooling. Other measures include high-efficiency windows, Energy Star-rated appliances, and a smaller heating system that uses less duct work and electricity.
The houses will have three bedrooms, 2½ baths, and about 1,800 square feet.
Specialists in energy-efficient building say that demand for such homes has risen significantly in recent years, especially as home builders try to differentiate themselves by emphasizing environmentally friendly products.
“We’ve got builders trying to focus their entire product line in this direction,” said Drew Smith, president of Two Trails Inc., an energy consulting firm in Sarasota, Fla.
“We’re seeing demand for this in affordable housing and in multimillion-dollar homes,” he continued. “People used to say it was something only the rich could afford, but that’s not the case anymore.”
Smith said his business has grown consistently in recent years, even as Florida’s housing market has struggled to recover from the foreclosure crisis and broader economic downturn. He is now looking to expand to Las Vegas.
In Boston, Dillon said, the three builders designated by the city will price their homes for less than $450,000. In addition to the Urbanica project, GFC Development will build two town houses at 64 Catherine St. in Jamaica Plain, and a team of Sage Builders and Transformations Inc. will build four homes at Highland Park in Roxbury. The latter two projects are expected to start by early next year.
Dillon said the city has not set a specific goal for the number of energy-positive homes it wants to build in coming years, but it is already beginning to explore additional development sites.
“Building in an efficient way and contributing energy back to the grid is one of the mayor’s top priorities,” Dillon said. “And to be able to so in such a way that produces housing for middle-income families is really perfect for us.”
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
On Land Wind Farms Growing. articular by the Boston Globe
First Wind, a Boston-based wind power developer, has installed enough turbines in the Northeast to generate an amount of electricity comparable to Cape Wind's 468 megawatts. Here's a look at First Wind's projects.
Despite controversy that has slowed the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, land-based wind farms are expanding rapidly in the region.
One company alone, First Wind Holdings LLC of Boston, has installed enough turbines in the Northeast over the past few years to generate nearly as much power as the long-awaited offshore wind farm. Other companies, too, have developed wind projects in New England states.
Driving this growth are technological advances reducing the cost of wind turbines and increasing their efficiency, making wind power more competitive with traditional power sources — particularly in the Northeast, where electricity costs can run as much as 60 percent above the national average.
Turbine prices have dropped about 30 percent over the past few years, and new turbines are able to generate electricity at lower wind speeds.
Meanwhile, average electricity prices in the Northeast can top 15
cents per kilowatt hour, compared to a US average of 9.52 cents. New
wind technology can generate power at an average cost of about 10 cents
per kilowatt hour, excluding subsidies, according to the US Energy
Department.
“Some of the states in the Northeast have been some of the fastest-growing markets,” said Elizabeth Salerno, director of industry data and analysis at the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group in Washington. “Power prices are relatively high [there], so by delivering wind projects, you can develop a pretty affordable source of generation.”
First Wind has built wind farms in eight locations in Maine, Vermont, and upstate New York. With the 34 megawatts that will be added when the company completes its wind farm near Eastbrook, Maine, First Wind’s projects will have the capacity to generate nearly 420 megawatts of electricity, compared to Cape Wind’s 468 megawatts.
In addition, Quincy-based Patriot Renewable operates two wind farms in Maine and one in Buzzards Bay, with a total generating capacity of about 25 megawatts. The Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corp., a consortium of 14 municipal utilities and the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., owns a 15-megawatt wind farm in Hancock that went online last year.
A megawatt of wind-generated electricity can power about 300 homes.
Despite the growth of land-based projects, the discussion about developing the region’s wind resources has often focused on offshore projects such as Cape Wind and a proposed “wind energy area” that would encompass nearly 165,000 acres of federal waters off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Last week, US officials completed an environmental review of the wind energy area, an important step in opening the area to development.
Still, it could be years before any turbines are built offshore, meaning that more land-based projects will be needed to achieve renewable energy goals set by several states seeking alternatives to fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas. In Massachusetts, for example, the state has set a goal of installing 2,000 megawatts of wind-energy capacity in the state by 2020 and has required utilities to get 15 percent of their power from wind, solar, and other renewable sources in that same time frame.
