Upcoming Events
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··· MARCH 18, 2009
Join Oregon BEST researcher Frank Vignola (UO) at Solar Directions: The Future of Solar in Oregon in Hillsboro, OR.
··· APRIL 16, 2009
Join Oregon BEST researcher Alexandre Yokochi (OSU) and BEST board member Bill Nicholson, at the Business of Renewable Energy Conference in Portland, OR.
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CONTACT US
Oregon BEST
P.O. Box 212
Portland, OR 97207
Tel. 503-725-9849
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Executive Director's Report
Welcome to the inaugural issue of our e-News Update, sent six times a year to keep you informed of the latest news from Oregon BEST as we foster industry-university collaborations that fuel Oregon's green economy.
This year is off to a great start for Oregon BEST. Today, we announced a $1.6 million collaborative investment in green building research facilities at PSU and OSU. This is the next step toward establishing a green building research center of national prominence located right here in Oregon.
We recently hosted two working meetings -- one on bioproducts and another on green building -- where Oregon businesses, researchers, and government staffers gathered to brainstorm new materials, technologies, and ways to collaborate. Industry leaders learned about research underway at Oregon universities and lab facilities available to industry partners. Faculty heard how they can tailor research to meet the needs of Oregon businesses engaged in green building and renewable energy.
Oregon BEST continues to leverage federal research funding for Oregon's university researchers. Portland State University recently won a grant from the U.S. Green Building Council to advance their green roof research, Oregon State University won a Bonneville Power Administration grant to advance wind energy storage technologies, and the University of Oregon has received funding for solar energy research.
Thank you for your interest in Oregon BEST.
David Kenney, President & Executive Director
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Oregon BEST Facilitates $1.6M Investment in Green Building Research Facilities
Investments Fund New Labs at PSU, OSU
Leveraging Oregon's reputation as an international green building leader, Oregon BEST has facilitated a $1.6 million collaborative investment in green building research that positions the state to establish a research center of national prominence and offers Oregon's green building industry access to advanced research tools, expertise, and better trained employees. The investment at Oregon State University and Portland State University funds a network of new, shared laboratories and equipment for developing and testing new green building materials, technologies, and entire buildings. The new labs are part of a transformative, multi-institutional research model for Oregon that is helping fuel the state's economy, improving education, and ultimately creating jobs. "Oregon has an unprecedented opportunity to be the green building capitol of the U.S., and investing in a shared research network will help Oregon seize that leadership opportunity and compete globally with anyone," said Dennis Wilde, a principal at Portland, Ore.-based Gerding Edlen, one of the nation's most respected green development companies. Read More >> |
Connecting Oregon Businesses
With Oregon Researchers
Green Building
"Right now, Oregon has the opportunity to be the epicenter of the green building industry," said Steve Straus, president of Glumac International, a sustainable engineering firm with offices in Seattle, Portland, and LA. Straus
was speaking to more than 90 Oregon architects, green developers,
representatives of renewable energy companies, building contractors,
and university researchers who attended an Oregon BEST-hosted green
building workshop in Portland on February 17th.
Participants explored how business-university-government collaboration
will speed continued growth in Oregon's green building industry and
could lead to a green building research center of national prominence
located in the state. Read More >>Bio-Based Products
On January 30th, Oregon BEST hosted a workshop on
bioproducts at the Oregon Institute of Technology campus in Klamath
Falls, where representatives from businesses, universities, and
government agencies from five southern Oregon counties brainstormed new
ways for Oregon to innovate and improve bio-based products and fuels as
a means of sparking economic stimulus and creating jobs.
"Oregon BEST is helping ensure our state remains a national leader in
the green energy economy by facilitating university-business
collaborations that develop new bio-based products and fuels from
agricultural and forestry waste," said Mark Kendall (pictured), a senior policy analyst at the Oregon Dept. of Energy. "This ultimately creates jobs and clean technologies for Oregonians"
Douglas County Commissioner Joseph Laurance said, "I've attended 12
conferences of this kind, both here in Oregon and in other parts of the
country, and this one hosted by Oregon BEST was by far the best I've
ever been to." Read More >>
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Oregon BEST Researcher PROFILE
Jim Long: Helping Oregon Farmers Produce Their Own Biofuel
Jim Long, a professor at the Oregon Institute of Technology, is
helping Oregon's small farmers overcome the cost of diesel fuel by
converting feedstock they grow on their own land into clean-burning
biodiesel. Some of the small presses used to crush the feedstock to
extract oil are highly sensitive to moisture levels.
Long and fellow OIT professor Mark Timmerman are using Oregon BEST
seed funding to design a low-cost, computerized system that monitors
and regulates moisture levels during the crushing process.
"If
the moisture content of the oilstock is too high, the press gums up; if
it's too low, the efficiency drops off," says Long. "So farmers have to
employ an extra person to monitor the moisture content and carefully
adjust the input of water."
If the system can maintain a 12 percent oil content in the mash after
crushing, the mash can be sold as feedstock for dairy cattle. This
creates a value-added product from what would normally be just waste
and makes the system even more economically viable.
When complete, the system could be a new product for an Oregon
company, which means more jobs for Oregonians, in addition to relief
from rising fuel prices for Oregon farmers and ranchers. Watch the Video >>
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Oregon BEST Research SPOTLIGHT
Oregon SuNRISE: A Network of Shared Solar Research Tools
In order to speed development of photovoltaic R&D, a team of Oregon
BEST researchers is establishing a unique, shared network of solar
energy research tools, expertise, and instrumentation here in Oregon.
The Oregon Support Network for Research and Innovation in Solar
Energy (Oregon SuNRISE) will consist of a network of shared facilities
and expertise that spans the Oregon University System and is accessible
to both industrial and acacdemic clients. Seed funding from Oregon BEST
enabled acquisition of a research-scale solar simulator, a device that
can test solar cells and solar microreactors under controlled
laboratory conditions.
University of Oregon professor Mark Lonergan is teaming with Frank Vignola (pictured),
director of the U of O Solar Energy Lab, and others on the project. "We
want this new network to provide vital infrastructure for photovoltaics
research and developmen, serve as a nexus for research collaboration,
stimulate commercialization of state-of-the-art photovoltaics, and
enhance the education of future scientists and engineers who will work
in the PV field," Lonergan says. Read more >>
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Established with funding from the Oregon Legislature in 2007, the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST)
connects Oregon businesses with the state's shared network of university
labs to transform green building and renewable energy research into
on-the-ground products, services, and jobs that power Oregon's green
economy. Oregon BEST's partner universities include Oregon State University, the Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland State University, and the University of Oregon.
Oregon BEST · PO Box 212 · Portland, OR 97207-0212Tel. 503-725-9849 · On the web: oregonbest.org
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