It wasn’t the ominous storm clouds, or the periodic power failures or the tornado warnings that brought the crowds together under the 30ft high/70ft. wide dome in Chicago last week. Nature may have provided an additional interactive demo, but the Siemens Answers. The Smart Grid Tour came equipped with plenty of experts on the topic of harnessing nature’s energy sources and how to connect those sources to a smart power grid.
The day provided something for everyone with topics spanning smart generation, smart transmission and distribution, smart consumption and smart building. In an urban environment like Chicago, the topic of smart building was of particular interest to attendees, who know that 40% of a building’s life cycle cost is consumed in energy. One of the promises of a smart grid is that it will reduce the cost of running a building.
Of course, cost savings was not the only financial facts that were shared throughout the day. The $3 billion ARRA stimulus funding earmarked for smart grid projects coupled with the fact that areas in the renewable energy like solar energy are expected to create half a million jobs by 2030 contributed quite a bit to the conversation.
The Economist Thought Leadership panel toward the end of the day was moderated by their own Justin Hendrix and included insights from:
- Tristan d’Estree Sterk, The Office for Robotic Architectural Media and The Bureau for Responsive Architecture, Panel
- Story Bellows, Director, The Mayors’ Institute on City Design
- Kathy Tholins, CEO, Center for Neighborhood Technology and Project Director, Illinois Smart Grid Initiative
Story Bellows kicked it off as she explained that competitiveness of cities is what they are seeing most in talking with mayors and energy is one of those areas in which mayors are not well versed. This situation is driving the need for more people (i.e., departments) to engage with each other as they collect and share information. This is particularly important as cities face the challenges of planning more efficient development. For example, she cites Minneapolis and Portland as the two cities showing the most vision for urban habitat development.
Building on that thought (no pun intended) a little later, Tristan d’Estree Sterk notes that architecture is moving toward evaluating energy in two areas: the energy to build something and the energy to inhabit it. [Then one must ask] the question of how the inhabitant is going to live there and how can the design be changed to better fit the inhabitant while saving energy.
Kathy Tholins then added that consumers don’t really know what they are spending on transportation, because they don’t have the information. If consumers have better access to info they can make better choices. For example, she uses public transportation more now, because she has a bus tracker application on her Blackberry so she knows exactly when the bus will arrive.
Henry Cisneros, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Chairman of CityView ended the conversations for the day by agreeing with the panelists. He is convinced that change must be from the bottom up, and he has always believed that cities can be masters of their own destinies. Of course, from his perspective and experience, the federal government must be thought of by local government as a partner with capital. They can help push the envelope, but they need innovative partners at the local level to make projects truly successful.
As the wind blows our Siemens tour west toward another innovative city, Portland, our perception is the storm around this topic is starting to work up into quite a frenzy. Join us in helping plug our cities, our buildings, our businesses and our consumers into a smarter grid. If you haven’t participated yet, we hope you can join us at one of our last three stops on the tour:
- July 14 – Portland
- September 28 – New York City
- October 20-21 – Washington, D.C.
To see the original post, visit The Energy Collective: http://www.theenergycollective.com/daryldulaney/38638/windy-city-connects-topic-smart-grid
Tags: chicago, siemens, smart grid tour
[...] CNT CEO Kathy Tholin took part in the Economist magazine‘s “Thought Leadership” panel, as part of a Smart Grid Tour, sponsored by Siemens. The tour has been visiting major U.S. cities [...]
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Hi just to add something here, I would like to suggest we all take a little more care in the planet since man is destroying it. Please help if not for yourself, think about our children for God Sake. I am doing my part please do yours.