Jun 11 2008
GridPoint Inc., a leading clean tech company whose smart grid platform benefits electric utilities, consumers and the environment, is a key partner in a unique construction project on the Furman University campus that incorporates and promotes the very best in green building practices.
The Cliffs Cottage at Furman, a Southern Living Showcase Home, is a model of environmentally responsible design, sustainable building techniques and materials, and energy-saving systems. The cottage utilizes several of GridPoint’s capabilities including clean backup power, online energy management and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) smart charging.
From the bamboo flooring to the solar panels in the roof, the 3,400-square-foot residential home has all the latest technological innovations in sustainable living, which doesn’t end with the house itself. The same environmentally sound concepts were applied to the landscaping, organic and formal gardens, rainwater collection systems and even the driveway and walkways surrounding the home. Cliffs Cottage is expected to be among the first residential facilities in the nation to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
GridPoint applies information technology to the electric power grid to make it more intelligent, efficient, reliable and clean, providing a practical solution to advance the development of a Smart Grid. GridPoint’s smart grid platform gives an electric utility the ability to control various new technologies &ndash such as smart meters, batteries, solar panels and PHEVs &ndash at the home or business to increase efficiency and reliability. For consumers, the platform provides clean backup power, increases energy efficiency and integrates renewable energy.
GridPoint, along with Cliffs Cottage principal partner Duke Energy, will showcase its online energy management portal, which provides homeowners with unparalleled visibility and control over their energy consumption, costs and carbon footprint. For example, the portal can monitor the amount of renewable energy produced, consumed or sold to the utility, available backup power, and the most cost-effective time to run appliances to avoid peak demand charges.
The cottage will also utilize GridPoint’s PHEV “smart charging” capability, which allows Duke Energy to shift the charging of vehicles &ndash no matter when they are plugged in &ndash to off-peak hours to reduce stress on the grid and consumers’ rates. GridPoint and Duke recently announced positive results from what is believed to be the first commercial test of utility-controlled smart charging.
The principal partners in the Southern Living Showcase Home project are Furman, Southern Living, The Cliffs Communities, Duke Energy and Bank of America.
The Cliffs Cottage opens for public tours on Saturday, June 14, and will remain open for one year. For tickets, hours and more information, visit the Cliffs Cottage Web site at www.furmancliffscottage.com or call 864-294-2185.
GridPoint is a 2008 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and winner of the 2007 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Green Excellence for its success in pioneering a way to harness load management and distributed generation to achieve environmental sustainability. GridPoint’s technology is utilized in several platinum-rated LEED residences. The company is featured in the books Earth: The Sequel and The Clean Tech Revolution.