The Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) has completed a collaborative research study to identify, define, and size the principle business opportunities presented by the growth of smart grids in relation to intelligent buildings.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has released a review of research on the use of smart grid technologies, “Results from Recent Real-Time Feedback Studies,” which finds residential electricity savings ranging from 0 to 19.5 percent, with average savings of 3.8 percent.

The year 2012 represents a turning point for the smart grid sector, where it must prove its value, both in operational and financial terms, to the full range of stakeholders, according to a new white paper from Pike Research.

LonMark International and the OpenADR Alliance announced that they are working together to enable interoperability between certified products that will better allow commercial buildings to manage their energy use on the smart grid.

The OpenADR Alliance, a nonprofit corporation created to foster the development, adoption, and compliance of a smart grid standard known as Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR), has announced the successful testing of the OpenADR 2.0a profile standard.

Honeywell recently announced the formation of Smart Grid Solutions, a global enterprise that centralizes the company’s existing smart grid resources and expertise to respond to the growing needs of both energy providers and users.

National Technical Systems Inc. (NTS), a leading provider of testing and engineering services, announced that it has been selected by the USNAP Alliance as its exclusive testing and certification lab partner. In addition, NTS will also develop a test tool to assist in the development and certification testing of USNAP certified products.

A proposed standard to create smart facilities supporting a national smart grid effort is open for public comment. ASHRAE and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) are jointly developing Standard 201P, “Facility Smart Grid Information Model.”

IEEE has announced the availability of a new report detailing how energy storage, distributed generation, and microgrid technologies stand to evolve and grow given the rapid deployment of the smart grid across the globe over the next five years.

The OpenADR Alliance, which advocates for adoption of the Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) smart grid standard, announced that California investor owned utilities plan to require the OpenADR 2.0 standard for new customers in their Demand Response (DR) Enabling Technology programs in 2013.