MINNEAPOLIS - At the GridWeek conference held in late October in Washington, D.C., Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell’s Building Solutions business unit, discussed the critical role commercial and industrial facilities play in the success of the smart grid.

“Smart grid is not just about modern utility systems, hardware, and meters,” Orzeske said. “It’s about creating a more stable and secure energy future, and consumers of all stripes are central to that goal. Commercial and industrial facilities tend to get overlooked in this conversation, but they use the most energy by far. So we need to give organizations the technology to link to the smart grid, and proactively manage energy consumption and costs in their building.”

Orzeske led a panel discussion with energy experts from Jones Lang LaSalle, Merck, PJM Interconnection, Staples, U.S. General Services Administration, and the U.S. Green Building Council. The panel addressed the opportunities and challenges businesses face in connecting their energy and demand management efforts with an increasingly dynamic electrical grid to lower operating costs and reduce carbon emissions.

“The smart grid is at an exciting growth point,” Orzeske said. “Building and factory owners and grid operators are forming important new relationships. And we’re helping create bonds that are effective and beneficial to everyone involved.”

Honeywell is positioned to support the development of the smart grid through the implementation of commercial, industrial, and residential controls, as well as the application of energy efficiency and demand response expertise, said the company.

During 2010, Honeywell acquired E-Mon LLC, a manufacturer of electric submetering products and systems that help companies better understand and control energy use and costs, and Akuacom, which gives utilities and independent system operators the ability to automate the delivery of price and reliability signals to commercial and industrial facilities, and more effectively trim peak demand.

Honeywell has also received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to further its development of the smart grid. These include the following: $2.2 million to research, develop, and commercialize a “role-based access control” system to help secure the smart grid and other critical infrastructure; $1.6 million to develop a context-aware smart home energy manager (CASHEM), which will dynamically schedule major home appliances according to rate changes, grid conditions, and homeowner preferences; and $11.4 million to support a critical peak pricing response program that will use Akuacom’s technology to help 700 commercial and industrial facilities in California reduce peak consumption and costs.

Publication date:11/08/2010