News
EMerge Alliance forms new Campus Microgrid Technical Standards Committee at AIA 2012

Chaired by Guy AlLee, of Intel’s Energy Research and Sustainability Labs, the committee will focus on establishing a standard for the integration of DC microgrids throughout a building or campus. The standard will also highlight improved efficiency of integrated on-site power generation, storage, distribution and use by capitalizing on the utilization of native DC power. With input from member organizations, the new Campus Microgrid standard will integrate the other EMerge Alliance standards that enable the use of DC power at various levels and in a variety of spaces. The resulting set of standards hopes to further advance the Alliance’s mission to help building designers and owners achieve greater flexibility, sustainability and savings.

“To better facilitate the creation of net-zero energy buildings, the Alliance has issued a ‘call-to-action’ to its members  and others to join in the development of this important new DC microgrid standard,” said AlLee.

“An essential part of this process is connecting the dots to ensure that the individual microgrids within a campus or building can connect seamlessly with each other, with on-site generation and storage, and with the utility macrogrid, thus creating an integrated power system that maximizes the efficiency gained from the direct use of native DC power,” added AlLee.

According to EMerge Alliance chair Brian Patterson, the Alliance has been working toward a vision of DC microgrids in four key areas – occupied spaces, data and telecommunications centers, building services and outdoor applications – since the organization was founded in 2008.

“The success of our first power distribution standard for the occupied space and the upcoming release of a similar standard for data and telecommunications centres has prompted the Alliance’s Governing Board to move forward with the standards development process,” said Patterson. “The formation of this new technical standards committee is yet another important step toward the interconnection of these and all future power distribution microgrids within a building or campus.”

The Campus Microgrid Technical Standards Committee is open to all Alliance members at the Governing and Participating levels, and will include consideration of power, infrastructure, peripheral device and control applications required to operate a building using DC power. The group is inviting other innovative organizations in the commercial building industry to join and contribute to this groundbreaking standards development effort.