Smart+Connected Communities addresses the need for sustainable energy to meet the demand of increasingly urbanized populations by providing a network-enabled blueprint for successful smart cities of the future that run on networked information. The solution builds on Cisco Systems’ networked sustainability platform to further utilize the network to increase energy efficiency, create new tools for ‘energy-aware’ city management, and enable economic opportunity and quality of life gains for citizens.
The new Network Building Mediator provides operators and owners of the buildings with new ways of managing how energy is used based on policies that make sense for occupants.
As the majority of electricity in the US is consumed in offices and commercial buildings, Cisco Systems believes the network has the potential to create a significant impact on global energy efficiency and reduction of Green House Gas emissions by further integrating information technology into Smart Connected Buildings.
Highlights / Key Facts:
The new Smart Connected Buildings solution, Cisco Systems’ new technology, aims to enable sustainable energy reduction and the future-proofing of facilities through a flexible integration of new technologies that help deliver energy efficiency and environmental stewardship for Smart+Connected Communities.
This represents the first Emerging Technology business unit incubated from Cisco Systems’ Globalization Centre East in Bangalore, India. The business unit integrates technologies from Cisco Systems’ acquisition of Santa Barbara, California-based Richards-Zeta in January 2009 with Cisco networking technology and concurrently develops innovative software solutions for energy management.
Sandeep Vij, vice president and general manager, leads the team out of the Globalization Center East, reporting to Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of the Emerging Technologies Group.
Smart Connected Buildings first solution, Cisco Network Building Mediator, provides an architecture to allow building operation managers to easily monitor, measure and act on energy systems while adding renewable technologies such as solar, wind and fuel cells as well as energy-efficiency programs such automated demand-response programs to reduce capital and operating expenditures.
The Cisco Network Building Mediator communicates southbound with building systems using a variety of industry open-system protocols. It then converts the data to open XML/SOAP Services which connect northbound to applications, utilities, enterprise management systems and cloud services.
The Cisco Network Building Mediator extends Cisco EnergyWise technology to deliver the comprehensive business energy-management solution, providing energy monitoring, reporting and saving to more systems and devices in any building.
Cisco Systems also announced that more than 20 technology partners will join the Cisco Development Technology Program for the Mediator in bringing solutions and services to Smart+Connected Communities.
In addition, Cisco Systems’ plans to introduce an Authorized Technology Provider Program for channel partners and system integrators who will be supporting sales and services for customers.
The Cisco Network Building Mediator is orderable now and is available in two configurations; the Cisco Network Building Mediator 2400 and the Cisco Network Building Mediator 4800. Pricing starts at $4995.
Executive Quotes:
Marthin De Beer, senior vice president, Emerging Technologies Group:
Today’s announcement of Smart Connected Buildings as Cisco’s latest Emerging Technology highlights the strength of our internal innovation engine for identifying and developing solutions in key market adjacencies. Our aim is to create a new set of systems and solutions that take the network and extend the power of the platform to deliver sustainable energy management from information technology and commercial buildings all the way through to smart grid and the home.
Wim Elfrink, chief globalization officer and executive vice president, Cisco Services:
Over the next three to five years, as more people around the world migrate to urban centres, 3 billion individuals around the world will connect to the Internet. Cisco envisages a future where successful communities and cities will run on networked information, and where information technology will help the world better manage its energy and environmental challenges. Cities of the future, and many innovative cities now, are addressing the issues and opportunities of this new world by thinking about the network as the platform for economic development, better city management and an improved quality of life for citizens. Everything connected to the network in these smart+connected communities can be greener.
David Shroyer, controls engineer, NetApp:
Within 20 minutes of the demand-response signal from the utility, the Cisco Network Building Mediator reduces lighting by 50 percent and raises the temperature set point by four degrees, shedding 1.1 megawatts. In conjunction with other systems, the Cisco solution has helped us reduce energy consumption in our Sunnyvale location by 18 million kilowatt hours in 18 months. We have reduced our carbon footprint and have saved an estimated $2 million in energy costs.
Peter Kelley-Detwiler, senior vice president, demand response, Constellation Energy Group Inc.:
We have created a load-response solution in which the customers get paid for curtailing their consumption during the period of high or peak demand on their systems. The way we help them is we take the Cisco Network Building Mediator and use that to coordinate with the building and send a signal to automatically shut down systems.
Norm Campbell, manager, metering systems, Simon Property Group:
Organizing our energy and building systems required an equally dynamic infrastructure to coordinate meter data, EMS and external inputs in unison. The Cisco Network Building Mediator is such a platform and enables us to pursue energy efficiency, load response and sustainability while maintaining comfort for our tenants and customers.
Achuthan Nair, vice president and business head, Wipro Technologies:
Cisco Network Building Mediator technology has an open approach in a pre-dominantly multi protocol and proprietary area. We have been able to innovatively leverage it to enable management of non-IP systems, thus bringing the rigor of IT service management to non-IT equipment. This brings tremendous value to our customers by lowering their energy consumption and reducing the service costs.
