Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country, with a strong and diverse economy. It boasts five major research universities, a regional office for the U.S. Environmental Agency and is home to a vibrant sustainability community that supports the second-largest Earth Day participation outside of Washington, D.C.

With this broad foundation of support, EARTH NT, the energy and resource technology Hub of North Texas, is building a new business community; something they call an Innovation Ecosystem, to operate on a par with Silicon Valley, North Carolina’s Research Triangle or NASA.

A unique physical and virtual campus will foster research, development and the commercialization of sustainable products and services, a place where public and private institutions, for-profit and nonprofit businesses can collaborate on solutions to major challenges. “Clearly, the ‘business as usual’ innovation silo approach is not working. The lack of coordinated business development, proof-of-concept partners and effective investor linkages have often led to high failure rates within the entrepreneurial, university and start-up communities,” says Jyl Dehaven, CEO and founder of EARTH NT. “What we need is a fresh, collaborative model that brings together diverse constituencies in the private and public sectors to actually prove out new technologies that foster thriving, sustainable communities.”

The EARTH-NT team comprises experienced professionals in the fields of clean energy, resource efficiency, entrepreneurship, real estate development, government, finance, Fortune 1,000 consulting, web-based software and sales and marketing. Together, they represent more than two dozen successful companies across the management team and advisory board. The motto of EARTH NT is, “Do good, make money,” and these two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

The five main areas of focus of the Hub are: clean energy, clean air, clean water, healthy food and zero waste. EARTH NT will demonstrate the business case for sustainability by expanding the existing network, developing new synergies and creating thousands of jobs in the new energy economy. More than a dozen start-ups are already working with the EARTH NT team with a new collaborative process that includes a new, high-efficiency wind turbine design, low-cost solar power, high-volume organic farming housed in shipping containers, a net-zero house than can be built in four hours for less than $2,000, electric generation from ocean buoys and new materials made from corn leaves and stalks.

Another goal is to provide special training and opportunities for veterans seeking to help safeguard our national and global resources as their next mission. The net result of the EARTH NT project will be a new knowledge economy, unique integrative solutions and a motivated team to take them to market.

For more information, visit EarthNT.org.