DOC Announced the $12 Million i6 Green Challenge

The Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration announced it is accepting applications for the $12 million i6 Green Challenge. EDA, in partnership with the departments of Agriculture and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will select six teams from around the country that present the most innovative ideas to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a green innovation economy. EDA will award up to $1 million to each of the six awardees. Its partner agencies will award more than $6 million in additional funding to i6 Green winners.

This year's competition will focus on the promotion of Proof of Concept Centers — these centers support all aspects of the entrepreneurship process. Assistant Secretary of Commerce John Fernandez said, "The i6 Green Challenge will help catalyze American ingenuity by leveraging the proven benefits that these centers offer to promote green growth, advance cluster development and strengthen the economic ecosystems of America's regions."

On March 21, 2011, Secretary Fernandez will host a webinar on the i6 Green Challenge. The webinar will begin at 3:00 p.m. EST and should last roughly a half hour. To register visit: http://www.eda.gov/i6.

To be eligible under i6 Green, a proposed project must be focused on one or more of these areas:

• Renewable Energy — Projects that support the development, production, or use of energy derived from renewable resources.
• Energy Efficiency — Projects that support a reduction in the energy produced or the energy consumed from the same level of output.
• Reuse/Recycling/Restoration — Projects that support the reuse of a given product (or products), or produce a new or innovative product from recyclable materials.
• Innovations in Green Building Technology/Manufacturing — Projects that facilitate technological advances, processes and materials that minimize environmental and public health impacts of buildings over their lifecycles.

U.S. states, local governments, institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations are eligible. Letters of intent must be submitted by May 2, 2011. Proposals are due by May 26, 2011. For more information regarding the i6 challenge: visit the i6 Green Challenge website or read the RFP