About TXAIRE Institute

The Texas Allergy, Indoor Environment, and Energy (TXAIRE) Institute

History

The Texas Allergy, Indoor Environment, and Energy (TXAIRE) Institute was formally established on June 14, 2007, with funding from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF), through a Research Superiority Acquisition of Talent Grant.

A Joint Collaboration

The creation of TXAIRE was driven by a joint Texas government-industry-academia collaboration. Strong support from regional industries, led by the Tyler Chamber of Commerce, played a key role in focusing the technology talent resident within The University of Texas at Tyler to define what the mission and operating principles of TXAIRE should be. Unlike many other academic institutes, TXAIRE is “industry led and market driven.” Its leadership comes from industry. While bringing new technology to the marketplace is our primary mission, our research always includes an early market assessment of commercialization viability and need.

Through the creation of TXAIRE, a new synergy is being created that recognizes the existence and growth potential of a unique cluster of technology expertise and manufacturing capabilities located in East Texas associated with “green” building sciences. As its name infers, the overarching focus of TXAIRE is upon high performance buildings, with key elements being indoor environmental quality as it relates to human health and building systems design and performance, with particular emphasis upon energy efficiency.

More than 1,000 people move to the State of Texas every day. Sustaining such growth requires a new perspective on where and how we live. Through TXAIRE, The University of Texas at Tyler is working with over 40 companies from across the state to accelerate the application of Texas-based products and technologies to build Tomorrow’s Homes – Today.

Why in Tyler Texas?

The creation and the placement of TXAIRE on the campus of The University of Texas at Tyler, was based upon the recognition that Tyler is the home of UT Tyler, the UT Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT), and major heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) manufacturing facilities for Trane, Carrier and Air Rover in Tyler, Lennox in Dallas and Aaon in Longview. This unique combination of respiratory health research (UTHSCT), construction management and building engineering (UT Tyler), and HVAC equipment manufacturing define an important regional “industry cluster” that is unique in the United States.

As is described in the technology projects section of this website, TXAIRE has built upon this foundation to include “green building technologies” from companies across Texas. Given the projected growth in this market, TXAIRE can accelerate the commercialization and sales growth of new technology products for this market and significantly impact upon the creation of new high-tech companies that grow this green building industry cluster across Texas.