![\"greentownlab\"](\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/greentownlab-150x150.jpg\")
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It’s hard to ascertain how much power exists in Greentown Labs<\/a>‘ numbers—the small business incubator just keeps growing.<\/p>\n The Sommerville, Mass. sustainable startup accelerator started out two years ago as a small group of like-minded entrepreneurs<\/a> in a Cambridge warehouse bouncing ideas off one another. Their desire to share research and development methods and resources—and some day do so in a cool space—is part of what bound the original members together.<\/p>\n That day came earlier this fall when co-founder Jason Hanna and the other three original members moved into a glossy, energy efficient new space with the other 100 or so people who have have joined Greentown Labs since the early days.<\/p>\n[caption id=\"attachment_313718\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"513\"] “Two years ago, we were just four startups who needed affordable space to build things,” Hanna said. “Now, we are home to 28 organizations<\/a>, 100 employees, a 15-company wait list and a vibrant community that is helping to grow the clean energy ecosystem.” All of this has exceeded our expectations in every sense of the word.” <\/p>\n At 24,000 square feet, Greentown Labs is more than twice the size of the former facility. It contains a prototyping lab, co-located office space, a shared machine and a shared electronics shop. There’s also space for functions like the EnergyBar: Sustainable America Edition<\/a> event, where nine startups will pitch their ideas and vie for a $5,000 cash grant and a year’s worth of rent and space at Greentown Labs.<\/p>\n The incubator received energy efficient in-kind support and donations in the form of LED lights, environmentally friendly carpet tiles and a variant refrigerant flow system from Mitsubishi upon its move. Greentown was also the first recipient of a $300,000 working capital loan through Somerville’s new one million dollar revolving innovation fund. Greentown Labs also received a $150,000 loan from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n Clean energy companies at Greentown include Altaeros Energies<\/a>, Crowd Solar<\/a> and Sistine Solar<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The space itself is designed to be environmentally friendly with [LEDs donated by Digital Lumens<\/a>] and a high-efficiency HVAC system,” said Greentown Labs board member Jason Ethier, whose Dynamo Micropower<\/a> was the fifth company to join the incubator.<\/p>\n “The environment itself is designed to be that way. We filter companies that come in to build a culture that really focuses on openness, sharing of ideas and customer needs. That helps bring in companies in, but we don’t just let anybody in.”<\/p>\n Visit EcoWatch’s S<\/a><\/b>USTAINABLE BUSINESS<\/b><\/a> page for more related news on this topic.<\/b><\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/GTown1.jpg\")
<\/a> Photo credit: Greentown Labs[\/caption]\n
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