Smart Grid City

Chicago invented the skyscraper. Can it pioneer the best urban sustainable-energy strategies as well?

By Ann Lok Lui

Chicago’s historic skyline has always been a source of pride for city residents. And while few new buildings are currently going up, building owners have developed a plan to capitalize on the latest advances: Smart-grid technologies that will convert the city’s iconic skyline into what backers call a “virtual green generator” by retrofitting highrise buildings and the existing electrical grid to a new hyper-connected intelligent-communications backbone. Simultaneously, researchers at local universities, among them the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, have been developing their own cutting-edge smart-grid technology.

“We want to make Chicago a hub for smart-grid manufacturing and deployment,” said Andrew Barbeau, the managing director of the Center for Electricity Innovation at IIT. “Energy generation, delivery, and management is a trillion-dollar marketplace, and we are really trying to make Chicago a center for that.” Chicago has long been a leader in innovation for electrical utility and power industries, he added, even when the West Coast was attracting much of the software and tech jobs. “Chicago never gave up on what its strengths are, and is prepared to make a comeback,” he said.

In fact, the Windy City is a likely birthplace for what could be the largest-ever smart-grid pilot. It has a captive market of building owners—interested in reducing their utility bills and attracting green-conscious tenants—cheek-to-cheek with top electrical engineering universities. Public support and cooperation from local utilities has also made for fertile ground. The Chicago Climate Action Plan, launched in 2008 by Mayor Richard Daley, plans on retrofitting 50 percent of industrial and commercial buildings by 2020. READ MORE >>

via www.archpaper.com