New Energy Efficiency Center at Berkeley Lab Approved

Officials at Berkeley Lab announce that their facility has been selected to lead an international consortium that will manage the creation of a US-China Clean Energy Research Center on Building Energy Efficiency at the Lab.

The establishment of the Clean Energy Resource Center (CERC) was announced formally by US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao during a meeting that took place in Beijing in November 2009.

Analysts say that the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was the natural choice to led this effort, due to the vast experience in the field that its researchers have.

The construction of CERC will be funded by a $12.5 million grant, which will be awarded over a total period of five years. Consortium partners will provide at least $25 million in total US funding.

Partners in China will contribute an additional $25 million for the effort. CERC's main goal is to develop technologies for low-energy residential and commercial buildings, officials announced.

Another point of interest is determining precisely how human behavior affects building energy use. This has been established to be a determining factor in efforts to move away from fossil fuels.

The consortium in charge of CERC includes the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Beijing branch of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Beijing branch of ICF International.

Additional actors are the National Association of State Energy Offices, the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of California in Davis (UCD).

A large number of industrial partners have also signed on. The list includes Bentley, General Electric, Honeywell, Schneider Electric, and the Dow Chemical Company, among others.

“The US-China Clean Energy Research Center will help to save energy and cut costs in buildings in both the United States and China,” says official David Sandalow.

“This new partnership will also create new export opportunities for American companies, ensure the United States remains at the forefront of technology innovation and help to reduce global carbon pollution,” he adds.

Sandalow is the US assistant secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs at the DOE.

“Energy efficiency in buildings has the greatest potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next two decades of any energy sector,” Berkeley Lab scientist Mark Levine explains.

“This collaboration between China and the United States can lead the way in demonstrating the great opportunities for and benefits of cooperation between nations in addressing greenhouse gas emissions,” adds Levine, the leader of the consortium.