BALTIMORE, MD--(Marketwired - Jun 30, 2015) - On June 3, industry participants gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 24th Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium, "Integrating Building Systems for Sustainable Energy," to discuss the connectivity, community-level regulation, utility integration and management, and new building-grid dynamics that are forming a path to a future of buildings very different than the existing built environment.
"Buildings will become smarter and the utilities of the future will become dramatically different providers than the ones of today," commented Lisa Tryson, director of corporate communications, Danfoss, setting the stage for the symposium. "Changes facing our industry, energy infrastructure, and commercial buildings will test our technologies, standards, and goals."
Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who serves on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, opened the event with an overview of challenges to a national energy strategy and an outline of one focusing on not only asset use, but also workforce development and regulatory frameworks.
"A national agenda doesn't need to be energy source specific," Kinzinger suggested. "We instead need to focus on a few things: workforce development to ensure properly trained and educated workers are available for the high-tech jobs in the clean energy industry and the infrastructure of the energy industry -- whether it be demand response technology or physical transmission assets. The regulatory environment that prevents new technologies also needs to be streamlined. Energy efficiency is great because it's often a simple and affordable way to help meet the energy demands of our nation."
During the symposium, participants explored new opportunities in building integration strategy opened by developments in internet-building interface and sensor technology, experiments in community-scale building performance initiatives, and often-overlooked dynamics in building-grid management.
The discussion was led by presentations from:
- Azizan Aziz, assistant research professor, Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, Carnegie Mellon University
- Mike Schell, vice president of marketing and business development, AirTest Technologies Inc.
- Marshall Duer-Balkind, program analyst, District Department of the Environment, Government of the District of Columbia
- Thomas Nyquist, executive director, engineering and campus energy, Princeton University
- Shelley Norman, regulatory economist, Electricity Division, Maryland Public Service Commission
This EnVisioneering Symposium made clear that buildings of the future and the industries that deliver them will be very different than today. Forces already in motion are driving profound change. Industry watchers know that big change means big challenges. Participant discussions seemed to agree that it also means big options and big decisions lie ahead -- and perhaps not as far ahead as was once thought.
To read the full report, please visit http://www.danfoss.us/newsstories/cf/us-news-symposium-integrating-building-systems-for-sustainable-energy/.
The EnVisioneering Symposia Series hosted by Danfoss was launched in August 2006 to facilitate an ongoing dialogue between the public and private sectors -- including industry, the policy community, and thought leaders in research and development, with the purpose of convening diverse opinions and perspectives on emerging issues and trends.
Danfoss engineers technologies that enable the world of tomorrow to do more with less. We meet the growing need for infrastructure, food supply, energy efficiency and climate-friendly solutions. Our products and services are used in areas such as refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, motor control and mobile machinery. We are also active in the field of renewable energy as well as district heating infrastructure for cities and urban communities. Our innovative engineering dates back to 1933 and today Danfoss is a world-leader, employing 24,000 employees and serving customers in more than 100 countries. We are still privately held by the founding family. Read more about us at www.danfoss.com.