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The Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry Inc. today announced a pledge of $1.55 million to the (SyracuseCoE) as part of a multi-year strategic and collaborative partnership to support research and other initiatives in support of sustainability and energy efficiency in buildings. The LEED-Platinum-designed SyracuseCoE HQ, which is equipped with Siemens’ building automation system, will act as a living laboratory, house office space for staff and partners, and demonstrate new technological innovations in SyracuseCoE’s core focus areas of clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality and water resource management.

Christoph Vogel, Siemens vice president and head of the building technologies division’s control products and systems business unit, was joined at the announcement today, held in the SyracuseCoE HQ lobby, by U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei (D-25), New York Assemblyman William B. Magnarelli (D-120), New York Sen. David Valesky (D-49), Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor, SU Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina, SyracuseCoE Executive Director Ed Bogucz and SyracuseCoE Board Chair Peter King.

“For more than 150 years, the name ‘Siemens’ has been synonymous with global innovation,” says Vogel, “and this is especially true when it comes to environmental responsibility and improving the sustainability and energy efficiency of buildings. We are thrilled to be supporting SyracuseCoE and excited about the potential impact our contribution will have on the building industry as a whole.”

“Today’s announcement of a strategic partnership between Siemens and SyracuseCoE will help leverage the unique facilities and research capabilities readily available in Syracuse and Central Upstate New York,” says Congressman Maffei. “I applaud the Siemens team for its commitment and wish them success in the pursuit of building systems research with SyracuseCoE.”

The scope of the strategic partnership agreement with Siemens allows SyracuseCoE and its regional stakeholders the opportunity to chart a vision and create a roadmap for sustainable building development, execute specific research projects, fund graduate student research in SU’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, and engage Siemens’ global network of innovation through the participation of Siemens Corporate Research, located in Princeton, N.J. Further, Siemens will directly support the maintenance and efficient operation of the newly built SyracuseCoE HQ facility from its branch office in Syracuse. Locally, the branch employs 75 people, and it is joined regionally by another 235 employees serving Central Upstate New York and Vermont.

“This collaboration among Siemens, the federal government and SU takes cross-sector partnership to a new level,” says Cantor. “Not only will each partner in this community of experts—and the public—benefit, but the Center of Excellence will become a test bed with smart technology literally embedded within the walls of this model facility, giving our faculty and students extraordinary opportunities to integrate discovery and learning while making a difference in the world.”

“This strategic partnership between Siemens and SyracuseCoE is an excellent example of how collaboration between industry and academia will help us take the next step toward a sustainable future,” says Bogucz. “We thank Siemens for making this investment toward innovative solutions that will make buildings healthier and more energy efficient.”

SyracuseCoE’s focus on building energy efficiency through the application of automation and control technologies is central to its collaboration with Siemens. According to Osman Ahmed, the global head of research and innovation for the building technologies division, “The infusion of high-value global research and innovation and direct, local, hands-on support creates a unique opportunity to provide a dynamic living research platform that will guide and support our development of new control and sensing technologies ready to meet the needs of existing and emerging markets.”

The building automation system installed by Siemens at the SyracuseCoE HQ ensures that heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and other building systems perform in harmony. The system provides information that building managers need to maximize energy efficiencies as well as optimize indoor air quality, such as advising occupants when outside conditions are favorable for natural ventilation. Window blinds are also operated automatically for lighting and temperature control, depending on the level of solar radiation and the position of the sun. Information gathered by this complex system will be used for comprehensive studies of sustainable building performance.

“The Siemens-SyracuseCoE partnership is yet another example of Central Upstate New York’s leadership in green technologies,” says Sen. Valesky. “We are proving that by working together—as evidenced by the university-industry and public-private partnership we are celebrating today—we can achieve the best results.”

“Creating sustainable systems through clean and renewable energy is an investment in our community, economy, and future,” says Assemblyman Magnarelli. “The partnership between Siemens and SyracuseCoE is a combination of a business mentoring and teaching students, who in return will help the company by providing fresh ideas and academic research. Having the headquarters and building system research center in Syracuse will continue to put the city at the center of the green and clean tech industry.”