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Four Oregon business-university teams were awarded commercialization grants today from the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center.

Trillium FiberFuels, Indow Windows, Corvallis Tool Company, and Green Lite Motors were awarded a total of $250,000 in grants meant to speed new technologies to market. The selected companies will work with Oregon BEST researchers at university labs to test and further develop their technologies.

• Corvallis startup is developing a process to convert grass seed and other agricultural residues into ethanol. They will work with Oregon State University researcher Christine Kelly to develop a unique enzyme for use in the ethanol fermentation process.
• Portland State University’s Green Building Research Lab will work with to test the thermal and acoustical performance of its highly insulated double-pane window product. BEST researcher David Sailor will install windows at four pilot homes in Portland and gather data on their performance for a year.
• has designed a device that uses pressure, heat and steam to increase the density of woods like hybrid poplars. The process will allow sustainably grown wood to be used for building construction without the use of chemicals. OSU researcher Fred Kamke will use the grant to develop engineering design plans for the technology. In addition OSU’s Venture Development Fund will contribute $75,000 to the project.
• Portland’s has developed a two-seat, hybrid gas-electric, three-wheeled vehicle that gets 100 miles per gallon. Oregon BEST researchers James Long, Hugh Currin and James Zipay will use space at the Oregon Institute of Technology to develop the electronics and software to make the car’s motor and gas engine operate more efficiently.

Oregon BEST’s Commercialization Grant Program was launched last summer and recently received a $1 million i6 Challenge Grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The remaining funding for the program comes from the Oregon Innovation Council.