Smart Buildings 2.0-Business Continuity Drives Microgrids for Corporate Campuses

摘要

One could argue that building automation and the utility-to-commercial building space-let's call it Smart Buildings 1.0-has matured. The initial concept focused on energy efficiencies, demand response opportunities and how enlightened practices, aided by technology, can improve the bottom line. The next iteration of this idea-let's call it Smart Buildings 2.0-is when business continuity assumes greater importance. This is less about efficiencies and more about corporate energy destinies. That implies greater control over a commercial entity's generation sources, the ability to island and net-zero energy use. This approach includes the ability to maintain operations, and thus productivity, in the face of events such as natural disasters, extreme weather, attacks on the grid, accidents, mistakes and other disruptions. Corporate managers and shareholders increasingly recognize that companies without business continuity plans and the means to enact them face significant, yet unnecessary risks.