Thinking Out Loud in an Industry of Change

In the April issue of AutomatedBuildings.com our contributing editors opened their minds and provided us their thoughts on the radical changes needed in our industry. They have done what AutomatedBuildings.com does best "Think Out Loud". It is this process, while using the power of the internet, that enables us to inform, educate, change minds and connect industry leaders to take our industry to the next level.

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We all will support evolution that we feel we have been part of. When groups meet behind closed doors with narrow agendas and withhold information for perceived market advantage our industry suffers. Our seemingly broad open agendas have become very narrow as we converge and connect our rapidly evolving industry. New players and new directions abound, encapsulating unheard of opportunities.  We all need to think out loud to quickly guide our industry to the next level and set plans for the future. Even the name of our industry is under discussion. Allow yourself to think out loud about what this means to your future and the future of the industry. Examine your agendas and allegiances in light of out loud thinking.  We live in a world where the application of a new technology or a single web service or a cell phone feature will radically change our focus. Thinking in traditional terms in pods of special interest groups is dangerous as it does not allow the necessary convergence of all available ideas. Ideas from the convergence model abound and we must make them part of our industry or those lacking the millstones of traditional thinking will.  I heard a new term; "Grid Integrator". A "Grid Integrator" is a person who integrates buildings with the electrical grid. Some in our industry would call him a building integrator. We must unhinge our minds and find new pivot points from which to build our future. Below are the powerful pull quotes from our contributing editors to provide you insight into their out loud thinking.

Intelligent Buildings Roadmap  “The industry needs to get together to integrate or at least educate all of the people that are involved. The owner cannot integrate the industry, the architect cannot integrate the industry, the industry must integrate itself and take the lead…”  Paul Ehrlich article.

Thought and Reflections on the Status of our Industry  Several meetings held in the winter of 2006 and in conjunction with the AHR exposition provided some valuable and interesting insights into what our industry values and potentially some guidance or steps to follow to transform our industry. Thomas J. Lohner

Buildings 2.0  Buildings 2.0 is a vision that intricately intertwines buildings with Internet technologies. It is a vision that the future of buildings is one which is controlled, managed and connected to the Internet, in a way that goes far beyond simply placing a web server to the control system or in the use of IP.  Anto Budiardjo

GridWise Alliance  We believe, for example, that electrical “loads” (e.g., equipment and appliances) must actively participate in the day-to-day and even minute-to-minute) operation of the electric grid in the future. Steve Hauser

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Smart Building to Smart Grid One really exciting part of GridWeek will be a Congressional Reception on April 24 at the Senate Hart Building. This reception will highlight Six Success Stories from Six States that are poster children for the future of GridWise. John J. "Jack" Mc Gowan

What does it Really Take to be an Intelligent Building?  To get our industry to meet its commitment to owners, occupants and the rapidly evolving energy and environmental performance expectations of our society, we need the connectivity we incorporate into intelligent buildings to add valuable function. Thomas Hartman

Capex Happiness: Simply put, smart buildings just remove the redundancy and inefficiencies of the multiple cables, contractors, cable pathways, equipment and network protocols that are inherent in the legacy design and construction process. Jim Sinopoli

In reviewing these pull quotes I feel you can quickly get a sense of industry thinking plus now folks outside our industry are having thoughts that will radically change our industry. Taken from an article in the Los Angeles Daily News "Electranet could see light of day" this quote:

“WASHINGTON - With his new-found movie star clout, former Vice President Al Gore has begun an aggressive environmental crusade for ground-breaking technology and policy changes to the nation's electricity grid.”

Want to get involved with helping our industry move to the next level? Join the industry at An Open Invitation to Participate in a CABA - Intelligent Buildings Industry Development Workshop May 25, 2007 in Chicago.

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