Today, there are 61 megawatts of installed wind power capacity in the state.
This has created opportunities for companies like First Wind. Founded a decade ago, the company had its first project up and running in Hawaii in 2006, and its second operating in Maine in 2007.
Today, First Wind has 16 projects — totaling 980 megawatts of generating capacity — operating or under construction in the United States. Four went online in 2011, and another followed this year.
The latest project in the region, Bull Hill wind farm near Eastbrook, Maine, will produce power for NStar, one of the largest utilities in Massachusetts. The company’s other New England customers include ISO New England, the region’s grid operator, and Harvard University.
“Massachusetts is way ahead of everybody [with its clean energy goals] so, from a practical point of view, the demand is being created by Massachusetts,” said First Wind chief executive Paul Gaynor. That’s because wind power generated in other states is being bought by Massachusetts utilities and others to help meet the state’s renewable energy goals.
Although offshore wind is stronger and therefore an abundant and steady source of power, it has proved much harder to site projects in the ocean for a variety of environmental and technical reasons, including how to connect offshore turbines to the onshore power grid.
That’s not to to say land-based wind projects have not faced opposition — Gaynor said all of his company’s projects have — but it generally has not been as vehement and vociferous as in the Cape Wind controversy. That’s partly because First Wind’s projects tend to be in remote areas visible to few people. They also bring jobs to rural areas that desperately need them.
Take Washington County, Maine, one of the poorest areas in New England. First Wind built two projects totalling more than 80 megawatts in the county, creating about 200 construction jobs that lasted several months and pumping much-needed money into the local economy during the recent recession.
“The [businesses] that were really struggling, whether it was a woodcutter’s or a convenience store — they were all pretty much bolstered by this,” said Harold Clossey, executive director of the Sunrise Economic Council in Washington County.
Jack Parker, president of Reed & Reed Inc., a Woolwich, Maine, construction company, said its revenues have doubled since it started building wind farms for First Wind. The company has constructed four First Wind projects in Maine, as well as the Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative project in Western Massachusetts and other wind farms in New Hampshire and Vermont.
“It’s transformed our company,” Parker said. “Wind accounts for more than half our business.” Reed & Reed also builds bridges, parking garages, and marine facilities.
Wind power is helping the Massachusetts economy, said Richard K. Sullivan Jr., the state’s secretary of of energy and environmental affairs. About 600 wind power companies operate in Massachusetts, employing roughly 6,500 people, according to state data.
Sullivan said Massachusetts’ energy policies were crafted to be “agnostic to offshore [or] onshore” wind farms, in the hope of encouraging both types.
“It certainly brings environmental benefits,” Sullivan said. “But make no mistake, it’s also an economic development strategy.”
Erin Ailworth
First Wind, a Boston-based wind power developer, has installed enough turbines in the Northeast to generate an amount of electricity comparable to Cape Wind's 468 megawatts. Here's a look at First Wind's projects.
Bubbles are sized according to the wind farm's capacity (in megawatts).
Despite controversy that has slowed the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, land-based wind farms are expanding rapidly in the region.
One company alone, First Wind Holdings LLC of Boston, has installed enough turbines in the Northeast over the past few years to generate nearly as much power as the long-awaited offshore wind farm. Other companies, too, have developed wind projects in New England states.
Driving this growth are technological advances reducing the cost of wind turbines and increasing their efficiency, making wind power more competitive with traditional power sources — particularly in the Northeast, where electricity costs can run as much as 60 percent above the national average.
Turbine prices have dropped about 30 percent over the past few years, and new turbines are able to generate electricity at lower wind speeds.
“Some of the states in the Northeast have been some of the fastest-growing markets,” said Elizabeth Salerno, director of industry data and analysis at the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group in Washington. “Power prices are relatively high [there], so by delivering wind projects, you can develop a pretty affordable source of generation.”
First Wind has built wind farms in eight locations in Maine, Vermont, and upstate New York. With the 34 megawatts that will be added when the company completes its wind farm near Eastbrook, Maine, First Wind’s projects will have the capacity to generate nearly 420 megawatts of electricity, compared to Cape Wind’s 468 megawatts.
