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Georgia Power announces new microgrid project with Georgia Tech

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Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson, left, and Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO Paul Bowers sign a memorandum of understanding to launch a microgrid to power buildings in Tech Square.

Georgia Power announced on March 6th, in collaboration with Georgia Tech, it will build a new 1.4 MW microgrid in Tech Square at Spring and Fifth streets in Midtown Atlanta. Microgrids are self-contained power systems co-located with the facilities they serve that include generation resources, storage systems, and energy management systems.

The Tech Square Microgrid, which was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission and will begin operating this fall, will be used to evaluate how a microgrid can effectively integrate into and operate as part of the overall electrical grid. Additionally, it will serve as a living laboratory for Georgia Tech professors and students who will use the asset to gather data on controllers, cybersecurity devices, and energy economics.

“The Tech Square Microgrid project will give us a better understanding of the resiliency, sustainability, and cost of microgrids to help develop emerging energy solutions to better serve our customers now and in the future,” said Paul Bowers, chairman, president, and CEO of Georgia Power. “Working with Georgia Tech gives us an opportunity to drive innovation by collaborating with one of the nation’s leading research institutions while students and faculty get a firsthand learning experience on an operating power system.”

The microgrid will provide Georgia Power with insight into how smart energy management systems, such as the one being installed at the Coda data center that is currently under construction, can interact with the grid to achieve optimal utilization of energy. In addition, it will also provide teaching and learning opportunities for Georgia Tech faculty and students.

“Georgia Tech and Georgia Power have partnered on a number of important initiatives over the years, and we are very excited about our latest collaborative effort, the new microgrid in Tech Square,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “In addition to actually delivering power, it will also serve as a ‘research microgrid,’ allowing Georgia Power, Southern Company, Georgia Tech, and other partners to study the microgrid performance and conduct controlled experiments to develop and test new and innovative energy solutions for the future.”

The installation will include fuel cells, battery storage, diesel generators, and a natural gas generator, but it is adaptive to new and additional distributed energy resources. It is designed to also accommodate microturbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle chargers in the future. All components will be placed on a platform and obscured from view with seven-foot-high fencing and gate access along nearby Williams Street.

Source: https://www.news.gatech.edu/2019/03/06/georgia-power-announces-new-microgrid-project-georgia-tech

Georgia Tech’s Technology Square continues to grow

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The Georgia Institute of Technology has announced preliminary plans for the next phase of Technology Square.

Tech Square Phase III will be located on the northwest corner of West Peachtree and Fifth streets. Initial programming envisions a two-tower complex for the first phase, which will likely contain graduate and executive education for the Ernest Scheller Jr. College of Business, the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and other programming. The project will likely also include a large plaza with street-level retail and an underground parking deck.

Rendering shows the view from Acuity Brands Plaza in front of the Scheller College of Business, looking west down Fifth Street.

Phase III has an estimated cost of about $200 million and would provide more than 400,000 gross square feet. The earliest the building could open would be 2022.

On Tuesday, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia voted to include $4.3 million for the planning and design of the project in its Fiscal Year 2020 budget recommendation. The recommendation will be considered during the 2019 legislative session. Planning and design funds would allow the Institute to further develop the project plans beginning July 1, 2019.

Georgia Tech’s Technology Square opened in 2003. One of the area’s guiding principles is to foster a better connection between the Institute and the business community. Today the area is a thriving innovation ecosystem thanks to a network of students, faculty, researchers, startup entrepreneurs and global corporations.

Tech Square has garnered national attention and has been hailed as a model. The Association of University Research Parks and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities have honored the area in recent years.

The Phase III project comes as construction continues on the Coda building, a nearly 750,000-square-foot mixed-use project that will create additional opportunities in interdisciplinary research, commercialization and sustainability.

Portman Holdings owns the Coda tower, and John Portman & Associates has designed the facility. Georgia Tech will be the anchor tenant, occupying about half of the 620,000 square feet of office space.

