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Energy and Buildings had a wakeup call at AHR this year with the first Building to Grid B2G Summit http://b2g-summit.com/2008/default.asp. This was a high level event drawing thought leaders from the buildings and smart grid space to talk about real business opportunities for building technology and capital improvements that can be driven by the ongoing importance of energy. The message is that buildings are huge energy consumers, particularly of electricity. Electricity is a very high quality fuel that is used in many building processes. Based on the dramatic projected increases in the U.S. appetite for electricity, there is major business opportunities to justify constructing and retrofitting smarter and more efficient buildings. This audience revisited how building processes use electricity for special systems such as HVAC, Security, etc. as well as occupant processes such as Information Technology, etc. The importance of energy to buildings revolves around the comfort and security that is achieved, as well as the very real topic of operating cost. Operating costs are very high profile for building owners, particularly with the escalating cost of electricity.

The B2G Summit brought together a diverse group including electricity businesses and consultants, buildings people including automation and energy services companies, consultants and integrators, and information technology companies who are watching the developments in this area. The growing focus on Green Buildings, and the realization that energy is the single largest component that drives whether or not a building is green, is driving a greater focus on energy management. Leveraging the power of building automation to achieve green building status and using energy savings to create an incentive for building owners to invest in system technology was part of the focus at B2G.

B2G was a spin-off of the Grid-Interop held in November, 2007, a GridWise Architecture Council event focusing on interoperability and the evolution of a smart electric grid. The GridWise Architecture Council is making a concerted effort to reach out to the buildings community and develop an ongoing partnership in the pursuit of smart buildings and smart grid.

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