Overview

Speaker: Harvey Michaels Energy Efficiency Scientist and Lecturer Environmental Policy and Planning Program and M.I.T. Energy Initiative (MITEI)

When we evaluate our energy options, we see a large, cost-effective opportunity to reduce the energy use in buildings, which could dramatically mitigate our energy and climate problems. We will discuss the customer side of the smart grid as an approach to unleash this energy-saving potential, highlighting approaches being researched at MIT, at utilities, at large companies like GE, CISCO, Microsoft and Google, as well as many "startups". We will discuss how the new smart grid initiatives improve the efficiency of homes and buildings, and consider: How will time-differentiated rates and information influence energy behavior? How will new home and building automation systems integrate with the smart grid? How will this granular information become useful to individuals and communities for viewing our carbon footprint, and for collective goal-setting, benchmarks, and scorekeeping? How do we regulate the smart grid to maximize effectiveness, innovation, opportunity, and equity?

When we evaluate our energy options, we see a large, cost-effective opportunity to reduce the energy use in buildings, which could dramatically mitigate our energy and climate problems. We will discuss the customer side of the smart grid as an approach to unleash this energy-saving potential, highlighting approaches being researched at MIT, at utilities, at large companies like GE, CISCO, Microsoft and Google, as well as many "startups". We will discuss how the new smart grid initiatives improve the efficiency of homes and buildings, and consider: How will time-differentiated rates and information influence energy behavior? How will new home and building automation systems integrate with the smart grid? How will this granular information become useful to individuals and communities for viewing our carbon footprint, and for collective goal-setting, benchmarks, and scorekeeping? How do we regulate the smart grid to maximize effectiveness, innovation, opportunity, and equity?

Key Questions

Handouts

Preparatory Readings

Smart Grid-related Strategies to Achieve Energy Efficiency

06:00-07:00PM Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Leader: Mahesh Konduru
Location: E51-335