The US Green Building Council-Northern California Chapter (USGBC-NCC), along with Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s premier building materials businesses, announced the finalists for the NOVA Innovation competition.
Out of a field of 168 entries, eight finalists made it through the process in which judges helped select the cream of the crop, the release said.
New Family Home with Solar Panels via Shutterstock
Some of the judges that selected the last eight range from MIT experts, Webcor, a top building contractor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the US Green Building Council-Northern California Chapter.
The NOVA Innovation competition will take place in 2012 in San Fransisco at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo on November 15, 2012.
The eight finalists will pitch their ideas in a formula that’s similar to speed dating, in front of key business people from Saint-Gobain at the Expo.
There is much at stake, both financially and opportunity-wise, for the winners. First prize will grab $50,000, second place is worth $25,000 and third $10,000. However, all Nova participants will have the opportunity to work with the Nova External Venturing Organization in looking at possible ideas to develop.
Nova officials are really looking forward to these crop of participants for this year’s event.
“This year’s NOVA Innovation Competition has attracted our largest field of entrants yet. And it’s no wonder; word has finally gotten out that Saint-Gobain offers startups tremendous value in providing access to a global market along with the support, resources and expertise that comes from the building materials industry leader,” said director of NOVA External Venturing and Northboro R&D Center, (Saint-Gobain’s largest R&D Center in North America), Rakesh Kapoor, in the statement.
Here is the list of finalists who will be pitching their ideas in mid-November:
Aquamost Inc. (Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA) – A chemical-free system for the remediation of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other oil/gas well wastewater, combining catalyst plates, UV light and electricity.
Architectural Applications (Portland, Oregon, USA) – An air conditioning efficiency technology that uses membrane-based, air-to-air heat and moisture exchangers integrated into the building envelope system to create healthier indoor environments with much less energy.
Blue Water Bioproducts (Port Huron, Michigan, USA) – Developer of eco-friendly polyurethane resins made from lignin, a pulp and paper industry waste product.
Encapsulix (Simiane, Provence, France) – Developer of thin-film coating equipment that make OLED, LED lighting, photovoltaics, organic electronics more durable and less expensive to manufacture.
Heliotrope Technologies (Oakland, California, USA) – Developer of energy efficient electrochromic glass windows that can switch between solar transparent, heat blocking and heat and lighting blocking states.
PlanGrid (Sunnyvale, California, USA) – Complete collaborative platform for construction information and the fastest pdf viewer in the universe.
Smarter Shade (South Bend, Indiana, USA) – A daylight control platform that enables a new or existing window to go from clear to dark with the touch of a button, which activates a sliding film.
ThermoCeramix Group (Boston, Massachusetts, USA) – A radiant heat system integrated into sheetrock and tiles for ceilings and walls.
Source: Saint-Gobain
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