Earlier this month the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $61 million pilot project that will create 10 highly connected communities across the country. The initiative will transform thousands of homes and workplaces into energy-efficient buildings that can interact with the electrical grid to optimize their energy consumption. While not extraordinary in terms of investment or technology, the project is a positive step towards addressing the building efficiency crisis and shows the commitment of the Biden administration to their June 2021 Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB) Roadmap. “From our homes to workplaces, this groundbreaking, grid-connected building technology will help reduce our impact while cutting energy bills, maximizing convenience, and propelling our efforts to reach a carbon-neutral, clean energy economy by 2050,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “These projects will help universalize technology that can maximize the efficiency and sustainability of America’s nearly 130 million buildings and make significant headway in the fight against climate change.” The […]