A renewable-energy research center that will practice what it preaches by conforming to rigorous on-site energy-efficiency standards is set for ground-breaking today on the Stony Brook University campus.

Called the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, the facility will become the home for developing and testing renewable energy sources and technologies that minimize environmental impacts. It will be built with a state Senate grant of $35 million at the former Flower Fields research park annexed by Stony Brook University in 2005.

Officials said the facility will become a model for energy efficiency in itself, by sporting solar cells and windows that provide for maximum interior lighting and climate regulation. Energy-efficient desk lamps will replace overhead lights. Rainwater collected on its roof will be used for flushing toilets. It will strategically locate plants and shrubs to minimize water runoff, and offer special parking for low-emission vehicles.

The center, which is co-chaired by National Grid USA chairman Robert Catell and Stony Brook President Shirley Strum Kenny, is in the process of staffing up. Sources said Catell has approached former LIPA chief executive Richard Kessel to consider heading up the center, but a decision is not finalized.

Ground-breaking comes at a critical time for the region, the state, and the globe. Amid a global warming crisis and record oil prices, utilities are under pressure to meet aggressive energy-efficiency standards.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer earlier this year instituted a program that seeks to cut the state's energy consumption by 15 percent by 2015. The Long Island Power Authority, which will soon release a new set of energy efficiency programs, recently balked at installing a 40-turbine wind farm off Jones Beach because of its prohibitive costs. But it has committed to pursuing renewable energy, including a more economical wind farm. The winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, including former Vice President Al Gore, were recognized for ringing the alarm bell about global warming.

Catell in a statement said the center's projects, which combine academic, government and business interests, will help "stimulate the economy, improve the environment, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels." A former KeySpan facility in Hauppauge is being used as an interim home for the center until construction is completed in late 2009.

Miriam Rafailovich, chief scientist at the center, said a primary area of research will be on nano technologies, and specifically the creation of nano fuels. Manipulation of the basic molecular building blocks of such fuels, she said, could unlock vastly superior energy sources. The mission, she said, is to come to a "major technology breakthrough that will make energy cheaper, cleaner and easier to use."

Source