Can past lessons shape future success? [Video]

Back in 2013, a Senate subcommittee slammed a locally-led innovation cluster as showing “no measurable benefit” from $55 million in federal funding.  

It was part of an Obama-era Department of Energy program focused on identifying and commercializing energy efficiency in buildings, which are still responsible for 40% of carbon emissions in the United States. One of the longest-running locations for research was at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard. It had at least three names over its tenure, one of which was the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub.  

The subcommittee report was unflinching: “The Hub was more focused on the economic development of the Philadelphia area rather than developing a national program to improve the energy efficiency of commercial and residential buildings across the United States.”

Today, that city’s isolated former shipbuilding zone is a growing business center, but tens of millions of dollars failed to generate breakthrough innovations. It’s a cautionary tale for a new generation of federal funding into place-based …