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On the eve of high-level policy discussions about the federal role in job creation, university technology transfer, and regional clusters, the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) releases "The Power of Place 2.0: The Power of Innovation--10 Steps for Creating Jobs, Improving Technology Commercialization, and Building Communities of Innovation". 

Innovation assets for creating jobs

"The Power of Innovation," an update to "The Power of Place: A National Strategy for Building America's Communities of Innovation," outlines the role the federal government can take using research parks and other innovation assets for creating jobs and remaining a front-runner in the global technology competition.

"In 'The Power of Place,' AURP demonstrated how geography and connected communities play a large role in innovation," said Brian Darmody, AURP President. "In 'The Power of Innovation,' we offer ten steps, from policy changes to selected investments, that Congress and the President can take quickly to leverage existing federal assets to create jobs, technology companies and communities of innovation, without creating new bureaucracies."

AURP releases "The Power of Innovation" shortly after the Senate Commerce Committee passed Senate Bill 583: Building A Stronger America Act, sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor. The bill will now be considered by the full Senate. Its companion bill, H.R. 4413: The SPRINT Act, has been referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.

"Science parks provide a launch pad for economic activity in a community. They have a strong record of fostering talent, high tech innovation and job growth. Providing seed funding to create or expand these parks is a necessary investment for our economy as well as our global competitiveness," said Senator Mark Pryor.

The key to moving forward? According to Darmody, connectivity and flexibility in the federal government's investment in research spending, infrastructure support and other programs.

"The federal government, invests billions of dollars a year in research and development at universities and federal labs, and technology led economic development programs. We need better alignment among research universities, university research parks, technology incubators, sponsored program offices, and technology-transfer officials to meet better our nation's global technology competition," said Darmody.

About AURP: The Association of University Research Parks is a professional association of university related research and science parks. AURP's mission is to foster innovation, commercialization and economic growth through university, industry and government partnerships. For more information, visit AURP's Web site at www.aurp.net or contact Chelsea Simpson at chelseasimpson@aurp.net.

The electrical grid is where green building and green construction are really at.

Houston Neal explores how electricity offers job opportunities at The Software Advice Construction Blog.  Neal says "electrical contractors" will transition to "energy contractors" to support the green construction market, and that the profession will grow tremendously.  A study by the American Solar Energy Society projects renewable energy jobs for electricians to grow approximately 900% by 2030, just in the state of Colorado.

In the next ten to twenty years, "electrical contractor" will no longer be a suitable job title for electricians. They will transition into "energy contractors" to support the fast-growing green construction market.

CFOs looking toward 2010 anticipate positive increases in a number of areas. Key areas of expected increases include:

• Net earnings expected to rise by 22 percent (more than double anticipated Q3 mean increase of 11%)
• Revenue anticipated to grow by 10 percent
• Capital spending expected to grow by 8.9% (compared with an increase of 1.1% in Q3)
• Technology spending anticipated to increase by 6.1 percent
• Inventory anticipated to increase by 2.5 percent (compared with Q3, where CFOs predicted reductions of -1.9%)
• Hiring expected to grow by 2.9 percent (up from 1.7% in Q3)
• Price of products expected to grow by 1.13 percent (up from the Q3 projected increase of 0.7%)

When CFOs were asked this quarter to identify areas for increases in 2010, marketing and advertising and business acquisitions were also top of mind, with 39 percent of CFOs planning to increase marketing and advertising and 33 percent of CFOs planning increases in business acquisitions. In addition, while 37 percent of CFOs reported they will cutback on executive perks, a small number of respondents remain (4%) who plan to increase executive perks in the coming year.

Efficiency is the New Norm

"The return to a place where CFOs are anticipating increased earnings and revenue provides encouragement that those companies that have endured the downturn are ready to come back strong," said Marie Hollein, CEO and President, Financial Executives International. "As far as the new normal is concerned, efficiency is the name of the game."

When asked what their organizations would continue to do as they begin to emerge from the recession, nearly nine out of ten CFOs reported that they would continue process efficiencies put into place during the downturn.

