3M Announces Partnership with U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center Building Energy Efficiency Consortium

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- 3M announces it has been selected as a partner in the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) Building Energy Efficiency consortium. The CERC, established in 2009 by President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao, is intended to facilitate joint research and development on clean energy technology by teams of scientists and engineers from the U.S. and China. As part of the Building Energy Efficiency consortium, 3M will participate in research on building efficiency strategies, tools and practices in areas such as building envelope technologies and integration of new construction materials for building energy efficiency.

Led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the U.S. contingent of the CERC Building Energy Efficiency consortium currently includes several other industrial partners and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Among other projects, the consortium will collaborate during the remaining years of its charter on a number of demonstration buildings in China to incorporate 3M energy efficiency technologies and to study these products at work in various Chinese environments, as well as with locally sourced Chinese building components.

“3M’s participation in the consortium will not only help us drive the growing market for large-scale energy efficiency and sustainability projects forward, but will give all members the opportunity to learn firsthand about the energy efficiency needs of the Chinese market,” said Stefan Babirad, Ph.D., technical director for 3M Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division. “This partnership will also allow us to gain invaluable customer feedback to help shape future innovations.”

“We are proud to join this initiative to study and improve energy efficiency in both the U.S. and China,” said Ashish Khandpur, Ph.D., vice president of research & development for 3M’s Industrial Business Group. “We look forward to applying 3M innovations to solve challenges with our partners and lead the way for improvements that stand to make a global impact.”

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