Is there a Smart Microgrid in your Campus’ Future?

The Sustainable Business Accelerator is pleased to announce an agreement between their client, Consolidated Energy Design, Inc. (CED) and Stevens Institute of Technology to undertake a demonstration of the country’s first “smart microgrid” system integrating electrical, gas, and water usage, solar PV, electric vehicles and advanced energy storage on campus with self-healing artificial intelligence and prediction technology software.

This system is supported by the world’s largest power grid (PJM), which will be monitoring this project (see PJM support letter).

The programming features FADRS® SG-MATIS© – a next generation version of “Fully Automated Demand Response/Demand Reduction system” (FADRS®; pronounced faders) that communicates in real time with the grid, and optimizes energy use from all sources in such a way as to save 15-30% more than other energy management and building automation software, and to enable the university to participate in all three PJM Demand Response programs as well as Frequency Regulation.

The net result is that Stevens Institute of Technology could end up with ZERO utility cost while at the same time doing its part to make the PJM grid more reliable and stable.

To see if this is an appropriate solution for your campus, please contact Chris Kogler at ckogler@sbanj.org or at 908-334-8263 to schedule an onsite evaluation.

We’re also changing the domain name, and eventually the existing sites will all forward to http://sbanj.org, and the email addresses will change also.

But when we thought about printing out a hundred copies of all of our information sheets and putting them in shiny folders, we thought this was the opposite of “sustainable.” So we’re posting these handouts here, in a convenient PDF format that won’t get thrown in the trash (or, preferably, the recycle):

About the Incubator (2 pages): SBI-NewBrief1-91311
Morristown EcoCenter (2 pages): SBI-NewEcoCenter17Aug11sm-91311
SBI – Who We Are (1 page): 1pSBI-WhoWeAreR1
SBI – Affordable Patent Drawing Services to support your practice (1 page): SBI-INV1002A-IPOnePagerF8
SBI – Affordable CADD Services for World-Class Manufacturing: SBI-MFG1003A-ManufacturingOnePagerF 8

Please note: this entry, and the handouts it refers to, need to be updated to reflect the name change to “Sustainable Business Accelerator.”

We’ve also changed our name to the Sustainable Business Accelerator, to reflect our new vision and mission to grow sustainable social enterprises at every level.

At this point we need to look beyond the EcoCenter to the fostering of new sustainable enterprises, and indeed we’ve taken on one new client, Touch the Earth, which is exploring new uses for bamboo, and for whom we’re providing scientific and technical support. Our other major client, Consolidated Energy Design, seems poised to sign a number of agreements with universities and with private companies to install their FADRS™ and SG-MATIS products.

We’re also writing grant proposals and offering services — including CADD services, lab and testing services, and R&D assistance — as an integral part of what the SBI is about.

In a recent email to Congressman Rush Holt, our CTO Bob Dombrowski noted:

I would like to make you aware of one our most recent endeavors. We have submitted a grant proposal to ARPA-E (Control Number: 0475-1550) in which we are requesting funding to carry out a range of outreach & educational activities that will promote Renewable Energy & Green/Clean Tech initiatives in NJ. The proposed activities that will be supported in part with ARPA-E funding include the creation of an advanced energy industry network, including research professionals, academics, and business and government representatives in New Jersey (NJ), and incorporate a conference (scheduled for the beginning of 2012), an online portal, and networking events.

NJ is second only to California in solar, and a leader in wind, and other renewable technologies, but the community of researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors examining alternatives to fossil fuels is diffuse and disorganized. We will organize a statewide conference, knowledge portal, and ongoing networking organization for those now at the cutting edge, whether in R&D, commercialization, or investment.

The technologies covered by the conference will include:
• Solar, including thermal, PV, and hybrid systems
• Wind, including vertical and horizontal axis
• Biomass, including waste-to-energy
• Low-impact hydro, wave, tidal
• Geothermal
• Hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells
• Co-generation and hybrid technologies
• Conservation
• Storage (including batteries and fuel cells)
• Transmission, including grid optimization
• Community energy systems

A full outline of the conference agenda is included with the ARPA-E grant application attached to this email.

We feel that the proposed activities will create more communication between all the stakeholders in the state & also educate the public about what is going on in NJ in the areas of Renewable Energy & Green/Clean Tech. I thought I would include the grant application as an example of what the SBI is doing that supports your & President Obama’s vision for the future of America.

We are also carrying many other programs that support your programs to strengthen manufacturing. We offer extensive Computer Aided Design & Drafting (CADD) & Simulation/Visualization services for both the IP/Patent & Manufacturing markets. We are in communication with Stevens, Rutgers & NJIT about creating advanced industrial materials & chemistries from plant based feedstocks using sustainable manufacturing techniques. These bio-based production products can be scaled up to replace many existing petroleum based products.

We are also looking for an vacant industrial building to rehab & create a physical home for the SBI. Our target communities at this time are Perth Amboy, Rahway or Carteret – but we would consider any community in central NJ that would allow us to obtain US EDA funding for the project. The proposed [Accelerator] would concentrate on R&D, Tech Development, Tech Commercialization, Business Incubation & job growth for companies involved with Sustainability, Sustainable Manufacturing & Green/Clean Tech.

What needs to happen, of course, is that legislators and policy makers decide they want to support incubators and accelerators, and provide them with the resources to carry out these tasks. The economy clearly needs more investment, but this investment must be in areas that begin to alter the relationship between business and the environment, and that seek to build our economy in a way that it is truly sustainable in ecological and human as well as economic terms.

Sustainability, for us, is not simply a source of new products and technologies (though it includes plenty of that); rather, it’s a lens through which we view and evaluate business ideas, practices, and behavior. We provide support for as many of the good ideas as we can; and if there continue to be more out there (which clearly there are) we’ll try to grow to meet the demand. Contact us to see if we can collaborate to make your vision reality.

Beating the odds against survival requires entrepreneurs to pick the right investments, get business basics under control, build strong key relationships, and maximize the business value of scarce resources.

That’s where we come in.

Critical Early-Stage Support

The Sustainable Business Accelerator helps independent clean-tech entrepreneurs get through their critical early stages and also past the five-year survival hurdle.  For startups, we begin at the VERY beginning, helping new entrepreneurs

1. Pick the right business opportunities. Not every opportunity is an opportunity.  Startups often fail because entrepreneurs do not understand how to separate real opportunities from unrealistic dreams.   Clean-tech startups are no exception.  Our expertise, built on years of experience in business analysis, technology, sales, marketing, and risk management, can help entrepreneurs confidently pick the right opportunities and just as confidently avoid the wrong ones.
2. Get business basics under control. Innovative, clean-tech products and services cannot stand on their own. Survival depends on getting the basics under control. A REAL business plan. Accurate accounting.ffective marketing and sales. Defect-free production. Responsive service. Unless a small business gets business basics under control, and fast, it won’t survive. All of SBA’s professional staff have lived these experiences, making mistakes, learning from them, and understanding how to coach clients into getting their business basics under control.
3. Build strong key relationships. Clean-tech startups need financial support from investors, economic development support from their local communities, technical support from independent experts and research institutions, and business development support from sales and marketing channels.  Attracting this support requires compelling value propositions that we can help our clients create and communicate.
4. Maximize the business value of scarce resources. Many startups fail by burning through their resources with inefficient business and technology operations.  We have decades of experience in helping for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies reduce the costs, while improving the performance of business and technology operations.  Through training, coaching, and hands-on support, we can help startups extract maximum efficiency, effectiveness, adaptability, and business value from every minute and every dollar.