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| Technical Assistance, Incentives, and Funding Opportunities: Upcoming Events and Activities:
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| ORNL Welcomes First Cohort of Innovation Crossroads Innovators On May 18, ORNL unveiled its first cohort of innovators that will join Innovation Crossroads, the Southeast region’s first entrepreneurial research and development program based at a U.S. DOE national laboratory. Innovation Crossroads, announced in the fall of 2016, is one of DOE’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs that embed top technical talent within national labs as entrepreneurial research fellows with the express goal of subsequently launching businesses. The program’s dual focus on early-stage R&D and entrepreneurial development enables the innovators, selected through an open merit-based process, to transform their breakthrough ideas into U.S.-based companies. The two-year fellowship provides a cost-of-living stipend, comprehensive business development plan assistance, and up to $350,000 to use on collaborative R&D at ORNL, the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory. The Innovation Crossroads entrepreneurial research fellows will have access to world-class scientists and DOE facilities at ORNL, including the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, the National Transportation Research Center, the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, and the Spallation Neutron Source. Through the program and partnerships with mentor organizations in the Southeast, fellows will also receive assistance with developing business strategies, conducting market research, and finding long-term financing and potential commercial partners. Innovation Crossroads has selected LaunchTN and the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council as ecosystem partners for the fellows. These organizations are currently launching the Tennessee Energy Mentors Network and will provide access to experienced energy professionals and other partners from across the state to help the Innovation Crossroads participants. For more information, click here.
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| City of Lebanon / Aries Clean Energy Project Wins State and National Recognition
Aries Clean Energy’s biomass gasification plant has been recognized as the driving force behind the City of Lebanon’s receipt of a 2017 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award (GESA). The project, which was funded in part by Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, is the first in the nation and the largest downdraft gasifier in the world. The facility, which cost a little over $3.5 million, diverts 8,000 tons of wood and sludge waste from the local landfill and converts 36,000 Tennessee scrap rubber tires into energy annually. The facility also produces a leftover carbon-rich biochar that the city plans to sell to local farmers to fertilize crops as a potential new revenue stream. The facility, which powers the City’s wastewater treatment plant, has the capacity to generate 1.8 million kWh of electricity behind the meter, or the ability to power 312 homes. For more information and to read about the other 2017 GESA winners, click here. The project also received the 2017 Top Project in Energy as part of the Environmental Leader Product and Project Awards, a national awards program that recognizes excellence in products and services that provide companies with energy and environmental benefits. For more information, click here.
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| U.S. EPA recognizes Oak Ridge as leading Green Power Community On May 12, the City of Oak Ridge was designated by the U.S. EPA as a Green Power Community, due to the fact that the city is collectively using more than 32 million kWh of clean energy annually, or enough power to meet 16% of the community’s total electricity use. Oak Ridge was first recognized as a Green Power Community in 2014, becoming the first in the southeastern U.S. to receive the designation. City of Oak Ridge Electric Department customers can buy green power through TVA’s Green Power Switch program, which gets some of its supply from the nearby Buffalo Mountain wind farm. Oak Ridge is also systematically changing street lights over to LED bulbs and promoting TVA’s EnergyRight Solutions program to assist residential and commercial customers in decreasing their carbon footprint. For more information on the designation, click here.
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| Solar Projects Move Ahead in Nashville and Telford A former North Nashville landfill will soon become the site of the City’s first solar program. The Nashville Electric Service and Tennessee Valley Authority are partnering with the City and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to launch the Music City Solar project. The 2 MW solar array will consist of 5,966 panels on 10 acres along I-65 on Old Due West Avenue. The project is expected to generate 2.8 million kWh of electricity a year, or the equivalent of the yearly energy needs for 210 homes. Construction will begin in the late fall and will start generating power by spring 2018. For more information, click here. In the City of Telford, a public-private partnership on a 40-acre solar farm is expected to bring the Johnson City Energy Authority $42,000 per year, helping to stabilize local power bills. According to the project agreement, the Johnson City Energy Authority will have financial rights to 10% of the electricity produced by the 6.3 MW array. Mostly built and operated by Nashville’s Silicon Ranch Corp., operator of large-scale solar plants across the country, the project is expected to produce $850,000 for the Energy Authority over the 20-year term of the agreement. The project will be facilitated by TVA, which agreed to buy 5 MW of the power plant’s output to sell to customers across the agency’s territory. The Johnson City Energy Authority hopes to develop a community solar program using its portion of the electricity and plans to sell the renewable energy to interested people and businesses in the area. For more information, click here.
