A research group headed by Penn State University received $129 million in federal funding --the largest grant in school history from the department of energy -- to develop an "energy innovation hub," reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The 'hub' is expected to launch on October 30.
The group, which includes Princeton, Rutgers, UPenn and other universities, will research ways to reduce energy use and pollution in large, older buildings. The research team will base their studies out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. They also want to focus on showing new workers how to best retrofit with new construction, reports the Inquirer.
The consortium will do so by taking the navy’s old, run down gym and turning it into lab and office space, as well as developing a new 400,000-square-foot building and making it a living lab.
"It's really a technological game changer," Head of the project Henry C. Foley, Penn State's vice president for research and dean of the graduate school, told the paper.
The project will create about 1,200 jobs now and approximately 100K within the next 10 years, says the Inky.
The grant will be doled out over five years.
