A building has many complex subsystems, and they are generally designed and installed by different people. Unlike with say, an automobile, these professionals do not necessarily communicate with each other - from the developer to the architect to the subcontractor.
And the project leaders acknowledge that all the gee-whiz gadgetry in the world will not make a difference if no one uses it. The project officials will visit schools to describe their work and encourage people to enter the green-building field.
Business owners will be able to follow their work on an interactive website.
And some research will look at policies to encourage adoption of the technologies, such as incentives or regulation.
Still others will study energy generation and storage - for example, batteries to capture excess solar or wind energy for later use, when it is not sunny or windy.
Then there's a concept called combined heat and power - generating electricity on or near the site, perhaps with a gas-powered microturbine. Large power plants lose much of their energy in the form of waste heat, whereas the excess heat from a small, on-site plant can be used to heat the buildings.
The bottom line, said Freihaut, is that there is a lot of innovation to be done:
"I tell my students, 'Look, you can be richer than Bill Gates.' "
Contact staff writer Tom Avril at 215-854-2430 or tavril@phillynews.com