Additional Information About Tech Square

Founded: 2003

Location: 10 blocks on Georgia Tech’s campus in Midtown Atlanta. It is comprised of more than 1.4 million square feet of office, research, retail, residential and hotel space, including the Technology Square Research Building, the Biltmore, Global Learning Center and Scheller College of Business.

Companies: More than 100

Employees: More than 15,000

Corporate Presence: More than 20 major companies with corporate innovation centers including Anthem, AT&T, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, NCR, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp Elevator and UCB.

Source: https://www.news.gatech.edu/2018/09/11/whats-next-tech-square

Georgia Tech Foundation to acquire historic Biltmore

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The Georgia Tech Foundation Inc. (GTF) has reached an agreement to purchase the historic Biltmore on West Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta from an affiliate of Novare Group for an undisclosed price.

Biltmore
The Georgia Tech Foundation has reached an agreement to purchase the historic Biltmore on West Peachtree Street from an affiliate of Novare Group, officials announced June 13, 2016.

“The Biltmore is already a vibrant component of what the Georgia Tech Foundation, the Institute and its partners have previously built in creating the innovation neighborhood of Technology Square,” said Gary T. Jones, chairman of the Georgia Tech Foundation. “This simply strengthens what is one of the country’s most energetic technology ecosystems and is a wonderful example of the connections and collaborations between startups, business leaders and Georgia Tech faculty, students and researchers. It’s a great honor for the Georgia Tech Foundation to own this well-known Midtown landmark and to continue to be a part of Technology Square as it serves as a magnet for Georgia’s entrepreneurial community.”

“For many years, the Biltmore has served as the historic anchor in Midtown Atlanta,” said G.P. “Bud” Peterson, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. “When you cross the Fifth Street bridge connecting our main campus with Tech Square, it is the first thing you see. We are proud to be able to incorporate it as a part of Georgia Tech. The acquisition of the Biltmore, combined with the state’s generous support of our business incubator program, the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), positions Georgia Tech to further expand the number of companies we serve. We look forward to integrating this iconic structure into our growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, where it will help us accommodate additional innovation centers and startups that want to take advantage of the energy, expertise and technologies at Georgia Tech, as well as the collaborative spirit in one of the South’s most thriving innovation neighborhoods.”

“It has been a privilege to restore and operate this Atlanta icon, and we are proud of the work done in preserving a landmark for the community and creating a premier creative office and elegant event space,” said Jim Borders, president, Novare Group. “With the building effectively 100 percent occupied, the timing was right to bring The Biltmore to market. We had significant interest from several qualified groups, and we are very pleased that Georgia Tech will carry the flag into the future.”

William Candler, son of Coca-Cola magnate Asa Candler, was the local financier behind the Biltmore project, purchasing the land for the hotel in 1921 with his proceeds of the sale of the Coca-Cola Company and incorporating the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel Company in conjunction with the New York-based Biltmore hotel chain. The Atlanta Biltmore opened in 1924 and served as the cultural and social center of Atlanta for decades. The Biltmore fell into disrepair in the 1980s when it was closed for a failed conversion into apartments. Novare purchased the property in January of 1998 and adapted the building into loft office space, and the elegant ballrooms that were a part of the original Biltmore were restored to their former glory.

The building, which has approximately 290,000 square feet of loft office, retail and ballroom space, is directly across West Peachtree Street from Technology Square, a multi-block part of the Georgia Tech campus that is home to the Scheller College of Business, the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center, the Advanced Technology Development Center and the to-be-developed High Performance Computing Center, now known as “Coda.” The Georgia Tech Foundation has worked with Georgia Tech over the past 15 years to develop Technology Square.

The Biltmore is occupied predominantly by engineering firms, energy companies and late-stage technology startups. The largest tenants are Pindrop, SouthStar Energy Services and Kimley-Horn and Associates. The acquisition does not include the Biltmore Residences, which are privately owned condominiums.

“The purchase of this property will not affect the historical status of the building,” said Al Trujillo, president of the GTF. “We will continue the legacy of appropriate financial and operational stewardship of this remarkable treasure.”

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/06/13/georgia-tech-foundation-acquire-historic-biltmore 

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