Parks Associates presents new consumer data at CEDIA Expo

Parks Associates’ Director of Home Systems Research, Bill Ablondi will lead and moderate the keynote panel session “The Future of Energy Management” during the CEDIA Expo on Friday, September 24 in Atlanta, GA. Leaders in consumer technology, energy management, and smart grid technology will deliver the state of the union as it relates to energy management and the electronic systems industry during this keynote panel. Speakers include: Control4 Energy Systems, Direct Energy, GlobalSmartEnergy, Home Automation, Inc. (HAI), and Intel Corp.

Bill will present findings from Parks Associates’ Residential Energy Management project, including consumer research, new opportunities for manufacturers and service providers to deliver energy solutions, and strategies for companies to communicate the benefits of smart grid technologies and successfully engage consumers.

In the new white paper “Consumer Attitudes and the Benefits of Smart Grid Technologies,” Parks Associates reports more than 80% of U.S. broadband households are interested in learning about ways to cut energy expenditures, but utilities and their partners will be challenged in designing solutions to meet consumers’ varying needs and budgets.

Earth Hour - Lights off for 1 hour

The World Wildlife Fund’s now annual Earth Hour campaign is great way for individuals to take a stand against climate change. Something as simple as switching your lights off for one hour can make a visual statement of your support for the global sustainability movement.

Last year’s event saw such world famous landmarks as the CN Tower in Toronto, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, and The Eiffel Tour flick the switch on their illumination, not to mention the millions of people across the world who did the same on a smaller scale.

Earth Hour 2010 takes place Saturday, March 27th at 8:30 p.m. your local time.

Grid Net Welcomes Austin Energy CIO as new Chief Strategist

Grid Net, a global leader of real-time Smart Grid and Smart Home software platforms for utilities, their partners and their customers, announced the new appointment of Andres Carvallo as EVP and Chief Strategy Officer. Andres will work closely to help shape and drive the company’s product strategies, and will work with rest of the leadership team to propel the already rapid and successful establishment of Grid Net and its products and solutions into new customer engagements and markets. Andres will be responsible for the company’s branding, messaging, partnerships, marketing, commercialization, support and solutions efforts, worldwide.

Andres brings to Grid Net more than 24 years of experience in the energy, telecommunications, computer, and software industries. Having held executive management positions since 1992, he has been responsible for the successful development and commercialization of over 40 products, in companies ranging from start-ups to market leaders such as Philips Electronics, Digital Equipment Corporation, Borland, and Microsoft.

Most recently, Andres was the chief information officer at Austin Energy, the 9th largest public power utility in the nation providing low cost reliable power to the capital city of Texas, with annual revenues over $1.3 billion, servicing 410,000 premises representing approximately 43,000 businesses and 1.2 million consumers.

Andres was recently a keynote speaker at the SMART Energy Summit in Austin, Texas and the CONNECTIONS 2009 Conference in Santa Clara.

U.S. Electronic Systems Contractors optimistic about business prospects in 2010

On average, U.S. home systems integrators, who have had revenues fall for the past two years, expect sales to pick up by more than 9% in 2010 over 2009, according to Home Systems: Channel and Consumer Monitor.

This report includes results of a fourth-quarter 2009 survey of integrators installing home controls, entertainment systems, and energy management solutions, conducted as a joint effort from international research firm Parks Associates and the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA).

Home Systems: Channel and Consumer Monitor reports that integrators continue to generate two-thirds of their revenue from A/V systems but many integrators plan to diversity in 2010 by adding lighting controls and solar panels to their 2010 offerings. Approximately 40% of integrators plan to begin installing photovoltaic solar panels, and another 38% are seeking more information on this product category to determine its viability. In addition, the trend toward more retrofit projects, which accounted for 63% of 2009 revenues, will continue.

Visit www.parksassociates.com for more information on Home Systems: Channel and Consumer Monitor.

U.S. - Japan Clean Tech Symposium 2010

Parks Associates is supporting the U.S.-Japan Clean Tech Symposium 2010: Why Being in Japan and Partnering with Japanese Companies are Essential for Clean Tech on February 18th in San Francisco.

