My favorite background resources on building and energy management

The energy and buildings industries are rapidly changing due to new technology, new business models and resource constraints + a focus on corporate responsbility. This is leading professionals to move into the space, especially those with technical and software skills. I believe there are a number of reasons that workers are attracted to these industries, but two that stick out:

• it’s nice to work on technology that is tangible
• it’s nice to have a purpose beyond just profit

I’m often asked by energy and buildings rookies for for my summary list of links and resources to get acquainted with this industry. Here is is my list. (I didn’t include any of my own articles, but I think those are very good, too.)

Commercial buildings

• A good overview of the current state of the market from GreenBiz. Plus a discussion of why it is suboptimal. Five years old but still relevant.
• KMC Controls has a good overview of the common systems found in commercial buildings.
• Navigant Research publishes a lot of great research on buildings. This is a few years old, but a good quick summary of some of the opportunities.
• Another GreenBiz article about how the internet of things will impact buildings and industrial facilities.

Energy

• In the past, I have found great “how to read your utility bill” guides from a couple utilities. They describe all the charges and the methodology in calculating them. I can no longer many online, but the commercial example from Alliant Energy here is pretty good.
• Electricity consumption (kwh) and demand (kw) are very different and this post from Think Energy explains. This is a key point for anyone in energy management.
• On top of consumption and demand are demand charges, and coincident peaks are more complex — they are typically misunderstood, especially among rookies.
• For a wider set of emerging topics in energy, see these new issue briefs from the Advanced Energy Economy.
• Measuring the opportunity for and effectiveness of energy efficiency is difficult. This post from Electric Light and Power discusses the challeges, which makes it harder to deploy energy efficiency as a grid resource.

Also, here are some good online magazines and blogs that I follow regularly:

• Greentech Media (note, I have written many articles for them.)
• GreenBiz
• Memoori
• Navigant Research Blog
• Automated Buildings
• A New Deal for Buildings
• Building Automation Monthly

Hope this helps. If you have some favorites, include them in the comments and I’ll update the post!