Penn State To Lead $159 Million Energy-Efficiency Initiative

Energy researchers at Penn State will lead a sweeping new initiative in energy efficiency, to be funded with the most substantial grant package seen in the university’s history, Penn State announced Tuesday.

Over the next five years, the funding will include $129 million from several federal sources and $30 million from the Pennsylvania state government, according to a Penn State report.

The money will enable the university to take the lead role in developing and guiding an Energy Innovation Hub at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. There, academic, private and national-laboratory researchers will look into how best to ‘save energy, cut carbon pollution and position the United States at the forefront of the industry,’ the Penn State report reads.

In essence, their core goal will be to make buildings more energy-efficient, Penn State noted.

Of the government funding pledged, $122 million will come from the U.S. Department of Energy; three other federal agencies will deliver about $7 million more. The $30 million from the state will be used to construct the physical facility itself, dubbed the Navy Yard Clean Energy Campus, according to Penn State.

Henry Foley, the university’s vice president for research, is listed as the principal investigator for the overall research proposal. In the Penn State report, he said the effort will drive innovation and job growth not only in Philadelphia, but also across the country.

Eleven academic institutions, two Department of Energy laboratories and five industry partners, plus economic-development agencies and community colleges, will have presences at the Clean Energy Campus, according to Penn State.

Listed academic partners include Carnegie Mellon University, Drexel University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pennsylvania and Virginia Tech. Penn State already runs three Department of Energy centers at the Navy Yard.