“The major risk is the uncertainty,” Menzer said. “There are some regulations that we like and want to continue. We need to educate Congress on that.”

Danfoss and The Pennsylvania State University at Philadelphia also announced a major grant from Danfoss in support of the Penn State 2017 Immersive Internship in Global Sustainability Practices. The grant marks the launch of a collaborative Engineering Tomorrow’s Cities initiative through which Penn State and Danfoss will focus on enlarging the workforce required to create, maintain, and renew sustainable, low-carbon communities; advance the deployment of innovative technologies and designs to reduce carbon emissions; and highlight the important role of engineering in creating the sustainable commercial buildings and communities of tomorrow.

The internship initiative will be based at Penn State’s building and energy “living laboratory” research facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard under the direction of Dr. James Freihaut, professor in the Penn State Department of Architectural Engineering.

Thirty graduate and undergraduate interns from leading universities around the world are expected to participate in the research project during the summer of 2017. Research topics will include district energy/combined heat and power through a multi-city onsite initiative across Pennsylvania; building/microgrid integration; smart building and demand response technologies; variable-speed controls and building equipment; energy storage and building systems and sub-systems integration. Participants will gain tangible work experience on real building efficiency and low-carbon footprint development projects, and be matched with leading public and private sector sustainable development organizations in their home countries for additional and ongoing impact. 

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