In addition, Quincy-based Patriot Renewable operates two wind farms in Maine and one in Buzzards Bay, with a total generating capacity of about 25 megawatts. The Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corp., a consortium of 14 municipal utilities and the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., owns a 15-megawatt wind farm in Hancock that went online last year.
A megawatt of wind-generated electricity can power about 300 homes.
Despite the growth of land-based projects, the discussion about developing the region’s wind resources has often focused on offshore projects such as Cape Wind and a proposed “wind energy area” that would encompass nearly 165,000 acres of federal waters off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Last week, US officials completed an environmental review of the wind energy area, an important step in opening the area to development.
Still, it could be years before any turbines are built offshore, meaning that more land-based projects will be needed to achieve renewable energy goals set by several states seeking alternatives to fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas. In Massachusetts, for example, the state has set a goal of installing 2,000 megawatts of wind-energy capacity in the state by 2020 and has required utilities to get 15 percent of their power from wind, solar, and other renewable sources in that same time frame.
Today, there are 61 megawatts of installed wind power capacity in the state.
This has created opportunities for companies like First Wind. Founded a decade ago, the company had its first project up and running in Hawaii in 2006, and its second operating in Maine in 2007.
Today, First Wind has 16 projects — totaling 980 megawatts of generating capacity — operating or under construction in the United States. Four went online in 2011, and another followed this year.
The latest project in the region, Bull Hill wind farm near Eastbrook, Maine, will produce power for NStar, one of the largest utilities in Massachusetts. The company’s other New England customers include ISO New England, the region’s grid operator, and Harvard University.
“Massachusetts is way ahead of everybody [with its clean energy goals] so, from a practical point of view, the demand is being created by Massachusetts,” said First Wind chief executive Paul Gaynor. That’s because wind power generated in other states is being bought by Massachusetts utilities and others to help meet the state’s renewable energy goals.
Although offshore wind is stronger and therefore an abundant and steady source of power, it has proved much harder to site projects in the ocean for a variety of environmental and technical reasons, including how to connect offshore turbines to the onshore power grid.
That’s not to to say land-based wind projects have not faced opposition — Gaynor said all of his company’s projects have — but it generally has not been as vehement and vociferous as in the Cape Wind controversy. That’s partly because First Wind’s projects tend to be in remote areas visible to few people. They also bring jobs to rural areas that desperately need them.
Take Washington County, Maine, one of the poorest areas in New England. First Wind built two projects totalling more than 80 megawatts in the county, creating about 200 construction jobs that lasted several months and pumping much-needed money into the local economy during the recent recession.
“The [businesses] that were really struggling, whether it was a woodcutter’s or a convenience store — they were all pretty much bolstered by this,” said Harold Clossey, executive director of the Sunrise Economic Council in Washington County.
Jack Parker, president of Reed & Reed Inc., a Woolwich, Maine, construction company, said its revenues have doubled since it started building wind farms for First Wind. The company has constructed four First Wind projects in Maine, as well as the Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative project in Western Massachusetts and other wind farms in New Hampshire and Vermont.
“It’s transformed our company,” Parker said. “Wind accounts for more than half our business.” Reed & Reed also builds bridges, parking garages, and marine facilities.
Wind power is helping the Massachusetts economy, said Richard K. Sullivan Jr., the state’s secretary of of energy and environmental affairs. About 600 wind power companies operate in Massachusetts, employing roughly 6,500 people, according to state data.
Sullivan said Massachusetts’ energy policies were crafted to be “agnostic to offshore [or] onshore” wind farms, in the hope of encouraging both types.
“It certainly brings environmental benefits,” Sullivan said. “But make no mistake, it’s also an economic development strategy.”
Erin Ailworth
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Acting Locally.....Solar on our VT House.
We are in the middle of switching from oil to Solar Hot Water with a gas back up.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Maine to Harvest Ocean Energy
From the Boston Globe
Maine paves way for tapping ocean energy
PORTLAND, Maine - Maine regulators put three utilities on the path to distribute electricity harnessed from tides at the nation’s eastern tip Tuesday, a key milestone in a bid to turn the natural rise and fall of ocean levels into power.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission set terms for a contract that would be in place for 20 years.