This event will highlight clean tech opportunities and encourage collaboration between U.S. and Japanese companies through discussion and sharing of strategies and plans (e.g., investment in U.S. and Japan; innovation opportunities for U.S. and Japanese companies; entry into third-country markets by U.S. and Japan collaboration).

For more information, click here to see event brochure.

New Residential Energy Management Whitepaper Available from CableLabs

Creating a Robust Market for Residential Energy Management through an Open Energy Management Architecture

Read more about CableLabs® ideas for public policy framework to advance the adoption of residential energy management.

Policies that allow and encourage innovative new solutions and stimulate new markets for residential energy management are largely missing from state and federal Smart Grid strategies.

Without an open market for residential energy management, there will be minimal private investment and new product development, leaving the promise of a ubiquitous national Smart Grid unrealized. Read More

White paper provided by CableLabs®. The views and opinions expressed in this white paper are from the author and not of Parks Associates.

Parks Associates hosting Residential Energy Management Webcast

Parks Associates is hosting a Residential Energy Management on Thursday, February 25th at 1 PM Central.

With the president’s stimulus bill squarely behind Smart Grid development, 2010 should see significant investment in new technologies from the back office to the network to the meter and to devices in the home. Will consumers pay to purchase devices with energy savings potential?

For more information, visit
http://www.parksassociates.com/events/webcasts.htm

Empowering people to save money by going green

People Power announces “Unplug for Earth Day 2010” campaign on Facebook

People Power Company, an energy efficiency company providing residential monitoring and control systems and services, announces its “Unplug for Earth Day 2010” campaign on Facebook at the SMART Energy Summit.

http://apps.facebook.com/unplugit

People Power is on a mission to "Unplug for Earth Day 2010" and asks everyone to reduce their personal CO2 emissions on April 22, 2010, and invite friends to join now on this great mission. Unplugging appliances in the home is easy and significantly reduces carbon pollution. Unplugging is important because many appliances continue to draw power even in the standby/off position.

The Unplug application on Facebook features the GreenX™ Calculator, which calculates carbon pollution reduction and helps users see their positive impact in terms of taking cars off the road and/or miles not driven by simply unplugging appliances. Users can then invite friends, view their plugs unplugged, and track their collective commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Leveraging Facebook, the GreenX™ Calculator empowers people to band together and make a substantial and positive impact on the environment.

To help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 2010, People Power is proud to introduce its very own “People Power Band” and announces its music debut single, “Happy Birthday Mother Earth.” Free downloads of the song are available on their website at www.peoplepowerco.com/press.

Consumers prefer home monitoring fees to be part of utility bills.

Nearly two thirds of consumers are prepared to pay for a home monitoring service letting them view excess energy consumption or security settings around the house when not at home. This is according to research carried out by UK-based connected home provider Intamac.

The research carried out across consumers in the UK and North America to find out their attitudes towards remote home monitoring and control showed that there’s a keen interest in better managing energy consumption. Yet, while consumers in both regions are eager to have better remote control over their homes, paying for a separate service is another matter.

According to research from the Energy Saving Trust, consumers find energy bills the hardest to understand, with 82% of people not even knowing what energy tariff they’re on. Added to that the current recession with people wanting to conserve energy and money it’s clear that a remote home monitoring and control system appeals. The trick is to make the payment for it appealing too.

For the full press release, click here.

Direct Energy Business Busts Myths About Electricity Rates in Pennsylvania

With the rate caps falling off in PPL’s service territory in January 2010, many business owners and managers are finding they have more questions than answers about their electricity options.

Myth: If I buy my electricity from a retail energy provider there is no way for it to reach my business, as the utility manages the wires.
Fact: The utility is responsible for the wires coming into your building, and for maintaining electrical services. However, a retail energy provider can provide the electricity being transmitted over those wires.

Direct Energy Business has signed up thousands of customers in PPL, and recently unveiled their VIP Friends and Family Program. This program allows large commercial and industrial customers to offer their employees discounts when they sign up to receive their electricity from Direct Energy Residential.

For the full press release, click here.

Control4 Hires Seasoned Executive Richard Walker to Lead Energy Systems Division

Control4®, a leader in affordable IP-based home control systems, announced today the appointment of Richard Walker to the post of President, Energy Systems. Walker is responsible for the growth and management of the company’s new operating division dedicated to bringing affordable energy management solutions to consumers, utilities, partners, and businesses.