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| Crown College Advances a Mission of Stewardship through Energy Efficiency
The Crown College of the Bible is a private, nonprofit Christian college located in East Tennessee. Since opening its doors in 1991, the college has grown to an enrollment of more than 800 students in various fields of study through in their School of Ministry, School of Education, School of Business, Graduate School and Seminary, and Crown School of Trades and Technology. Crown College opened the doors of its first building in 1991 in rural Powell, Tennessee. With extensive growth came the need for a larger physical space, and in 2004 the school expanded its campus to a former Levi Strauss manufacturing facility just down the road. Constructed in the 1970s, the facility was well-built, but not with an eye to energy efficiency. Dr. Charles Prescott learned about Pathway Lending’s energy efficiency program and saw the opportunity to invest in long-term energy and financial savings. As the Chief Financial Officer and Dean of the School of Business for Crown Graduate School, Prescott has a keen understanding of business decisions, and has enlisted Pathway for several building upgrades. Crown College used Pathway Lending energy efficiency loans to upgrade several hundred interior and exterior lights, install water conservation measures, and upgrade the HVAC and building controls systems. All told, the majority of this 200,000 square foot former manufacturing facility has been thoroughly upgraded to keep students and faculty comfortable while generating long-term reductions in utility costs. For more information about this project, click here. The Tennessee Energy Efficiency Loan Program is a collaborative effort between Pathway Lending, the State of Tennessee / TDEC, and TVA. Since launching in 2010, the program has originated more than $24 million in loans to businesses and nonprofits across the state. The program now welcomes Tennessee local governmental entities to participate on a first come, first served basis.
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| U.S. DOE Announces $116 Million for Small Business Research and Development Grants
On June 20, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced that U.S. DOE will award 263 grants totaling $116 million to 184 small businesses in 40 states. From the State of Tennessee, Applied Thermal Coatings, Inc., PHDs Co., Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation, and Coulometrics have all been selected. These companies represent a mix of specialties, spanning solar efficiency, high energy physics detectors and instrumentation, advanced technologies for nuclear energy, and vehicle technologies. For more information and to view the full list of projects, click here
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| ORNL Building Team Wins Ritter von Rittinger Award for Heat Pumping Technologies
The Ritter von Rittinger Award is awarded to individuals are teams who have achieved distinction in the advancement of heat pumping technologies, applications, market development, or management of activities with lasting international impact. The award was named after Peter Ritter von Rittinger, an Austrian engineer who is credited with design and installation of the first practical heat pump system at a salt work in upper Austria in 1856. This year, the ORNL building team was recognized for their contribution to the development of efficiency heat pumps of all types, including electric, sorption, gas-fired, cold climate and ground-couple for over 40 years. For more information, click here.
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| TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, INCENTIVES, AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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| Opportunities for Graduates in Clean Energy
U.S. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and various other organizations and institutions offer fellowships across the country for students and faculty alike to engage in clean energy-related research, internships, and/or career-building opportunities. To find out more about these opportunities, click here or here.
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| U.S. DOE Announces $3 Million for High Performance Computing to Advance Clean Energy Manufacturing
On June 12, U.S. DOE announced up to $3 million in available support for manufacturers to use supercomputers at the department’s national laboratories to tackle major manufacturing challenges. The High Performance Computing for Manufacturing Program enables the use of high performance computing (HPC) expertise and resources for the manufacturing sector to address research and development challenges with HPC and investigate its use to support advanced energy and manufacturing issues. U.S. DOE plans to select 8–10 projects for this round of funding and seeks meritorious industry partners to participate in short-term, collaborative projects. A number of companies and their initial concepts will be selected and paired with a national lab HPC expert to jointly develop a full proposal this summer, with final selections to be announced in November. Selected projects will receive up to $300,000 to support access to supercomputers and experts at the partnering national labs, which include Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and ORNL. Concept paper applications are due July 26, 2017. To view the full solicitation and submission instructions, click here.
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| GAF Roofing Systems Call for Innovation
JUMP, an online crowdsourcing community launched by ORNL, has put out a call for submissions to a roofing systems innovation challenge. The challenge is seeking solutions for ensuring the energy efficiency and durability of low-slope roofing systems employing concrete decks. Specifically, the challenge is to develop new materials or installation methods that can be employed to modify a typical roofing system with a concrete deck to reduce the likelihood of moisture-related problems. Winners will receive a $10,000 cash award (sponsored by industry partner GAF) and up to $20,000 worth of in-kind support from ORNL technical experts. On June 29, from 1-2 pm Central, ORNL will detail more information about the call for submissions via webinar. To register for this webinar, click here. Submissions to the call are due by August 27 at 11:59 pm Eastern. For more information, and to submit an idea, click here.
