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Brooklyn, N.Y. — May 6, 2015 — Architecture, landscape architecture, and resiliency-leader thread collective LLC has announced that the firm is on the winning team to design and implement an innovative, small-scale city power plant that helps resist storms and flooding.
The team, led by energy management provider Bright Power, has been awarded funding to implement their “Resilient Power Hub” by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) as part of its RISE:NYC competition, a program that champions solutions for “business resiliency” to help protect New York City from the impacts of future storms, sea-level rise, flooding, and other effects of climate change.
The design and resiliency-expert thread collective will provide architecture, landscape architecture, and other design services for Bright Power’s Resilient Power Hub, a small-scale, storm-proof power plant to be deployed at three New York City locations using the prize money.
It will employ energy storage and microgrid technology by the project partner Growing Energy Labs, Inc., known as Geli.
“We are excited to be partner on this farsighted and essential project for a large city that needs to plan for resiliency and continuity in the face of future severe weather,” said Gita Nandan, an architect and principal of thread collective. “Our experience with resilient and sustainable building design as well as community resiliency planning will help support the innovative technology solutions developed by Bright Power and Geli.”
According to the energy management provider Bright Power, the RISE:NYC competition not only inspires innovation that targets the significant vulnerabilities in the coastal city’s buildings and infrastructure networks that Hurricane Sandy revealed in 2012, it also ensures that the most impactful, scalable, and replicable projects are implemented.
“Competitions like RISE:NYC bring out the best in our creative, technical minds and allow us to dream up powerful solutions to widespread problems,” said Jeff Perlman, president of Bright Power. “We are thrilled that the competition has recognized our Resilient Power Hub as a potentially transformative technology for our city.”
The NYCEDC’s president, Kyle Kimball, said the Resilient Power Hub is one of a “comprehensive suite of initiatives to mitigate the effects of severe weather and climate change,” adding that from a field of more than 200 award entries, “Each of the 11 innovative winning technologies will make the city a safer, stronger, and more resilient place, creating economic support and additional opportunities for New Yorkers and small businesses.”
Stemming from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, RISE:NYC was launched as a $30 million competition administered by NYCEDC to aid in the recovery and disaster prevention efforts of area small businesses.
A panel of expert advisors selected the 11 winners at a recent awards ceremony. Bright Power’s Resilient Power Hub is a small-scale power plant that provides buildings with instantaneous back-up power to critical systems when the grid goes down, as well as energy savings the rest of the time. It can operate independently or as part of the utility grid.
The Resilient Power Hub combines solar photovoltaics (PV), combined-heat-and-power (CHP), and energy storage under one automated system. The team added that Resilient Power Hub can be scaled up easily and quickly replicated in various building types.
For more information, visit www.brightpower.com and threadcollective.com.