Two-thirds (66%) said they will continue technological efficiencies, and one-third (34%) plan to continue the restructuring of their business.

CFOs Taking Steps to Be "Greener" but Debate Continues Over Regulation

As the global conversation on sustainability heats up, this quarter's survey examined what steps companies are taking to become more environmentally responsible, and why they may be taking them.

The most frequent "green" action among respondents' companies is

• reducing energy consumption in company facilities (48%).
  

This was followed by

• reducing waste in production and packaging (30%)
  

promoting incentives and initiatives encouraging customers to be "greener" (21%).

Least popular initiatives were reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from factories and plants (6%), and supporting legislation on environmental issues (7%).

Support of Environmental Legislation is Split

While few are actively supporting legislation on environmental issues, sentiment toward governmental regulation of environmental responsibility is split among CFOs.

49% believe regulation a bad response,

37% support government incentives to spur innovation,

14 percent support limits on emissions,

9 percent support cap and trade and other financial incentives.

Perhaps disappointingly, 28 percent of CFOs indicated that their companies are not taking any actions to make their companies more sustainable. With regard to those companies who are taking actions, the survey revealed a number of motivators. More than one-third cited cost efficiencies as the main driver, 31 percent refer to personal priorities of their leadership as the cause, 29 percent say enhancement of public perception is the reason, and 24 percent point to a desire to emerge as a committed leader in the industry.

Biomimicry Institute, Autodesk Announce World's First Database of Nature-Inspired Design Strategies

Imagine if buildings were as self-sufficient as living organisms: if they could gather water, filter air, and adapt to local climate conditions. Imagine if the natural world could teach us everything we need to know about sustainable, efficient design.

AskNature.org

Now for the first time, a new online database called AskNature.org will bring nature's best design ideas to design tables around the world. The new project, created by the Biomimicry Institute and sponsored by Autodesk, was announced on Nov. 21 at the Greenbuild 2008 conference in Boston.

AskNature.org is a free, public-domain online library of nature's best design ideas, organized by function and explained with illustrations and in language relevant to designers.

AskNature.org is a project of the Biomimicry Institute, founded by Janine Benyus, the renowned author of the book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. AskNature.org is collaborating with the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History and E.O. Wilson's Encyclopedia of Life as a source of data for the portal.

The portal explains in nontechnical language and enhanced with illustrations to explain how things work. The portal helps architects, designers, and engineers access and understand sustainable design concepts so they can use them in their own products and projects.

Biomimetic Information

Autodesk believes that biomimicry, as a design paradigm, can provide our customers with design intelligence to help them make smarter design decisions - whether they are designing a building, a train, a shoe or a city. Looking ahead, Autodesk's goal is to make biomimetic information accessible to a wide range of users globally. Autodesk product teams are investigating technology intersections, including those with the Autodesk® Seek web service, which has already made select biomimetic products available to designers.

Architects, designers and innovators can use this resource to study life's approaches to sustainable design--for example, how butterflies create pigment-free color, or how plants split water to release hydrogen.

"The core idea is that there is no need to reinvent the wheel. After 3.8 billion years of evolution, nature has already found the solutions to the sustainability challenges humans face," said Janine Benyus, founder of the non-profit Biomimicry Institute and author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.

AskNature.org--part search engine, part social network--is a place where biologists and innovators can meet, exchange information and design together.  The site also has a feature called "Thank a Genius," which encourages the investment of a portion of profits derived from bio-inspired innovations to go toward preserving the organisms and ecosystems that inspired the breakthrough.

AskNature.org is sponsored by Autodesk, a world leader in design innovation technology. With a user base of 9 million architects, designers and engineers around the world, Autodesk sees biomimicry as a revolutionary design concept that can help influence better design decisions.

A growing number of businesses are using biomimicry to solve their design challenges. As one example, the architectural firm HOK is planning a community development in India that seeks to mimic tree roots with its foundation structure, as a way to deal with soil stability problems. They are also designing roofs that shed water during monsoon season and also store water for use in the drought season--just like trees do in that environment. 

