As a Founding Sponsor and one of the world’s largest building material companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions, Saint-Gobain made sustainable building material donations and plans to use the Center as a test site for its products to spur future innovation
Malvern, Pa. – Greentown Labs, the largest clean technology incubator in the United States, officially opened its expansion site, the Global Center for Cleantech Innovation. Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest building materials companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions, contributed building science expertise and building products from its family of companies to renovate a historic building that is now the home to 80 cleantech startup companies that are working to solve climate challenges with their hardware-focused innovations. The grand opening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, as well as cleantech leaders from around the country, including Minas Apelian, Vice President of CertainTeed R&D, Quality and Global Director of NOVA External Ventures at Saint-Gobain.
Charlie Baker, Governor of Massachusetts, take a behind-the-scenes tour of Greentown Labs. Photo credit: Bill McCormack
Saint-Gobain created a first-of-its-kind partnership with Greentown Labs, located in Somerville, Mass., in 2014. The partnership is an initiative of NOVA, the external ventures arm of Saint-Gobain, which connects startups with the company’s resources to nurture their ideas and grow their companies to scale. Saint-Gobain was the first and largest example of a corporation using the expansion facility as a test site for its products and materials. As a Founding Sponsor of Greentown Labs, the expansion site presented an opportunity for the company to enhance its support of the incubator and its own research and development efforts by providing building materials to make the Center a world-class facility that maximizes the comfort and well-being of members of Greentown Labs.
“Saint-Gobain’s continued partnership has contributed to Greentown Labs’ growth and ability to maintain our mission of supporting cleantech startups with the community and resources they need to thrive,” said Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs. “The company’s expertise and building materials provided for the Global Center made sure that we walk the talk of our mission and provide our members with a workspace that makes them more productive and creative while they develop technologies that address major energy and environmental challenges.”
The Global Center for Cleantech Innovation is adjacent to the incubator’s previous headquarters, which will be fully converted to laboratory space. The Greentown Labs campus now provides its members with prototyping lab space, a wet lab, a machine shop, electronics shop, office space for more than 450 entrepreneurs and a 500-person event space.
An office space at Greentown Labs
The Global Center for Cleantech Innovation was designed using innovative technology from two of Saint-Gobain’s brands: CertainTeed and SageGlass. Approximately 830 square feet of SageGlass, the world’s smartest electrochromic glass, was installed on the third floor of the Center to help achieve the building’s sustainability goals while creating a workplace that optimizes employee well-being by maintaining outdoor views and preventing heat gain and glare. Member feedback will allow building scientists to measure the impact SageGlass has on occupant comfort. The data collected and subsequent analysis will directly impact future product and business development.
CertainTeed installed a suite of its products in the Center, including a 33,000-square-foot Flintlastic® SA Self-Adhered Roof System and an array of acoustical ceiling and wall solutions that create a quiet, comfortable environment conducive to occupant productivity while also conserving energy and resources.
“Our nearly five-year partnership with Greentown Labs is all about sharing ideas, culture and community. As a company that has been creating great living places and improving daily life by combining comfort and sustainability for more than three-and-a-half centuries, we saw an opportunity to share our knowledge and products with Greentown Labs to ensure the Center was built with materials that are as technologically advanced and sustainable as the solutions that are being invented there. We also saw an opportunity for our building scientists to test our products in a real work environment, similarly to how we do in Saint-Gobain’s North American headquarters, which helps us improve our products to meet the needs of our customers,” said Apelian.
The expanded facility is allowing Saint-Gobain to maintain its existing test facilities and increase on-site prototyping capabilities, available to Greentown Labs members and Saint-Gobain employees. For additional information about the Global Center for Cleantech Innovation, please visit: https://bit.ly/2wE7LQm
About Saint-Gobain in North America
Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest building materials companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions, helps create great living spaces by combining comfort and sustainability. For more than three-and-a-half centuries, Saint-Gobain has been enhancing the well-being of people everywhere, whether it’s by addressing climate change, delivering true sustainable development, advancing the information revolution, participating in medical breakthroughs or playing a vital role in space exploration.
In North America, Saint-Gobain has approximately 150 locations and more than 15,000 employees. In the United States and Canada, Saint-Gobain reported sales of approximately $6.1 billion in 2017. Learn more about Saint-Gobain North America by visiting www.saint-gobain-northamerica.com and connect with Saint-Gobain North America on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs is a community of bold, passionate entrepreneurs creating world-changing energy technologies that transform the way we live, work, and play. Located in Somerville, Mass., and founded in 2011, the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation is the largest cleantech incubator in the United States, operating a 100,000 sq. ft. campus that empowers entrepreneurs to solve today’s biggest energy and environmental problems. Its mission is to enable a vibrant community of startups to realize their visions by providing access to the resources, labs, and funding they need to thrive. For more information, please visit www.greentownlabs.com or find us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
