Building-scale battery power, renewables, CHP, fuel cells, microgrids, LEDs, smart sensors, intelligent appliances, hyper-efficient windows, responsible materials, optimization software and big data analytics...oh my! Energy hasn't been this exciting since the Current Wars of the 1880s when Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla invented the modern electric grid. From big commercial properties to individual residences, from utility-scale energy producers to rooftop solar arrays, the power landscape is in full transformation. The industry is evolving too quickly for many of the experts to keep up. For many building owners and operators, energy is a small part of the many responsibilities they have to their properties. These managers need quick, efficient, and decisive resources to navigate the complicated offerings in an ever-evolving space.
Enter a new wave of professionals heralding efficiency, reliability, safety, environmental responsibility, and cost-effectiveness in the electricity landscape: New Energy Architects. The field of New Energy Architecture emerges at a time when N.Y. needs it most. Demand on the grid is at a peak as more companies and individuals use power-hungry devices that strain our aging infrastructure. Reliability for critical systems is under threat as climate change brings flooding, intense weather, and uncertainty. Regulatory shifts like NYS' REV are also changing the playing field across the state. How do you optimize your building's performance in this ecosystem? How do you future-proof your portfolio through efficiency upgrades and choose which distributed energy resources (DERs) to deploy? If you are a REIT, can portfolio-wide energy upgrades yield increased shareholder value and pay true dividends? Which vendors can you trust? Many professionals are either asking these questions already or should be considering why they haven't yet. For big telecommunications businesses overseeing billion dollar energy bills like Verizon or AT&T, it is easy to understand how pennies invested in new energy architecture can translate into big savings and real shareholder value. For smaller organizations with fewer resources, it becomes more challenging to evaluate whether the juice is really worth the squeeze. The bottom line: It pays to know your options, and it pays to make sure your tenants and critical systems are protected in this transformational time.
More minds than ever before are focusing their attention on solving our energy infrastructure's greatest challenges. They are new energy architects. Lean on their knowledge to optimize energy assets and protect tenants, investors, and other stakeholders in your property portfolio.
Nicholas Davis is a managing director at AGRION Americas, New York, N.Y. Tags: