The SyracuseCoE is moving ahead with plans to construct a smart transportation portal to the Connective Corridor – part of a $8.7 million expansion underway at the CoE to develop “proof of concept” testbeds for biofuels processing, green infrastructure, wind/solar, combustion and thermal systems, smart transportation, smart lighting and other emerging clean technologies being developed and commercialized in NYS.  The SyracuseCoE signed a state incentive proposal NYS last month to officially move forward with the first stages of its New York Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (NYE-RIC) project.

Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor co-chairs a New York State CNY Regional Economic Development Council with Rob Simpson, CenterState CEO president.  Last year that group submitted a strategy that garnered a “best plan” award, earning more than $103 million for regional projects – including $3 million toward the construction of new research and development laboratories at the SyracuseCoE focused on advanced building technologies.  (Read full press release here:  http://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/generic/press-release-central-ny-04242012)

That award is part of a combined investment of $8.7 million in state, federal and private funds which will create seven new labs and testbeds, and formally launch NYE-RIC, a statewide alliance for energy efficient building innovations.

The Connective Corridor portal – a smart transportation testbed at the SyracuseCoE – will be a new facility that includes a bus kiosk, parking for 99 cars, charging stations for electric vehicles, photovoltaic arrays for producing electricity, bike racks and a water bottle refilling station.  Nearby will be a green infrastructure testbed that will include a variety of porous technologies, installed side-by-side, designed to help preserve one of the City of Syracuse’s four oldest sycamore trees.

The new biofuels testbed, a partnership effort with other colleges including SUNY ESF, will feature labs and equipment enabling faculty, researchers and students access to specialized facilities for researching new processes for producing fuels from biomass sources in pilot-scale batches.  This is a critical step for commercializing promising new clean fuel technologies being developed in the region.

The goal of the project is to foster academic-industry collaboration to research, develop, demonstrate and deploy new technologies in clean energy and environmental systems, with a particular focus on improving energy efficiency in built environments.  The SyracuseCoE headquarter building is already a living laboratory, and one of six Centers of Excellence in New York State.

NYE-RIC was developed in 2010 by the SyracuseCoE, CenterState CEO, the Partnership for New York City, major NYS corporations and multiple state agencies.  More than 100 partners forged an alliance to advance innovations in energy efficient building systems – harnessing world class R&D and advanced manufacturing assets in upstate with downstate strengths in real estate, finance and media.

That partnership continued through a NYE-RIC BRIDGE TO MARKETS program focused on launching new companies and technologies in the cleantech sector.  The initiative is led by The Syracuse CoE and CenterState CEO, together with The Partnership for New York City and a consortium of

• Colleges and universities
• State and local governments
• Private sector industry leaders
• Utilities
• Construction, engineering and architecture firms
• Labor organizations and trade organizations
• Finance and insurance institutions
• Investors and venture capital providers
• Real estate owners and developers
• Marketing and media firms.

The goal of the program is to connect the most promising new technologies and products being developed in upstate New York with early adopters, investors and media/marketing opportunities in the New York City metropolitan area, to create a network of early adopters who can help de-risk the technologies and demonstrate their market value, and ultimately help accelerate the adoption of new products in the marketplace.

The program works by bringing together:

• NYC real estate owners, venture capitalists, engineering/architecture firms, policy developers, and commercial bank financial product developers
• Vetted companies (primarily companies that have come through NYSERDA-funded clean energy incubators or other structured technology commercialization programs) that have market-ready technologies, products or services and who are seeking opportunities for beta testing, sales roll-out and/or investment

The outcomes of the program are:

• A plan to help break down barriers to entry for the technology
• A plan to deploy the technology
• A follow up action plan, as well as a system to measure and report results in terms of sales, company growth and energy efficiency

The outcomes are tangible.  The$41 million, 55,000 sq. ft. SyracuseCoE headquarters opened in March 2010 and recently earned LEED Platinum Certification – the first R&D facility in NYS to achieve this milestone.  It is being utilized by academic researchers and technology entrepreneurs from across New York State and around the world.  And the partnership is producing new companies and new technologies, which are rapidly being deployed into the marketplace – creating economic impact and advancing sustainability.

To learn more:  www.syracusecoe.org