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| Development Assistance Opportunity for Roll-to-Roll Advanced Energy Materials Manufacturing
U.S. DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) recently announced a call for cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) between national laboratories and industrial partners to address roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing challenges that will allow rapid transfer of manufacturing and processing technologies from the lab to the plant floor, resulting in less costly and more energy efficient products entering the marketplace. These efforts will be supported with current and prior year funds. Only projects that have a strong likelihood of creating jobs domestically and enabling manufacturing of hydrogen and/or fuel cell technologies are of interest for FCTO funding. CRADAs will require industry to provide at least a 50% cost share, which can be monetary funds or in-kind contributions (e.g., facilities, services, and staff time). Up to $1 million is available from FCTO to complement $1.3 million in Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) funding. Proposals will be considered as funding allows. For more information, and to view the full solicitation, click here. Proposal and technical inquiries should be directed to R2RAMM@ornl.gov.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
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| SEEA Networking Luncheon: From City Ordinances to Public Health Initiatives - A Whole New World of Energy Efficiency Possibilities
On July 11, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Central, the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) will host a networking luncheon at the Wills Conference Center in Nashville. The luncheon will feature a panel discussion on creative new approaches to providing energy efficiency opportunities to populations in need. Speakers will include Lauren Westmoreland, Director of Built Environment, SEEA (moderator), Manuel Villanueva, Memphis Light, Gas and Water, Terry Malone, Tennessee Housing Development Authority, Ruth Ann Norton, Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, and Adriane Harris, City of Nashville. To register for the no-cost luncheon, click here.
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| Webinar: Municipal Know-How for EE: Energy Data, ESPCs, and Outdoor Lighting
On June 27, from 2-3 pm Central, U.S. DOE will host a webinar to highlight how Better Buildings Public Sector Partners have contributed to solutions that invigorate energy efficiency in the built environment. Following in the footsteps of the Energy Data Accelerator (EDA), two recent efforts, known as the Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) Accelerator and the Outdoor Lighting Accelerator (OLA), concluded after three years of developing solutions to market barriers, identifying both innovative and proven approaches, and creating toolkits that offer a wide array of resources. During this webinar, each program lead will review key accomplishments, introduce the resulting toolkit, and discuss the application of the toolkit to current state and municipal projects. To register for the webinar, click here.
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| TN Manufacturer Saves ~9% on Energy Costs After Implementing Low-Cost Measures Recommended by Tennessee Tech Assessment Center
Small manufacturers in Tennessee have better tools for improving productivity, securing information, reducing waste, and lowering energy cost. This is due to the work of the Tennessee Tech University’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC). Over the past 10 years, the IAC has helped manufacturing facilities operate more efficiently, while educating students in industrial energy assessment. Glenn Cunningham of Tech’s IAC recently published an analysis on air compressors and their energy savings opportunities. The paper notes that knowing the flow rate of an air compressor is required in order to generate savings calculations and details a flow meter that can be installed on the intake of an air compressor to measure the air production rate accurately. To access the paper, click here. Since 2006, the Tech IAC has provided no-cost technical assistance and whole-plant assessments to more than 180 manufacturers in order to help them reach their energy goals. The IAC has saved Tennessee industry $7 million in energy costs, and has helped to reduce roughly 0.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, the IAC has trained more than 140 students in industrial energy efficiency measures and processes. Tech’s IAC is housed in the Center for Manufacturing Research on the university’s campus in Cookeville and serves Middle and East Tennessee. The reach of the IAC is extended to West Tennessee by assessments conducted in partnership with the University of Memphis.
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| U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index
The U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index is an annual assessment of states’ progress toward advancing clean energy. The index illustrates how Southeast states stack up as compared to other regions. Of note, Florida, Virginia, and other Southeastern states earned high ranks in specific categories. Tennessee ranked #35 overall, but was ranked 4th nationwide for energy storage. The eight edition of the index covers more than 70 indicators in three main categories: Technology, Policy, and Capital. Data is included for all 50 states on clean-energy generation, energy storage installations, green building deployment, energy efficiency expenditures, VC investments, clean-energy patents, and more. For more information and to view the index, click here.
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| LED Street Lighting Tools and Resources
Similarly, a recent report by the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance and the LED Systems Reliability Consortium looks at LED luminaire reliability and the relationship between LED lifetime claims and color shift or lumen depreciation. To access the full report, click here.
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