Fraunhofer partners with federal, state and city agencies on one-of-a-kind $19.5 million Clean Energy Center that will serve as high-tech demonstration showcase for manufacturers and systems providers.
BOSTON, Massachusetts -- May 17th, 2011 -- The Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) today announced that it will develop a sustainable energy research and building innovation center at 5 Channel Center in Boston’s Innovation District. The 50,000-square-foot applied research facility and building technology showcase will serve as a unique factory of innovation in support of established and start-up companies that are developing and demonstrating the next generation of energy efficiency technologies. It will also house Fraunhofer’s technical R&D labs and the TechBridge start-up accelerator group to support clean energy businesses in the Innovation District.
“The new building for the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) will literally be a living laboratory, attracting building technology pace-setters from around the nation and the international business community to demonstrate the future of sustainable buildings,” said Dr. Roland Schindler, executive director of the Fraunhofer CSE. “The CSE facility will help develop the City of Boston’s Innovation District and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a hub of sustainable energy technology and research.”
“We have secured our first anchor partner and are currently in the process of identifying additional companies who may be interested in joining our effort,” explained Nolan Browne, the Center’s Managing Director.
Fraunhofer CSE, a division of the non-profit Fraunhofer USA, creates jobs through translational R&D work that takes place at the facility. The center will continue to focus on development of low-cost, high-efficiency systems, products and best practices. This work, which is done on behalf of industry partners, will generate jobs by supporting client company growth and profitability.
“Boston continues to support and attract cutting-edge research, and I’m proud that Fraunhofer is joining this exciting mix,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “Their clean energy center is a great addition to the growing cluster of clean-tech workers in the Innovation District. Our leading universities and research community are unmatched sources of talent, and Fraunhofer’s expertise and international reputation will help budding entrepreneurs grow their ideas in Boston. The center is a win for our economy, our environment, and the growth of the Innovation District.”
“The U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration is pleased to work with Mayor Thomas Menino, Fraunhofer USA and local leaders to help build the $20 million Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, which will serve as a catalyst for job and economic growth in the region,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John R. Fernandez. “This smart investment to advance the development of the 5 Channel Center and commercialize sustainable energy technologies and next-generation building efficiency systems will provide a much needed boost to the local economic ecosystem as new businesses are attracted to the community.”
"Part of Governor Patrick’s economic development strategy is making Massachusetts a place where inventive, talented people from around the world want to be, strengthening our connection to global centers of innovation,” said Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki. “The Fraunhofer Center’s decision to grow in Boston bolsters our state’s already strong innovation ecosystem and cements our ties to the pioneering work they are doing in Germany.”
Additionally, the Fraunhofer TechBridge Program, a lead recipient of a United States Department of Energy Innovation Ecosystem Award, helps entrepreneurs commercialize their technologies and develop their companies to obtain follow-on funding, further contributing to job growth in the region. Construction of the Fraunhofer CSE facility, which will leverage public funds to catalyze private investment, is also expected to result in at least 150 construction jobs.
To promote the success of 5 Channel Center building concept, Fraunhofer is leveraging its experience and industrial partnerships from a similar pre-existing successful project called Fraunhofer inHaus, a unique innovation research collaboration between the German building material industry, its practitioners and its construction companies. With over 100 partners and many more technical collaborators, the innovation laboratory is dedicated to the development, demonstration and deployment of technologies that focus on new, efficient ways to live.
“The 5 Channel Center project will further the international partnership between American and German industry and could be a great economic benefit to both countries” said Consul General Friedrich Löhr of the German Consulate in Boston. “The Fraunhofer CSE is a model of international collaboration for economic development in a partnership that creates jobs and clean-energy economic development opportunities for both economies.”