The commercial real estate industry has endured a rough time over the past four years in the wake of the office shutdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic but it seems to be poised for a bit of a rebound.
The energy side of CRE, however, has always been robust and problematic. Commercial properties covering some 16 billion square feet of floor space also consume close to 250 billion kWh of energy annually, accounting for nearly 20% of U.S. energy consumption, according to federal and private research data. As in other business sectors, many CRE leaders want their energy to be resiliency and more sustainable.
The nation’s CRE facilities also are prone to the same grid power vulnerabilities and costs as any other large-scale customer. A new story in the industry journal Commercial Property Executive by author Gail Kalinoski asks if microgrids can serve a mission-critical on-site power need for office and warehouse facilities.
The story looks at projects such as the work done by GreenStruxure with Bimbo Bakeries USA, installing microgrids at six California facilities. The Commercial Property Executive article also quotes Microgrid Knowledge advisory board members such as Jana Gerber, president of North America Microgrids for Schneider Electric, advocacy group Think Microgrid’s Executive Director Cameron Brooks and Enchanted Rock Chief Commercial Officer Allan Schurr.
Kalinoski’s piece for Commercial Property Executive points out the accelerating momentum for microgrids in the commercial and industrial sectors, with 50% of systems beginning operations in the last five years, rising from 329 counted in 2017 to nearly 700 in the past two years, according to research firm JLL.
Much of that distributed energy and microgrid growth has happened in California and Texas, whether extreme weather events have strained and damaged the utility power grids. Dallas will be host to the 2025 Microgrid Knowledge Conference happening April 15-17 at the Sheraton Dallas.
Read the complete Commercial Property Executive article here.