The regulators also directed the three utilities to negotiate with Ocean Renewable Power Co. to put electricity onto the grid this summer, the first long-term power purchase agreements for tidal energy in the United States.
Power production will begin modestly, with the first unit
producing enough electricity for 20 to 25 homes; the pilot program calls
for additional units at sites off both Lubec and Eastport to bring
production to 4 megawatts, enough to power up more than 1,000 homes by
2016.
All told, the company sees up to 50 megawatts of tidal power potential off Lubec and Eastport, home to one of the world’s best tidal sites, where the tide rises and falls 20 feet twice a day.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission established what is called a contract term sheet for the project. It sets the rate to be paid for the tide-generated electricity at 21.5 cents per kilowatt hour, a subsidized rate that is far higher than the current standard offer of about 11 to 12 cents paid by most Maine residents.
Central Maine Power, Bangor Hydro Electric Co., and Maine Public Service Co. will negotiate a contract with Ocean Renewable under the framework established by regulators.
Richard Davies, Maine’s public advocate, said there were some mixed emotions over setting a rate that is so much higher than the current cost of electricity.
But Davies and his staff came down in support of the project because the cost of energy produced by fossil fuels will likely grow much faster than the cost of tidal energy over the course of the 20-year contract. In fact, he said, the energy could become competitive within five years.
The 21.5-cent rate, which grows 2 percent a year over the contract, makes the project feasible, Sauer said. It will be subsidized through a previously established state fund.
Ocean Renewable’s Maine Tidal Energy Project is one of two tidal programs to receive pilot project licenses earlier this year from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The other company, Verdant Power, is working to advance its own tidal energy system in New York City’s East River.
Verdant’s design looks a lot like a wind turbine, only it is underwater. Ocean Renewable uses rotating foils that lend the appearance of a manual reel mower for cutting grass.
Officials in Canada are watching the Maine project with interest. Ocean Renewable and Nova Scotia’s Fundy Tidal Inc. hope to install the same units in waters off Nova Scotia, where Bay of Fundy offers even greater tidal power potential, officials have said.
Maine paves way for tapping ocean energy
3 utilities get OK to use tidal flows to generate power
PORTLAND, Maine - Maine regulators put three utilities on the path to distribute electricity harnessed from tides at the nation’s eastern tip Tuesday, a key milestone in a bid to turn the natural rise and fall of ocean levels into power.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission set terms for a contract that would be in place for 20 years.
The regulators also directed the three utilities to negotiate with Ocean Renewable Power Co. to put electricity onto the grid this summer, the first long-term power purchase agreements for tidal energy in the United States.
“It’s
a landmark in the commercialization of tidal energy in the US,’’ said
Chris Sauer, president and chief executive of the Portland company.
Ocean Renewable intends to install its first underwater turbine unit this summer on Cobscook Bay under a demonstration project.Power production will begin modestly, with a pilot program calling for production of 4 megawatts, enough to power up more than 1,000 homes by 2016.
All told, the company sees up to 50 megawatts of tidal power potential off Lubec and Eastport, home to one of the world’s best tidal sites, where the tide rises and falls 20 feet twice a day.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission established what is called a contract term sheet for the project. It sets the rate to be paid for the tide-generated electricity at 21.5 cents per kilowatt hour, a subsidized rate that is far higher than the current standard offer of about 11 to 12 cents paid by most Maine residents.
Central Maine Power, Bangor Hydro Electric Co., and Maine Public Service Co. will negotiate a contract with Ocean Renewable under the framework established by regulators.
Richard Davies, Maine’s public advocate, said there were some mixed emotions over setting a rate that is so much higher than the current cost of electricity.
But Davies and his staff came down in support of the project because the cost of energy produced by fossil fuels will likely grow much faster than the cost of tidal energy over the course of the 20-year contract. In fact, he said, the energy could become competitive within five years.
The 21.5-cent rate, which grows 2 percent a year over the contract, makes the project feasible, Sauer said. It will be subsidized through a previously established state fund.
Ocean Renewable’s Maine Tidal Energy Project is one of two tidal programs to receive pilot project licenses earlier this year from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The other company, Verdant Power, is working to advance its own tidal energy system in New York City’s East River.