Control4 Energy Systems was formed in July 2009 and debuted its first product, the Control4 Energy Management System 100 (EMS 100), in September. Since then, the Control4 EMS 100 has rapidly drawn industry attention as one of the easiest to use, most compelling energy management systems in the emerging home area network space and leading utilities have responded enthusiastically.

For the full press release, click here.

APOGEE Interactive and Control4 Collaborate to Connect Consumers to the Smart Grid

Control4, a leader in affordable IP-based home control systems, and APOGEE Interactive announced a strategic relationship today to incorporate Apogee’s energy analysis software into the Control4® home area network solution, the Energy Management System 100.

This strategic relationship marks the first time Apogee’s software will be available on an in-home device, and will enable the Control4 Energy Management System 100 to turn multiple streams of energy-related data into actionable information consumers can use to monitor and make changes to their home energy usage. For example, the Energy Management System will be able to forecast how much energy a consumer will use based on past usage patterns, allowing the consumer to make changes to lower their utility bill before it arrives.

By leveraging the Control4 Energy Management System 100, utilities can provide consumers a transparent view of their usage and billing information – right on their in-home display. The total Control4 product experience can increase customer participation in demand response and energy efficiency programs. This increased customer satisfaction will in turn reduce energy management and customer service costs.

For the full press release, click here.

Lockheed Martin Supports SES in 2010

Parks Associates welcomes Lockheed Martin as a Smart Energy Summit sponsor in 2010.

Lockheed Martin provides a comprehensive portfolio of renewable energy products, energy efficiency services, Smart Grid cyber security and grid management software solutions. Lockheed Martin’s Smart Energy Enterprise Suite, or SEEsuite™, of advanced grid management applications gives customers unprecedented insight into their enterprise operations and real-time command and control of their smart grid assets.

SEEsuite combines Lockheed Martin’s expertise in systems-of-systems integration, service oriented architectures, cyber security and mission-critical systems development with utility-specific functionality. SEEsuite helps customers dynamically manage load during times of grid stress or volatile market prices, integrate and balance load from distributed energy resources, increase situational awareness for advanced decision making, and manage distributed microgrids.

For more information about Lockheed Martin, please visit http://www.lockheedmartin.com/.

Xanboo Supports SES in 2010

Parks Associates welcomes Xanboo as a Smart Energy Summit sponsor in 2010.

Founded in 1999, Xanboo was an early pioneer in the development of Interactive services, remote access to video, as well as sensing and control devices over the Internet. Xanboo's self - provisioning gateway is the only "wireless, plug and play" system that allows streaming video over a customer's standard broadband connection regardless of their modem/router combination. Xanboo has been issues ten patents covering items such as system architecture, signaling technology and functional designs of its Interactive services platform.

For more information about Xanboo, please visit http://www.xanboo.com/.

Energy Executive Conference to be held in Austin, January 25-27

Parks Associates announced that Robert Heffron, Utility Market Manager, Verizon, will deliver the morning keynote at the Smart Energy Summit on Wednesday, January 27, at 9:00 a.m.

In his keynote, “Home Energy Management is Ripe for Huge Innovation,” Mr. Heffron will discuss the role of the carrier in addressing sustainability and home energy management.

As the home becomes more connected, it is open to a variety of new energy applications, including smarter appliances, load shedding, distributed energy production and resale, electric vehicle grid integration, and even neighborhood energy networking. The consumer is looking for a trusted partner to manage these solutions, maximize savings, and maintain privacy, a role the carrier is in a unique position to fulfill.

For more information, visit www.smartenergysummit2010.com.

Control 4 Supports SES 2010

Parks Associates welcomes Control4 as a Smart Energy Summit sponsor in 2010.

Control4, a leading provider of the operating system for the smart home, delivers intelligent control of consumer electronics products, appliances and networking systems through an easy-to-use and intuitive software interface. Founded in 2003, the company delivers affordable automation and control of lighting, music, video, HVAC, security, and energy management systems to the broad market through more than 1,600 custom integrators, retail outlets, and distributors in over 40 countries. Control4 is the platform of choice for major consumer electronics companies, hotels, businesses and utilities that require an intelligent, open and affordable control solution.