Biomimicry at Greenbuild 2008

Janine Benyus, along with renowned Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson  announce the launch of AskNature.org. on November 21, 2009.  Wilson's Encyclopedia of Life is integrated with the AskNature.org database.

For more information about the Biomimicry Institute: www.biomimicryinstitute.org.

For more information about Autodesk's role: www.autodesk.com/biomimicry

Earth: Blue Beauty

Fall 2009 EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships For Graduate Environmental Study

URL: http://epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2009/2009_star_gradfellow.html

Open Date: 08/19/2009  -  Close Date: 10/22/2009

Summary: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is offering Graduate Fellowships for master's and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study. The deadline is October 22, 2009 at 4:00 PM for receipt of paper applications, and October 22, 2009 at 11:59:59 PM ET for submittal of electronic applications to Grants.gov. Subject to availability of funding, the Agency plans to award approximately 120 new fellowships by June 30, 2010. Master's level students may receive support for a maximum of two years. Doctoral students may be supported for a maximum of three years, usable over a period of four years. The fellowship program provides up to $37,000 per year of support per fellowship.

A carbon-free economy refers to the amount of power generated from high-carbon / or petroleum sources.

Generation of energy and use of carbon fuels in concentrated in coal, petroleum and natural gas. Each carbon source carries a different amount of carbon impact. Weather as well as production capabilites and changes affect the level of carbon-intensive energy generation. Alternative energy is the recommended solution for a carbon economy. Those alternative energies are renewables: solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, etc.

California had a carbon peak in 2004 due primarily to the low snowpack that year. Because of the limited capacity for hydroelectric generation, more power was generated by natural gas or coal plants.

At the end of 2005, a coal plant located in Nevada and serving Southern California was shut down, and replacement power came from an in-state natural gas plant.

California's Carbon Economy continues a steady downward trend in the direction of a carbon- free economy. The downward trend could mean either that the State's economy is growing at a faster rate than GHG emissions or that emissions are decreasing at a faster rate than the economy is growing.

Over the long term and on a per-capita basis, California has made significant progress in delinking economic growth from GHG emissions. While GDP per capita has increased by 28% in 16 years, gross emissions per capita are 10% lower than in 1990.

Knowing how the carbon free economy will affect green careers and green jobs in California is part of a good career planning strategy. We suggest you read the annual "CALIFORNIA GREEN INNOVATION INDEX" (2009) to keep pace with green career data that will help you develop appropriate job skills and job search strategies to keep pace with the growing green economic shifts.

The Index provides insight on a California culture that includes three decades of ambitious state environmental and energy policies, putting California on a path to energy independence and one of the lowest per capita carbon footprints in the nation, all the while growing one of the most vigorous economies in the world.

California is at the forefront of green innovation investment and jobs. New data presented in the 2009 California Green Innovation Index shows that while total jobs increased by just ONE PERCENT statewide, green jobs have increased by TEN PERCENT since 2005.

Clean technology investment in California nearly doubled in 2008, reaching $3.3 billion. California is a national leader in solar, wind and battery patents. Still, more needs to be done in terms of both creation and adoption of new clean technology products and services to give California the leading edge in what is fast becoming a multibillion-dollar global clean technology market.

The California Green Innovation Index tracks California's effort to grow the economy while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions as mandated by the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).

Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) was signed into California law in 2006, mandating the first ever statewide cap on global warming pollution.  AB 32 has put California at the forefront of the fight against global warming by requiring the state to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. On December 11, 2008, the agency charged with the
implementation of AB 32, California Air Resources Board, adopted the Scoping Plan that lays out the actions California must take to meet the GHG emissions reduction targets.

Research included in this 2009 Green Innovation Index provides further evidence of the powerful economic stimulus clean energy policy can provide.

California's energy productivity, that is, the amount of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced per unit of energy, is 68% more productive than the rest of the nation.

