A new £6.5m research centre will bring together world-class experts in energy research at the University.

The Energy Technologies Building (ETB) underlines Nottingham’s leading role in global energy research, and its commitment to developing low-carbon technologies with the potential to touch every aspect of 21st century life.

It also highlights the strength of the University’s links with industry, and its commitment to further regeneration of the former Raleigh site on which the centre will be built. The building itself will have excellent environmental credentials, with designers aiming to make it one of the lowest-carbon buildings in the country.

The ETB will be constructed on the University’s Innovation Park, adjacent to the Jubilee Campus and alongside the recently-opened Nottingham Geospatial Building, a focus for research into global positioning systems.

Prof Alan Dodson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Infrastructure, said: “The Energy Technologies Building will reinforce Nottingham’s place in the vanguard of global energy research.

“This exciting initiative on our Innovation Park will further our strategic objective for the old Raleigh site to become an exemplar of sustainable development. This is particularly fitting for a building which will accommodate world-leading research into energy technologies, and we’ll be working hard with the architects and contractors to produce the University’s, and one of the country’s, lowest-carbon buildings — not an easy task with the laboratory facilities demanded by such a research centre.”

It is being funded by the University, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is administered by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), and a donation of £1m from the Wolfson Foundation.

The new building will comprise specialist laboratories, a prototype hall, an exhibition area, a rooftop laboratory zone, offices and external technology area for use as an energy testing facility.

The 2,500 m² facility will provide the University with a centre that is specifically designed for continuing and developing its world-leading energy research. It should also attract increased attention from industry, academia, funding agencies, researchers, students and stimulate public interest in new developments in sustainable energy.

Construction is scheduled to start on site early in 2011, with completion due in January 2012.