For more information about Control4, please visit http://www.control4.com/.

Intellon Corporation Proposal Selected by U.S. Department of Energy for Smart Grid Investment Grant Award

Intellon Corporation, a leading provider of HomePlug®-compatible integrated circuits (ICs) for home networking, networked entertainment, Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC) and smart grid applications, today announced that its application for funding in response to the U.S. Smart Grid Investment Grant Funding Opportunity Announcement has been selected for award negotiations by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). Intellon is the only semiconductor company to have a proposal selected by the DoE under this program. If the award negotiations with the DoE are successful, Intellon will receive $4.9 million of U.S. Recovery Act funding for the project, while contributing an additional $4.9 million in matching funds for a total investment of $9.8 million.

Intellon's proposal provides for the company to modify existing powerline technology to develop a new integrated circuit specifically designed and manufactured to meet the data rate, power, cost and reliability requirements for communications over home powerlines to support the emerging smart grid infrastructure.

The new ICs will communicate across existing electrical wiring in the home (120/240 VAC, or 24 VAC low voltage wiring to thermostats), enabling smart meters, energy usage display monitors, programmable communicating thermostats, smart appliances and other electrically powered equipment to transmit usage data and receive control signals.

For the full press release, please click here.

Residential Control Systems Supports SES 2010

Parks Associates welcomes Residential Control Systems as a Smart Energy Summit sponsor in 2010.

Residential Control Systems (RCS) designs and manufactures networked Thermostats, HVAC controls and Energy Management products for residential, hospitality and light commercial buildings.

Since 1993, RCS products have enabled comfort and energy usage to be monitored, measured, controlled and managed. RCS products communicate via a wide range of wired and wireless protocols including ZigBee, Z-Wave, WiFi, Ethernet and Power Line Carrier.

Integrated with Web based services and Utility pricing programs, RCS products provide optimal energy and cost conservation while affording the user enhanced environmental control and connectivity. In all, RCS’s suite of smart connected products enables intelligent control of the space, with maximum efficiency, at minimum cost.

RCS is headquartered in California with offices in Sacramento and San Diego.

For more information on Residential Control Systems, please visit http://www.resconsys.com/.

New Verizon Keynote Announced, Smart Energy Summit

Parks Associates is proud to welcome Robert Heffron, Utility Market Manager of Verizon as a keynote presenter at the SMART Energy Summit on January 27th.

Robert Heffron is responsible for coordinating and developing the company’s utility and network enabling intelligent initiatives. In this role, he works with multiple organizations and disciplines across Verizon to develop and deliver key utility and energy market capabilities that leverage the strengths of Verizon and provide market changing solutions. In the last year, Mr. Heffron has been developing Verizon’s efforts to address Smart Grid requirements as they relate to information technology. In this capacity he has worked across Verizon’s diverse business units, with key utility customers and with various state and federal agencies to understand the challenges and explain Verizon’s direction and capabilities as it relates to utility industry direction.

Direct Energy, Whirlpool Corporation, Best Buy, Lennox, OpenPeak Launch 'Home Energy Manager' prototype for consumers

Energy consumption is a hot topic but, despite the hype around being more efficient and "going green," the market has yet to deliver a one-stop, cost-saving, home energy management solution that's easy for consumers to understand and use. Direct Energy, Whirlpool Corporation, Best Buy, Lennox International and OpenPeak - all leaders in their respective industries - are hoping to change that tomorrow when they unveil a prototype of the Home Energy Manager (HEM) at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

The HEM is also designed to serve as an information and entertainment center in the home, providing access to news, weather, health, social networking, music and movie applications. In addition, there will be an online application store where consumers can build on the platform by downloading other applications that interest them. According to preliminary data, the HEM prototype could save consumers up to 25 percent per month on their energy bill.

The HEM leverages the opportunity created by the deployment of smart meters to residential homes, allowing consumers to track and control their energy use and costs on an easy-to-use, touch-screen device with an intuitive, graphic user interface. With the HEM, consumers will be able to manage their energy spending proactively by setting pre-determined budget limits and ensuring that appliances operate within specific parameters. Consumers will also be able to program the system directly or remotely to avoid energy consumption during peak periods.

For the full press release, click here.