Our friend and editorial advisor Jack Mc Gowan, president of Energy Control, Inc., has outdone himself with this month’s supplement. Last year, we served up a themed Intelligent Buildings Today supplement on wireless. This year, we decided to devote a supplement to the ideas and opportunities surrounding GridWise. Jack spearheaded the effort, persuading a roster of seven other industry experts to contribute pages to the effort in addition to his own article.

The result - other than a new indoor record for number of authors in one supplement - is a series of snapshots and perspectives that combine to form a useful big picture about what GridWise means and how your buildings can use demand response and other techniques to get the most out of today’s (and tomorrow’s) opportunities.

The other thing you’ll notice about the supplement, which is bound right into the issue this time around, is a new name. Intelligent Buildings Today is now Green Intelligent Buildings (GIB). It will still focus on ways to make the most efficient buildings possible, and examples of such buildings, using smart integration of building systems and more. Accomplishing that much will take you a long way toward fulfilling the promise of buzz words like sustainability and “going green.”

till, to convey this philosophy as effectively as possible, we’ll emphasize the relationship between intelligent buildings and sustainability, through measures like the LEED® program, the GridWise movement, and/or the old-fashioned barometer of simple energy conservation and improved bottom line.




Raising Arizona

Another “first” deserves a reminder: the first time our Building & Sustainability Conference is teaming with BACnet International’s own conference to provide three days of multifaceted, comprehensive panels and conversation about the latest automation and sustainability topics.

The opening day on September 25 includes the latest on BACnet tools, data management, wireless, case studies, and specifying. Then we’ll fill the following days’ tracks with panels and speakers covering a swath of current issues like zero-energy buildings, Web-based open systems, lighting controls, intelligent buildings tools, and more.

As usual, panel sessions will build in time for attendee Q&A, looking to create two-way discussion about real-life problems and solutions. As far as the ES team, regular contributor Paul Ehrlich and I will return, and columnist and AutomatedBuildings.com founder Ken Sinclair will also be able to join us, a welcome boost to any controls discussion.

We’re looking forward to raising the bar for smart automation at the Wyndham Phoenix Hotel on September 25-27. Registration is $595 and includes all three days, conference meals, a CD-ROM of the proceedings, two networking receptions, and more. Attendees can also pick up CEU/PDH credits for the event. Sponsors as of press time include Lumisys, Delta Controls, Johnson Controls, Automated Logic, Siemens, Tridium, Viconics, and Reliable Controls.


Check outwww.buildingautomationconf.comfor more info, or call 888-530-6714 to join us for a truly unprecedented combination of resources, insights, and opportunities to improve performance in your present and future facilities.




Our first fellow

In late-breaking news, we’ve learned that longtime ES columnist and author Howard McKew (RDK Engineers) will be inducted as an ASHRAE Fellow at the Society’s plenary session in New York this January. This process involved a nomination by a colleague, followed by supporting letters from other engineers, and finally, ASHRAE approval.

To my knowledge, this will make McKew the first ES advisor to achieve Fellow status within ASHRAE. We heartily congratulate him on the honor and for the voluminous body of work in the field and in writing that led to this distinction, although we aren’t sure if this means we’ll have to start addressing him as “Sir Howie” or not.