Sandia National Laboratories has launched a Sustainability Innovation Foundry intended to combine labs-wide resource conservation with efforts to turn research in fields related to sustainability - including the smart grid and renewable energy - into business opportunities.
"Sandia has experience on the facilities side and a tremendous wealth of knowledge on the research and development side," says Jack Mizner, manager of facilities partnerships and planning at Sandia. "We've been trying to figure out for a long time how to connect the two. We think we've finally made the connection."
The goal is to institutionalize conservation and expand science and technology research to make Sandia a leading sustainability research and development lab. The labs would be a resource for businesses, governments and institutions that want to use Sandia technology in their own sustainability efforts, the laboratory explains. Work can include collaborative research agreements, technology licensing and other partnerships.
Growth is expected in areas such as alternative and renewable energies, carbon sequestration, micro and smart grids, energy and water conservation, transportation, urban planning, infrastructure, and the security of ecosystems around energy, water and food supplies.