Verdant’s design looks a lot like a wind turbine, only it is underwater. Ocean Renewable uses rotating foils that lend the appearance of a manual reel mower for cutting grass.
Officials in Canada are watching the Maine project with interest. Ocean Renewable and Nova Scotia’s Fundy Tidal Inc. hope to install the same units in waters off Nova Scotia, where Bay of Fundy offers even greater tidal power potential, officials have said.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Old meets new
Saw this today. Enjoyed the old meets new plus multiple forms of transportation. Not to mention I took this from an automotive bridge with an iPhone looking out of my hybrid.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
India builds a solar farm to power a medium size city!
India flips the switch on world’s largest solar power plant
The Indian state of Gujarat has built the world’s largest solar photovoltaic power plant, a field of solar panels the size of Lower Manhattan. After only 14 months of preparation, they’ve just switched it on, adding 600 MW of power to the grid. That’s enough to power a medium-sized city’s worth of homes. Thing is HUGE.
The 5,000-acre solar park should help India meet its ambitious plans for moving to sustainable energy. The country aims to be at 15 percent renewables by 2020 — right now it’s only at 6 percent. Projects like the Gujarat plant will help by taking advantage of India’s intense sunshine.
However, India’s already in danger of being pushed out of the record-holding spot for world’s biggest power plant. Tunisia is working on a 2,000-MW plant, to open by 2016. The Gujarat solar field is already the size of some towns, so it’s not clear how much bigger plants can get — at least in non-desert countries — before they start having to build them over homes, fields, and household pets. Maybe it’s FINALLY time to start panelling the Moon, like I’ve been saying all along.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Dorchester Solar Field Now Opperational
National Grid's Dorchester's Solar farm is now operational.
Nice to see everyone's fine work producing renewable energy!
Monday, March 5, 2012
A Working Model of Efficiency
The Boston Globe continued its review of the new 5 Channel Center that is being transformed into exemplar of green technologies.
A Working Model of Efficency
On the outside, the future home of energy research firm Fraunhofer CSE looks like one more century-old mill building on Boston’s waterfront. But within its walls, architects and contractors are rapidly turning the structure into a $22 million modern marvel of energy efficiency.
By year’s end, Fraunhofer will transform the building into a laboratory of the world’s newest clean-energy technologies. The windows will double as solar panels; walls will absorb and release heat. The lighting systems will adjust themselves based on the amount of available sunlight, and special flooring will help control the interior temperature. Inside, a public exhibit will explain how the technologies function, and how much energy is being saved.
“This building will be a massively interactive and dynamic showcase for these new products,’’ said Nolan Browne, managing director of Fraunhofer’s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems. “You will be able to see in real time how things are working, as well as their durability and return on investment.’’
The building will house about 60 Fraunhofer employees when it opens later this year. Browne said he ultimately hopes to get the firm’s local head count up to 100.
The renovation is emblematic of a broader transformation unfolding on the South Boston Waterfront. Once a decaying center of bygone industries, the area was anointed as the Innovation District by Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston and is attracting an array of new companies, from the drug giant Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. to the public relations firm Fama PR.
Menino said in a statement that incorporating technologies from such a wide array of companies will help create additional jobs in the clean-energy sector. “Fraunhofer CSE’s research partnerships mean we can continue to push ahead here with even more cost-effective and advanced building energy technologies,’’ the mayor said.
Fraunhofer’s new facility is one of a series of old Boston Wharf Co. buildings being renovated by developer Dick Galvin. His complex at Channel Center already includes a mix of residences, offices, shops, and restaurants.
“This project is the personification of the Innovation District,’’ said Galvin. “In terms of meeting the area’s economic development goals, it has a lot of horsepower to it.’’
Fraunhofer executives said they hope the building becomes the epicenter of a growing clean-energy cluster in the district. Kurt Roth, leader of the organization’s building energy efficiency group, said using the building to prove the effectiveness of new technologies will help spur broader market adoption and create jobs at the companies that develop them.
“Most of these are emerging or newer products, and that’s where we can add the most value,’’ Roth said. “These companies need validation to help them get to scale’’ to manufacture their products for commercial sale.
