"Data transparency is a key part of unlocking stronger two-way communication. If you think about the utility side, usually the amount of data they have about where and when energy is being used stops at the substation level. So you might have a really connected smart building but the utility side doesn't have the data to make smarter decisions about reliability, planning, targeting customers for specific programs, etc. If we're able to pull the curtain back with that data, a lot better planning can be done."

—Cindy Zhu

• How smart is Cindy's home? (1:57)
• Cindy's background (4:09)
• DOE's role in the smart buildings industry (19:13)
• Grid-interactive efficient buildings (25:28)
• The practical side of GEB (40:25)
• Utility innovation (45:44)
• Open ADR (52:25)
• Carveouts (57:19)

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"Investors are thinking about the long-term value and risk of buildings and recognizing that high-performing buildings are lower-risk, which means higher value. All investment is going to be centered on the risks inherent with buildings and making sure that those buildings are future-proof and able to prosper in a decarbonizing economy."

—Cliff Majersik

• Cliff’s background (2:46)
• Market transformation and how it works (6:08)
• How often building performance is being accounted for today (8:03)
• Policy - Utilities - Startups - Ecosystem - Owners - The roles of every player (11:02)
• Response to regulation as being our only hope (16:51)
• Policy tools for decarbonization in the US (20:07)
• Energy codes (21:00)
• Electrification (27:02)
• Benchmarking (29:07)
• Data access (37:13)
• Green leasing (40:37)
• How people can get involved (52:25)
• Carveouts (55:15)

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“Tenants are struggling to achieve something that landlords have direct control over and that aligns with what landlords are struggling to do. Tenant submetering needs to be looked at and rethought."

—Comly Wilson

• Comly’s background (2:50)
• About Enertiv (6:35)
• 2022 was about TenX and 2023 is all about OpX (18:21)
• How we create a concept of carbon on-site with our operational teams (28:31)
• How landlords align with tenants (31:08)
• ESG 2.0 playbook and what is needed moving forward (34:45)
• Carveouts (43:12)

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"We're still stuck dragging the anchor of the old proprietary software. Manufacturers need to listen to what the end-use customers are saying. They want open systems, product flexibility, and access to the data."

—Leroy Walden

• Leroy’s background (2:11)
• Conversation Context (5:05)
• Evolutionary phases of smart buildings from a BAS perspective (9:48)
• About the ecosystem: product manufacturers, distributors, system integrators (15:26)
• The nature of system integrators (34:35)
• Getting out of the virtuous cycle world (1:04:11)
• From the old ecosystem to a more accessible and scaleable one  (1:08:56)

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“You can electrify your way out of natural gas usage and move to renewable energy to get yourself out of scope two emissions but refrigerants are going to be the main solution for electrifying both water and space heating, which means a significant increase in refrigerant usage."

—Tristam Coffin

• Tristam’s background (2:09)
• Keys to sustainability in the grocery vertical (5:57)
• Important smart building tech in this vertical and status of deployment (8:23)
• About Effecterra (13:41)
• Why are refrigerants important? (19:39)
• The Montreal Protocol? (22:01)
• US AIM Act (27:31)
• Companies including refrigerants in their inventory today (29:35)
• What are low-GWP refrigerants? (34:34)
• Challenges with incumbent HVAC OEMs (42:56)
• High-level solutions for existing and new buildings (49:34)
• The state of technology for using analytics to find leaks (56:04)
• Industry training and upskilling (1:02:48)
• Carveouts (1:06:55)

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“To really operate a building at scale, you need to be able to know what's happening across everything in that building at any one time and manage it in the same way you would a smartphone. Everything end to end in the building needs to be managed in a way that's much more IT-focused as opposed to OT. And so coming up with complete management of that is really important and that's where it leads onto software-defined buildings."

—Kathy Farrington

• Kathy’s background (3:00)
• Technology stacks (5:55)
• Review and status of Google’s smart buildings program (8:06)
• Overview of the portfolio (12:46)
• SBC conference keynote - Kathy's main message to the industry (14:51)
• History of the BOS concept (17:52)
• Status of implementation (25:31)
• Lessons learned in recent new buildings projects (26:56)
• The device fleet management concept and software-defined buildings (30:23)
• Update on the application layer (38:10)
• Update on the ontology effort (44:09)
• Carveouts (45:06)

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"For us, it's simpler to work with applications that go ontop of the BOS because we can control the information being accessed. Without the BOS, transparency is limited, which limits the number of use cases.

By adding this data layer, we're dramatically increasing transparency and the possibilities of what else can easily be added on top."

—Grigor Hadjiev

• About Allianz (3:07)
• How technology improves asset value (4:16)
• Digitization vs Smart Building (6:46)
• Defining ‘smart building’ (11:01)
• Overview of the Allianz smart building program (12:39)
• The importance of data and the data layer (38:09)
• What are the key components of the BOS (44:55)
• Next steps in the program (49:38)
• Careveouts (53:38)

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“The tools that have always been successful at instigating change are benchmarking and performance standards. Let's use those tools and evolve them to better fit the needs of today's definition of a high-performance building, which includes the carbon aspect, grid interactivity, and occupant responsiveness."

—Molly Dee-Ramasamy

• JBB's background (6:25)
• Deep Carbon Reduction (7:55)
• Local Law 97's impact on the industry (9:36)
• Stories from the ground (18:15)
• Flight to quality and repositioning of assets (26:23)
• Evolution of these programs and Benchmark 8760 (35:29)
• The biggest impediment of decarbonizing buildings in NYC (42:31)
• Helping clients with other risks (51:59)
• The shift in the design consulting role (56:45)
• Carveouts (58:23)

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“The grid is starting to look a lot like the internet. These IOT devices are distributed, digital, user owned and operated nodes. They can buy from the grid, they can sell from the grid, they can respond dynamically.

These nodes are increasing ten, a hundred, a thousand fold over the next decade, which has really interesting implications for how we'll operate the grid going forward."

—James McGinniss

• What are DERs? (8:59)
• How DERs are changing the electric grid (10:11)
• David Energy's founding story (12:47)
• The three pillars of David Energy: the REP, the DR provider, and the supervisory control software platform (15:25)
• What are retail electricity providers? (17:34)
• The value of bundling efficiency with grid benefits (31:09)
• How the bundling allows David Energy to handle risk better than other REPs (37:31)
• Their innovative smart thermostat program (42:44)

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“Don't spend your time with the laggards who don't yet see the need for (smart building technology). When they see it they'll find you. Go find owners with a need and then meet that need."

—Mandi Wedin

• The macro perspective of commercial real estate investment (5:04)
• Types of real estate investment vehicles (10:12)
• Different issues real estate owners currently face (14:19)
• The solution for a frozen market (19:00)
• Current property level needs (25:33)
• Smart building fundamentals today (31:01)
• What the current environment means for smart buildings specifically (36:45)
• Impacts on smart building investment plans (45:13)
• The bright spots and reasons for optimism (59:41)
• Carveouts (1:05:00)

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