The Manufacture of Advanced Key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (MAKE IT) Prize Strategies track will award communities up to $400,000 to define what it means to participate in the clean energy transition, and how each community can benefit. Competitors will develop a community roadmap for clean energy manufacturing and ultimately engage with manufacturers to establish manufacturing activity in the region. Competitors interested in developing a roadmap for regional clean energy manufacturing should go to www.herox.com/make-it-strategies and get started, because Phase 1: Engage submissions are due October 18th!
While this Prize is open to any community from any region of the country (including U.S. territories), a specific focus is on communities with a strong history of manufacturing and that want to repurpose existing brownfield or shuttered facilities for clean energy manufacturing. This blog post will discuss this specific use case: why it is important to leverage existing brownfields or unused facilities for future use in clean energy.
Does your community have one or more brownfield or abandoned facilities within it? Well, if you have abandoned buildings or manufacturing facilities—or other development that is no longer in use—then you have an opportunity for adaptive reuse! Adaptive reuse, where development is used for a purpose other than that of its original design, is a great opportunity to save time when bringing a new manufacturing facility online. Existing buildings where infrastructure is in place and where electrical and mechanical equipment are already installed can reduce build times and costs. Both tracks of the MAKE IT prize—Facilities and Strategies—are particularly interested in revitalizing shuttered facilities, developing brownfield sites, and repurposing existing facilities.
Existing facilities are a great opportunity for leveraging existing resources, amplifying benefits to existing workforce and local communities, and attracting new manufacturing. Repurposing a site saves on many the most time-consuming and costly aspects of a new facility such as permitting analysis and infrastructure design, which happen before construction even begins. In addition, the existing infrastructure such as electrical, plumbing, roads, and possibly rail already can be a huge benefit that greatly reduces development timelines. To a manufacturer, time is money!
By taking advantage of brownfield sites with the support of the MAKE IT Prize, your community will be able to build a new future that takes advantage of the clean energy transition and works for you! Submit your Phase 1: Engage materials for the MAKE IT Strategies track by October 18th!
