The smart grid is a big idea, a challenge to grasp and to implement. It’s not only the scale and complexity of rebuilding the nation’s power grid, but also the fundamentally different paradigm.
Today, commercial buildings consume electricity with little participation in the network that generates and transports this product to us. Tomorrow, power consumption will be a two-way affair that functions more like a commodity exchange where prices move continually.
The smart grid and smart building infrastructures offer building owners new options and capabilities to manage their electrical cost and consumption. But for some owners, it will likely be much more than that. They will become a new breed of energy entrepreneurs, operating buildings that have a competitive edge due to their greater efficiency, onsite power generation, and the energy expertise that they offer to tenants and occupants.
This month BUILDINGS reports on the energy practices of commercial building owners today, tomorrow’s opportunities for smart technology, and the tipping points that will drive it. Our article, which begins on page 34, includes the results of a survey of commercial building owners and facilities professionals.
A 24-page whitepaper with the full report of the smart technology research conducted by BUILDINGS is available at www.BUILDINGS.com/smartinfrastructures.
At BUILDINGS we look forward to researching and monitoring smart buildings and smart facility professionals.
