• Smart Grid Study
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Forthcoming Research of Smart Grids

BSRIA in conjunction with The Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) is pleased to announce that it is undertaking a new intelligent buildings landmark research study which will examine the impact of smart grids and net zero energy on commercial buildings.

The overall objective of this collaborative research opportunity will be to assess and size the business opportunities around the integration of smart grids into intelligent controls and building automation systems within the commercial buildings market. This research will address:

• Demand Side: To identify and quantify the benefits and implications for the principle stakeholder groups (i.e. building developers, owners, users, managers)
• Supply Side: Identify the implications and quantify business opportunities for all those who are (or are potentially) trying to expand their footprint in the building technical facility markets and supply chain (e.g. Utilities; Automatic Metering Infrastructure (AMI) providers; Utility Systems Developers and Integrators; providers of Demand Response and Energy Management System/Software as a Service (EMS); Communications infrastructure; Meters; Building Automation Systems (BAS); and Grid Optimization)
• The research will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the opportunities for smart metering, building energy management, integration and convergence, as well as services
• To support and validate research findings in real-world case study demonstrations of participant projects encompassing intelligent buildings and smart grids

The research study will also include an assessment within the commercial building space of net zero energy buildings (NZEB) and their relationship to smart grids. NZEB are generally characterized as buildings which produce as much energy as they consume over a given time period ¡V but definitions vary. NZEB are, by design, very energy efficient and their remaining low energy needs are typically met with on/off-site renewable energy. The scope of the study will include drivers towards NZEB, definitions, the interrelationship between the roll out of smart grids and roll out of NZEB. Specific objectives will address the following:

• Assessment of stages of NZEB implementation (i.e. low energy or near-net zero buildings and % of net zero energy achieved), and how quickly is it going to happen
• Identification of the building energy codes and incentives driving NZEB
• Definition of net zero energy in terms of types of building that are more suitable (i.e. factors of design, scale, infrastructure, location, etc.)
• Identification of the new technologies and applications needed, and identification of the optimal business opportunities for the industry
• Identification of communications protocols that will be the enablers for smart grids and NZEB
• Identification and showcase of best practice within the current handful of NZEB pilot projects in North America