Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings

At the Building Technologies Office, we’re conducting Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB) research to help bring connectedness – and the related energy savings – across the entire building sector, commercial and residential alike. GEB research will allow American businesses and families to save energy and reduce their utility bills without impacting comfort or productivity.

The GEB vision is more than just saving energy and money inside buildings. Increased Internet connections for building equipment can also enable buildings to be more responsive to electric grid conditions. This helps avert system stress, enhancing the reliability of the entire grid. Grid-interactive water heaters, for example, know exactly when to turn on or off the electric heating elements to reduce power use during moments when the utility system reaches peak demand or to shift power consumption to when the utility system has excess capacity.