The public exhibit will allow visitors to see how the technologies function in real time. One feature will allow people to point an iPad tablet computer at the building’s floors and walls, and get information on special insulation and radiant-heat flooring systems under the surface. Another feature allows users to manipulate a virtual 3D model of the building to view the design of its HVAC systems and other technologies.
Fraunhofer executives said they hope the exhibit will attract visitors from high schools and community colleges, in addition to architects and other real estate industry professionals.
“We wanted to do this because there is a tremendous market need for it in the United States,’’ said Browne, the firm’s managing director. “It’s about jobs and economic growth today, and if we’re looking for a platform to rebuild the economy, we believe building energy efficiency is a great way to go.’’
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
A Working Model of Efficency
On the outside, the future home of energy research firm Fraunhofer CSE looks like one more century-old mill building on Boston’s waterfront. But within its walls, architects and contractors are rapidly turning the structure into a $22 million modern marvel of energy efficiency.
By year’s end, Fraunhofer will transform the building into a laboratory of the world’s newest clean-energy technologies. The windows will double as solar panels; walls will absorb and release heat. The lighting systems will adjust themselves based on the amount of available sunlight, and special flooring will help control the interior temperature. Inside, a public exhibit will explain how the technologies function, and how much energy is being saved.
“This building will be a massively interactive and dynamic showcase for these new products,’’ said Nolan Browne, managing director of Fraunhofer’s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems. “You will be able to see in real time how things are working, as well as their durability and return on investment.’’
Related
Fraunhofer helps to develop and commercialize clean-energy technologies for businesses and government agencies. A nonprofit founded in 2008, it is part of an international research network spearheaded by Germany’s Fraunhofer Society, Europe’s largest contract research and development organization.
Located at 5 Channel Center in Boston’s Innovation District, the building project is being financed with a package of more than $10 million in state and federal grants, loans, and tax credits. Fraunhofer is also using $2.7 million in products donated by nearly 40 companies, virtually a who’s who of building material manufacturers. Among the donors are Dow Corning Corp., DuPont Co., Siemens, and Massachusetts start-ups such as Bytelight, which makes lighting systems that transmit digital communications to smartphones and other devices. ‘In terms of meeting the area’s economic development goals, [this project] has a lot of horsepower to it.’
Dick Galvin Developer
The renovation is emblematic of a broader transformation unfolding on the South Boston Waterfront. Once a decaying center of bygone industries, the area was anointed as the Innovation District by Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston and is attracting an array of new companies, from the drug giant Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. to the public relations firm Fama PR.
Menino said in a statement that incorporating technologies from such a wide array of companies will help create additional jobs in the clean-energy sector. “Fraunhofer CSE’s research partnerships mean we can continue to push ahead here with even more cost-effective and advanced building energy technologies,’’ the mayor said.
Fraunhofer’s new facility is one of a series of old Boston Wharf Co. buildings being renovated by developer Dick Galvin. His complex at Channel Center already includes a mix of residences, offices, shops, and restaurants.
“This project is the personification of the Innovation District,’’ said Galvin. “In terms of meeting the area’s economic development goals, it has a lot of horsepower to it.’’
DiMella Shaffer/Fraunhofer/rendering
Pointing an iPad at walls and floors will yield energy-saving data.“Most of these are emerging or newer products, and that’s where we can add the most value,’’ Roth said. “These companies need validation to help them get to scale’’ to manufacture their products for commercial sale.
The public exhibit will allow visitors to see how the technologies function in real time. One feature will allow people to point an iPad tablet computer at the building’s floors and walls, and get information on special insulation and radiant-heat flooring systems under the surface. Another feature allows users to manipulate a virtual 3D model of the building to view the design of its HVAC systems and other technologies.
Fraunhofer executives said they hope the exhibit will attract visitors from high schools and community colleges, in addition to architects and other real estate industry professionals.
“We wanted to do this because there is a tremendous market need for it in the United States,’’ said Browne, the firm’s managing director. “It’s about jobs and economic growth today, and if we’re looking for a platform to rebuild the economy, we believe building energy efficiency is a great way to go.’’
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
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