Department of Energy
Defining a Zero Emissions Building from the Top Down
October 5th, 2023DoE Claims US Can Save $10 Billion in Annual Grid Costs Using VPPs
September 29th, 2023
Nostromo Behind-The-Meter Energy Storage Business Examined
In this Research Note, we examine Nostromo, the Israeli public company developing Behind-the-Meter thermal energy storage solutions for commercial buildings. Founded in 2017, Nostromo Energy is a developer of sustainable energy storage and energy demand management solutions for commercial buildings that use chiller-based air conditioning. The system is based on proprietary IceBrick encapsulated ice cells […]
How Does Biden’s New Clean Energy Bill Impact Smart Buildings?
Last week, President Biden signed the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, which will drive over $430 billion toward clean energy and sustainability solutions, with a specific focus on buildings. While the total amount is a step down from the $550 billion suggested in the 2021 Build Back Better proposal, the emphasis on buildings in addition […]
Solar Power Beats DOE Targets By 3 Years Underlining Its Value to Buildings
In 2011 the US Department of Energy (DOE) set a target as part of their SunShot Initiative that the cost of solar power should reach a very competitive $1 per watt, or 6 cents per kilowatt hour, by 2020. Last week they announced they had reached this target a full three years ahead of schedule […]
Return Of The Microgrid… Again
It didn’t seem that long ago that we were all talking about microgrids, a lot. We may have anticipated a large series of small, renewably driven, battery powered, local energy grids that can be disconnected from the larger utility grid and operate independently. The momentum seemed to have cooled on this revolution however, but recent […]
The Smart Buildings Sector Needs to Get Specific on ROI
In the end, it all comes down to return on investment (ROI), for smart buildings and most everything else. The promise of energy efficiency, better access control, greater comfort and environmental responsibility are all well and good, but to convince the majority of customers, the smart building sector needs to get specific on the returns […]
A Truly Smart City Is One That Is Shaped By Its Citizens
“The most important components for smart cities are engaging communities and forging partnerships,” this was the statement of US Federal officials, during Smart Cities Week, last week, who underlined a theory that has become increasingly popular in the smart city debate – a truly smart city is one that is shaped by its citizens rather […]
DOE’s JUMP Initiative Hopes To Give Smart Buildings Tech A Boost
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) wants ideas on how to make smart buildings smarter and it’s using crowdsourcing to get them. Through a program called JUMP, innovative thinkers in the area of energy efficient building technologies are rewarded with idea development and prize money, and the first JUMP winners were announced in May […]
Projects, Policies and Technology Bring About the 2nd Coming of Energy Storage
After the hype and growth, and more hype, surrounding US energy storage in during 2012 and 2013, was followed by a relative slump in the following years; experts now seem to agree that 2016 represents the second wave for the American energy storage sector. Statistics from Memoori, IHS, GTM and the US Department of Energy […]