Founded in 2002 with assistance from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, NextEnergy Center (NextEnergy or NEC) is a non-profit corporation charged with building an economic development strategy that accelerates the research, development, and manufacture of alternative energy technologies throughout the State of Michigan. NextEnergy is already meeting many of its goals – partially as a result of the successful projects in which Kahn and NextEnergy have partnered.
“I first met Pete Lynde from Kahn,” says David McLean, P.Eng., NextEnergy’s Chief Operating Officer, “at a meeting concerning the laboratory build-out of the NextEnergy Center (NEC),” the first NextEnergy project in which Kahn became involved. “And he was asking questions and offering insights far superior to those of anyone else,” says McLean. more...
“Kahn’s bid was more cost effective than its competitor’s, but they also appreciated the importance of timeliness and attention to detail – and better than anyone they understood what it would take to make this a successful project.”
For his part, Pete Lynde, PE, LEED® AP, Kahn’s Director of Research and Technology, says Dave McLean makes Next Energy projects a pleasure.
“Dave’s background is in electrical engineering, and he’s spent time on my side of the table. Having a client who understands your business so well makes it easy to communicate, and it’s really made this relationship prosper. When we’re both just relaxing and having lunch we can talk about alternative energy from an engineering standpoint and each of us knows what the other is talking about.”
McLean agrees. “Pete has evolved from a colleague to a friend. And our relationship continues to grow as NEC requires continued architectural and engineering services to help us fulfill our mission.”
Innovation and Opportunity
NEC’s mission involves creating opportunities for leading-edge alternative energy companies to apply their research and resulting technologies across a wide range of industrial sectors including automotive, defense, and other industries. And that’s precisely what the Kahn-designed laboratory build-out – and in particular the National Biofuels Energy Laboratory (NBEL) – helped enable.
Kahn’s work on the NBEL made it a preferred supplier when NEC was preparing to add the Alternative Fuels Platform (AFP) to its complex in the heart of Wayne State University’s Research & Technology Park in Detroit – and NextEnergy awarded Kahn this project as well. Regarding Kahn’s contribution to the AFP, McLean says, “They understood the importance of community and graciously contributed in-kind labor to help share costs with the Department of Energy, which co-funded this work. And again, they executed their duties in a superior manner.”
NEC’s entrepreneurial laboratory tenants use the AFP as a platform for testing, validating, and demonstrating the alternative energy technologies they develop in their labs, freeing them from the cost burdens associated with those phases of development.
“As with all our projects,” says McLean, “NBEL and AFP have contributed to furthering the development of alternative energy technologies. Both have a national focus and have helped foster Michigan's image as a player in these industries.”
Safe and Bold.
There are only seven alternative fuels platforms in Michigan, and the AFP is the only one in an urban setting. Once Kahn designed and developed a system of safety precautions that met with the approval of initially apprehensive public officials, NEC was uniquely situated to not only showcase alternative fuel technologies but to also demonstrate how they can be safely generated and stored in a modern facility and distributed directly to consumers.
“This creates an environment for enterprising inventors to showcase innovate technologies that may someday provide a low cost source and supply of energy,” says Lynde. “But it’s also practical in that it demonstrates how, once that gas is produced, it can be safely stored, compressed, and dispensed into a vehicle.”
Enterprising and Practical.
NEC’s involvement in the development and demonstration of alternative fuels and related equipment may ultimately lead to cost-effective alternative energy technologies with potentially far-reaching effects. Kahn takes very seriously its leadership role as stewards of the environment and sustainable design, and it is pleased and proud to be associated with NextEnergy.
“These projects are closer to pure engineering than most,” says Lynde. “I enjoy them because I get to flex my engineering skills – and in the area of alternative energy, which is one of the most exciting topics of discussion in the world these days.”
NextEnergy is also pleased with Kahn – and has demonstrated that by steering other alternative energy projects its way, including a biodiesel production facility and a University of North Dakota endeavor in which wind turbine-generated electric power operates an electrolyzer that splits hydrogen from water and stores and dispenses it into hydrogen-powered campus maintenance vehicles.
What prompts McLean to continually recommend Kahn?
“I’ve never had any surprises from them,” he says. “And that’s no small feat.”
Kahn was commissioned to provide professional services for the National Biofuels Energy Laboratory and provided design services, along with DMA Technical Services, Inc., for the Alternative Fuels Platform.
Daring and Secure. The Perfect Ratio.
NextEnergy and Kahn. The Perfect Ratio.