Energy efficiency policies forged by California over the last 35 years have saved consumers over $56 billion, creating 1.5 million full-time jobs and $45 billion in payroll.

CALIFORNIA GREEN INNOVATION INDEX (2009)
The California Green Innovation Index provides insight on a California culture that includes three decades of ambitious state environmental and energy policies, putting California on a path to energy independence and one of the lowest per capita carbon footprints in the nation, all the while growing one of the most vigorous economies in the world. Download a copy of the report at Collaborative Economics.

Collaborative Economics, Inc.
785 Castro Street, Suite A
Mountain View, CA 94041
650.404.8120
www.coecon.com

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if the North American grid were just 5% more efficient, the energy savings would equate to eliminating the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars.

Support of the Smart Grid Maturity Model by DoE enables it to be accessible to all stakeholders of the electric power industry.

IBM and a group of leading utilities--the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition--have handed-over stewardship of their Smart Grid Maturity Model to the Carnegie Mellon® Software Engineering Institute (SEI). As progressive utilities around the globe modernize power grids with digital technology, executives want to know that making the grid smarter is the right thing to do and they want to know how to do it.

The electric grid is the largest and most complex machine in the world and in places it is now critically overburdened. Impacts of climate change, available technology, and the current economic crisis represent the final tipping point for a much needed overhaul.

The Smart Grid Maturity Model will serve as a strategic framework for utilities, vendors, regulators, and consumers that have a role in smart grid transformation--from technological to regulatory to organizational.

The Smart Grid Maturity Model

The Smart Grid Maturity Model provides utilities with a roadmap of activities, investments, and best practices for transformation to the smart grid and guidance in related technological, regulatory, and organizational issues.

The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon (SEI) is now the steward of the Smart Grid Maturity Model. The model was developed by IBM, and its ownership has been transferred to the SEI for its ongoing development and dissemination.

In addition to the SEI activities, the World Energy Council (WEC) will be a channel for global dissemination, participation and adoption of the model using its worldwide network of member committees.

The Smart Grid

The smart grid is the use of digital technology to modernize the power grid. It employs innovative products and services combined with intelligent monitoring, control, communication, and self-healing technologies to do the following:

• Facilitate the connection and operation of generators of all sizes and technologies
• Allow consumers to play a part in optimizing the operation of the system
• Provide consumers with greater information and supply choices
• Significantly reduce the environmental impact of the electricity supply system
• Deliver enhanced levels of reliability and security of supply

More than meters and mobility, the smart grid represents a whole new framework for improved management of electric generation, transmission, and distribution.

During 2009, a specially assembled team of experts will be planning the best ways to maintain and improve the maturity model on behalf of its user community. 

To stimulate, guide, and support efforts and investments in smart grids, the SEI will assume primary responsibility for the ongoing governance, growth and evolution of the model. In order to support widespread adoption and use, the SEI will ensure availability of the model and supporting materials and services for the user community; maintain consistency of its application, validity, and results; and analyze and provide feedback on its use, value and impact for stakeholders.

Tom Standish, group president of Regulated Operations, CenterPoint Energy, encourages every utility to participate in the Smart Grid Maturity Model survey. "It provides insights into where you are on your smart grid journey and what milestone objectives to set to achieve the benefits of smart grid - for both customers and business," said Standish.

IBM initially led the development of the model in collaboration with the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition and with support from American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC). More than 40 utilities worldwide have participated in the model to date, representing 100 million customers of utilities across the globe. A key function of the Smart Grid Maturity Model tool is to gauge advancements made in Smart Grids and show returns on investments. This function allows it to be well positioned to have a role in procedures being implemented in support of the US efforts to modernize the power grid. The model offers observable indicators to measure progress, and helps facilitate the development and execution of smart grid programs.

A web page at SEI will be updated frequently to keep you up to date and let you know how you can participate. 

An online webinar is available about the Smart Grid:  http://www.sei.cmu.edu/collaborating/spins/033009webinar.html