ASHRAE Journal - December 2019 - 64

COLUMN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

As buildings become more integrated with the grid,
the need for standards to guide this integration also
increases. Data gathered from both the grid- and
building-sides of the meter are available for conducting
the analysis needed to create standards. Data analytical tools should be used to figure out what the data are
telling us, which means machine tools that can help do
those analytics should be developed. Once the analytics
are completed, then the resulting metadata can be represented in universal standards. It is important that the
buildings and energy industries work together to create
these standards.

Integration and Interoperability: The Questions We Should
Be Asking
How Will Integration and Interoperability Make Operating Buildings Easier?
Building owners and operators are the key stakeholders that should be involved in these integration and
interoperability conversations, and they are becoming more willing to pay for the interoperability of their
buildings. However, as buildings' integration and
interoperability increase, so does the complexity of
buildings. We should be making it easier to operate
buildings, instead of giving people even more intricate
tools. Through control and automation, operating buildings can become easier.

Are People Investing in the Right Controls to Take Advantage of These
Lucrative Opportunities for Integration and Interoperability?
Large organizations are beginning to invest in sophisticated building control systems having the ability to support integration and interoperability. What is needed is
to figure out how to bring the right controls to a smaller
scale and make these systems more affordable. Meeting
this goal requires partnership across sectors. The business process also needs to adjust to bring the right controls to the right buildings.

How Do We Maximize Efficiencies and Still Get Our Fair Share?
An important aspect of maximizing our efficiencies
is making sure occupants are aware of how their decisions impact building energy load profiles. Education
on smart technology is key to making sure we are not
consuming energy we do not need to be consuming. For
example, for residential buildings, automating connected appliances and systems in a choreographed way
saves energy, reduces strain on the grid, and could save
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homeowners on their energy bills. Yet every homeowner
may not have those same concerns, so perhaps a more
ideal solution is putting the complexities of smart technology in the background for users by taking out the
need for users to interface with the system. We should
be optimizing in the background based on complex economics, but all the consumer should see is the bill.

Looking Forward
There are information gaps that we need to remedy
to take advantage of the new energy future and predict
the needs of buildings tomorrow so as to make decisions today. Industry (both the buildings and energy
industries) and the research community must work
together to define questions and determine the tools
and resources that need to be developed to transform
the market. We need the full engagement of the entire
utility, energy, and buildings industries, with all their
unique perspectives, to keep the conversation going
about these areas of need and push the envelope of
innovation and possibilities.
The next step is continuing the conversation between
the buildings and energy industries and working together
to make progress toward a more integrated and energypositive future. We should all focus on becoming aware of
the challenges facing the grid industry and building science community, becoming engaged in the conversation
and sharing our expertise with one another, and prioritizing these conversations now. The future isn't so far off-a
lot of these challenges are already affecting the way we
design, create, integrate, and talk about buildings.

References

1. U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2019. "Electric Power
Monthly." https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_
grapher.php?t=epmt_5_01.
2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. www.nrel.gov/.
3. International Energy Agency. 2018. "Renewables 2018: Market
Analysis and Forecast from 2018 to 2023." https://www.iea.org/
renewables2018/.
4. Strother, N. and Lawrence, M. 2016. "IoT and the Future
of Networked Energy: A Platform for Enhanced Energy Cloud
Applications, Services, and Business Models." https://www.
navigantresearch.com/reports/iot-and-the-future-of-networkedenergy.
5. ASHRAE. 2019. Building our New Energy Future." https://www.
ashrae.org/File%20Library/About/Leadership/new_energy_future_
web_061518.pdf. Atlanta: ASHRAE.
6. Snøhetta. "Powerhouse at Brattørkaia." https://snohetta.com/
projects/456-powerhouse-brattorkaia-the-worlds-northernmostenergy-positive-building.

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_01 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_01 http://www.nrel.gov/ https://www.iea.org/renewables2018/ https://www.iea.org/renewables2018/ https://www.navigantresearch.com/reports/iot-and-the-future-of-networked-energy https://www.navigantresearch.com/reports/iot-and-the-future-of-networked-energy https://www.navigantresearch.com/reports/iot-and-the-future-of-networked-energy https://www.ashrae.org/File%20Library/About/Leadership/new_energy_future_web_061518.pdf https://www.ashrae.org/File%20Library/About/Leadership/new_energy_future_web_061518.pdf https://www.ashrae.org/File%20Library/About/Leadership/new_energy_future_web_061518.pdf https://snohetta.com/projects/456-powerhouse-brattorkaia-the-worlds-northernmostenergy-positive-building https://snohetta.com/projects/456-powerhouse-brattorkaia-the-worlds-northernmostenergy-positive-building https://snohetta.com/projects/456-powerhouse-brattorkaia-the-worlds-northernmostenergy-positive-building https://www.ashrae.org/

ASHRAE Journal - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - December 2019