EMAIL INTERVIEW  Anto Budiardjo & Ken Sinclair

Anto Budiardjo is President & CEO of Clasma Events Inc., the organizer of BuilConn held annually in North America, Europe and Asia as part of Clasma’s ConnectivityWeek (www.ConnectivityWeek.com). ConnectivityWeek is a collection of conferences and tradeshows related to smart connected devices, regularly made up BuilConn (www.builconn.com), M2M Expo (www.m2mexpo.com), GridWise Expo (www.gridwiseexpo.com) and Wi-tivity (www.wi-tivity.com).

Please send comments and questions to antob@clasma.com.

GridWeek Takes Shape

To be discussed at GridWeek will be hot topics such as demand response, real time pricing, alternative energy and distributed generation. Many of the solutions to the shortfall in electricity will come down to reducing demand especially at peak load times, and much of this will happen in buildings through building automation.

Sinclair: Anto, please tell our readers about GridWeek.

Budiardjo: GridWeek is a new event organized by Clasma in partnership with the DOE (US Department of Energy) to bring together all of the players involved with the modernization of the US electric grid.

Sinclair: What is the scope of this event?

Budiardjo: As electricity in the US becomes a major issue due to the shortfall in supply and the increasing demand, the DOE and other groups have instigated numerous initiatives to facilitate technology solutions. These include the creation of the intelligent grid; an information system overlaid on the electricity grid to automate the supply and demand of electricity and involves curtailing the peak demands of electricity.  Peak demand is very expensive power to generate and is required for as little as 4% of the year.

Sinclair: Is this in line with GridWise?

Budiardjo: Yes, GridWise is one of those initiatives, but there are many others in the US and around the world.

Sinclair: Who is involved with GridWeek?

Budiardjo: Apart from the DOE as a major sponsor, we have a few dozen trade and technology groups including GridWise, IntelliGrid, GridApp, FERC, NERC and others. We are also working with key commercial sponsors including IBM, SAIC, GE, GridPoint, Tridium and again many more to come.

Sinclair: How about speakers?

Budiardjo: We have the US Secretary of Energy delivering the Keynote at the “State of the Grid” Plenary at GridWeek in addition to a number of Senators and members of Congress speaking. We also have many top level executives from utility companies, technology providers, federal and state regulators and thought leaders in the area of grid modernization. It will be a very high level lineup of the who’s who in the electricity industry.

Sinclair: How does this affect the building industry?

Budiardjo: There is a major link to buildings, which as you know consumes over half of the electricity in the US. To be discussed at GridWeek will be hot topics such as demand response, real time pricing, alternative energy and distributed generation. Many of the solutions to the shortfall in electricity will come down to reducing demand especially at peak load times, and much of this will happen in buildings through building automation.

Sinclair: That’s energy management, what BAS is all about!

Budiardjo: Exactly Ken!

Sinclair: What are the challenges that GridWeek hopes to address?

Budiardjo: One of the major challenges is that the regulatory framework in existence today does not facilitate a smart grid; this is a combination of federal and state issues. Holding GridWeek in Washington DC will address this by highlighting these issues and the possible technology solutions, to a Washington audience of Congress and state regulators.

Sinclair: Will you actually take this message to Congress?

Budiardjo: Yes, some of the activities of GridWeek will be held on the Hill. We will invite and get attendance from Senators, House Representatives and their staff.

Sinclair: How does this relate to BuilConn?

Budiardjo: It’s a perfect fit as a precursor of BuilConn in Chicago this May. GridWeek will raise the awareness of electricity, and much of the BuilConn content will focus on how the BAS industry can leverage this opportunity. We will have a number of key speakers at BuilConn who will expand on the outcome of GridWeek.

Sinclair: In what way is this an opportunity for BAS players?

Budiardjo: There have been a number of articles on your site about Net Zero energy and demand response. Basically utility companies, unable to build enough power stations, will look to curtail demand from electricity consumers. Utility companies are handing out hard cash to do this, real hard cash for reduction of electricity in buildings. This is an opportunity directly solvable by BAS players.

Sinclair: This sounds exciting, and is a nice lead to BuilConn in Chicago.

Budiardjo: Yes, see www.GridWeek.com for more details and we shall update you on progress next month.

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