Funding awarded for £15m UEA green enterprise centre

The UEA announced today that the Norwich Research Park (NRP) Enterprise Centre has been granted £6 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), giving the greenlight for the project, set to open in 2014. Housed in an exemplar building, the centre will demonstrate the latest sustainable solutions in architecture and advanced energy performances. It will support over 500 businesses and create over 250 green jobs in the local area, the UEA said, with small to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs expected to benefit most from the project.

"This will be a first in the UK university and business sectors, further advancing UEA’s low carbon credentials and setting new standards in building concept and design through the innovative use of natural materials and bio-based products. It will provide leadership and inspiration to businesses and entrepreneurs," said Dr John French, project director.

Business development
The Enterprise Centre will include a Centre for the Built Environment where sustainable products and bio-based materials from local companies will be demonstrated, tested and monitored to show their effectiveness.

New businesses, UEA graduates and staff at the NRP will benefit through the project’s early stage incubator to encourage start-up businesses in the low carbon sector.

"Another exciting feature will give students from across the NRP the opportunity to learn entrepreneurial skills that could enhance their career prospects, develop enterprise ideas and even launch their own companies," UEA’s vice-chancellor Professor Edward Acton, said. 

Green design
Scheduled for construction in 2013, the NRP Enterprise Centre will be based within a 4000 square metre building, the design of which will be produced through a competition to find an architectural model that is unique in appearance, as well as low emissions.

The project aims to gain BREEAM Outstanding and Passivhaus Certification, meaning that it will stand as a globally recognised high achiever in energy performance and sustainability.

Collaborations with built environment research organisation BRE, the Fraunhofer Institute and Kingston University will provide the NRP Enterprise Centre project with guidance and research in sustainable materials, new technologies and design.

"This is a landmark project for low carbon development and will pave the way for new ways of working, "said David Morrall, head of ERDF and RGF at the Department for Communities and Local Government, East of England.

Through a separate but related project called the Low Carbon Innovation Centre, the UEA plans over the next four years to invest £30 million into businesses in eastern England from a fund that provides European equity finance to businesses promoting low carbon innovation.