A new “Call for Innovation” — for ideas relating to energy efficiency in residential buildings — is being launched by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and industry partner CLEAResult as part of the JUMP initiative.
The winner of the new National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Call for Innovation challenge will be awarded $3,000 in cash and “in-kind support from CLEAResult.” Entries will be evaluated by a team of judges, though public voting (through the JUMP website) will also play a part.
“The objective is to leverage citizen science to tackle energy-efficiency challenges in the buildings sector,” stated Lieko Earle, NREL senior engineer. “Our call for innovation is inviting members of the general public to submit their best ideas.”
The press release provides more:
JUMP, launched by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) last year, is an online crowdsourcing community that is co-hosted by NREL, ORNL, and three other DOE national laboratories, as well as top companies and organizations in the buildings industry. JUMP, which stands for Join in the discussion, Unveil innovation, Motivate transformation and Promote technology-to-market, now has six open technology challenges. This platform provides an opportunity for innovators, particularly small entrepreneurs, to present ideas for new energy-efficient buildings technologies to private and public sector leaders in research and development.
…Additionally, JUMP provides opportunities for all users to comment and vote on posted ideas. The community discussion helps DOE, the labs, and industry partners gauge the market’s interest in the topic and potential solutions.
For some background here, the Austin, Texas–based firm CLEAResult is currently the top provider of energy efficiency programs + services in North America. Hence the firm’s partnership with NREL for the new innovation challenge.
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