Don't Worry About the Government?

The LEED-NC "Green Building" Rating System and Energy Efficiency in U.S. Commercial Buildings
By David M.Hart

Concerns about climate change, increasing energy demand, and energy security present enormous challenges. Dealing effectively with these issues requires the development and commercialization of early-stage technology as well as the scale up of industries based on mature energy technologies. For city regions, these broad challenges provide exciting opportunities for long-term economic development building on a foundation of these new industries.

The broad goal of our research is to describe and understand the role of local systems of innovation in developing the photovoltaic industry and in advancing photovoltaic technology. More specifically, the main research questions we aim to explore are: (a) What is the role of public research institutions (i.e. universities, national research laboratories) in fostering innovation in the solar photovoltaic industry? (b) What lessons can we learn for city regions such as Abu Dhabi that are almost entirely oriented towards a single industry (in this case oil and gas) but seek to develop new industries based on renewable energy sources? Using qualitative research methods we are conducting historical case studies of three national contexts with varying levels of commitment to the photovoltaics industry: Germany, the United States (California and Massachusetts), and the United Arab Emirates.