Markets and Innovation

Energy, Innovation, and E-Tech

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The culture of information technology is one of innovation and rapid change. The culture of energy is risk-adverse and slow to change. We need to move from energy to E-Tech to address today’s problems of climate, of security, and of reliability. E-Tech will embrace diversity to customize each solution for each situation. E-Tech will support rapid quick adoption of new technologies. E-tech must not be constrained by the slow adoption of the regulated utilities. E-Tech must be more tolerant of poor power quality. E-Tech must provide better support of digital systems for business and entertainment than do today’s systems.

Today’s energy distribution systems are deeply integrated and intolerant...

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Smart Buildings, Smart Energy, and the Road Ahead

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I arrived in Chicago for the AHR show with the early Sunday morning budget flight crowd. I was not surprised that most of the van worked with HVAC. I was gratified to be recognized by Terry Reynolds of Control Technology. Terry told me that he was using oBIX in his jobs. "We are just starting to crack things open" he observed. We compared notes on projects ranging from the UNC EBMS (Enterprise Building Management System) to the New York City public school energy management system.

He went on to ask me of what is going to drive adoption faster. I think there are five elements of smart energy that are now...

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Coordinating Time and Energy

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Buildings use 46% of the energy used in North America. Consensus guesses are that buildings could reduce their energy use by a third while improving the amenities they offer, by becoming enterprise-responsive without other change in technology. Clearly the most basic enterprise interaction is what is the schedule for each room, and how many people will be using the room.

The best guesses are that half of the electricity generated each year in the North America is wasted due to poor alignment of generation and consumption...

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Working with the Wind in Chicago

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Chicago has long been known as the windy city, for its promises of its politicians and the quantity of its conventions and conferences. Next week, there will be a lot of wind surrounding the AHR Expo, the largest conference anywhere dedicated to the efficient movement of air, and thereby the biggest energy-related conference of the year. Numerous engineering and energy related conferences and meetings will be in town to take advantage of the more than 50,000 attendees. I, too, will be blowing into town, giving some talks, participating in some meetings, and planning still others. This may be the last time I am in Chicago until March, so drop me a line to schedule a meeting if you want to discuss plans or alignment while I am there.

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