The 5 Channel Center building will have fully-equipped laboratory facilities for the benefit of CSE's research partners and its scientific teams: Building Energy Efficiency and Solar Photovoltaic Modules. Key planned capabilities include:

• Roof-mounted testing facilities for outdoor testing of PV modules and phase-change materials (PCM)
• Material and durability testing laboratories for building products
• A complete solar PV module prototype manufacturing line
• Environmental and performance testing laboratories for solar PV module research
• Hotbox testing of building components supplemented by building-integrated facilities
• Integrated Building Systems Testing

The Building Technology Showcase will bring leading industry partners into the facility to develop and deploy new systems, materials and concepts, supported by our research partners at the area’s leading universities.

Other partners include practitioners: the architects, general contractors, MEPs and interior designers that not only bring these buildings into reality, but serve as the key interface with building owners and users. By increasing coordination throughout this value chain, CSE intends to push the technical boundaries of what is possible, and to develop the necessary channels to increase adoption of energy saving ideas and technologies.

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One unique technological aspect of the 5 Channel Center project is its capability to conduct full-scale testing of systems, materials and processes in an actual operating building. As such, CSE is developing a number of distinctive lab capabilities that will be integrated into the core and shell of the building itself. Fraunhofer has engaged its academic research and industry partners in the planning of laboratory spaces in order to secure both the research talent and corporate funding needed to make optimal use of the facilities.

One such lab, the building integrated facade test lab, will allow researchers to examine the properties of building façade components in perfectly controlled environments. With such a facility, it is possible to test and further develop everything from the insulation properties of various wall and window constructions to improved photovoltaic façade elements.

Commercialization of energy efficiency systems and materials is dependent upon measurement of the actual performance of a building. Accurate data is needed to make claims about a technology’s effectiveness, determine future avenues for development and quantify a technology’s potential return on investment.

One of the goals of 5 Channel Center is to gather this type of critical information about products through deployments and rigorous testing. The objective of the demonstration is to reduce energy consumption of the building by over 50% against previous baselines. We will accomplish this by outfitting the building with some of the leading systems and materials for the retrofit of buildings, determine how well they work in this type of environment, and where possible, further develop the technologies based on our findings. We plan to significantly improve energy efficiency through comprehensive design and smart integration of building systems in order to reduce peak load and energy consumption.   

Deployment of new technologies and systems will do more than increase the building's efficiency. These systems will be monitored and evaluated on a long-term basis by the CSE lab teams, which will study their impact on long-term building durability and user comfort.

Once complete, 5 Channel Center will contain new office space for the Fraunhofer TechBridge program--a group that supports commercialization of early-stage technologies by providing R&D assistance and connections to the business community for companies with pre-commercial stage technologies.  TechBridge will provide integral support and services for the development of the cleantech entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Innovation District.

Learn more about TechBridge