Panelists brought together by Weidlinger to discuss Emerging Technologies and Venture Capital at Cooper Union are members of an entrepreneurial sustainability community in New York City that seeks to become the next Silicon Valley.

New York, NY – As part of its ongoing partnership with The Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York and the “Making Green from Green” educational seminar series, Weidlinger Associates organized a panel discussion on Emerging Technologies and Venture Capital. More than 100 professionals braved heavy rains to attend the May 18, 2010, event at Cooper Union’s Rose Auditorium in New York, focused on the development and funding of clean technology and sustainability products.

According to Greg Kelly, PE, SE, LEED AP, Director of Sustainable Design at Weidlinger, “It’s critical that people in the green investment community understand the process and drivers behind the development of successful technologies. It’s not the easy money environment of the 1990s, and the business climate is very different now in the world of private equity.”

The panelists represented significant points along the continuum from bright idea to commercial product. Micah Kotch, Director of Operations at New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy (NYC ACRE), conveyed his enthusiasm for the city as a potential Silicon Valley of sustainability and engine of meaningful job creation. His organization helps clean technology and renewable energy companies in New York City find capital and strategic partners.

Jim Aloise, Columbia University’s Senior Technology Licensing Officer, described the challenges of early development, where one in five ideas proves patentable and 90% of this select group cannot attract Stage 2 funding. Funded by NY State and the Department of Energy, Weidlinger is developing a multi-layered building-integrated solar panel system in collaboration with researchers at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Aloise has helped Weidlinger and Columbia navigate the intellectual property issues related to this research.

Wind Products, Inc., CEO Russell Tencer described three wind turbine related products: wind analysis software (soon to be released), a building-integrated small vertical wind turbine (nearing production), and a converter for uploading the energy to the grid (under development). Wind energy is the most efficient and proven of the renewables, but has not yet been made affordable on a small scale. Weidlinger will provide structural engineering for integration of the turbine with various building envelopes and structural systems.

Representing the capitalization and commercialization phases of the process were Cleantech fund executive Oliver Guinness of Clearpoint Ventures, and Hycrete Vice President Aaron Ayer, PE, LEED AP. As a structural engineer, Weidlinger follows the sustainable building materials marketplace closely and welcomes new products such as Hycrete waterproofing systems and the eco-friendly bricks produced by CalStar, one of the companies supported by Clearpoint.