 |
510-486-7089
BNordman@LBL.gov
|
|
Current Major Research Topics
Local Power Distribution - Nanogrids
Today, most electricity use occurs within a single "pool" of power provided by the utility grid, much like the U.S. phone system was a single managed entity. An alternative is to move to a networked model of electricity distribution, particularly within buildings. We call this "Local Power Distribution", with the smallest unit within this the "Nanogrid".
- Think Globally, Distribute Power Locally: The Promise of Nanogrids, IEEE Computer "Green IT" Column, September 2012.
- DC Local Power Distribution with Microgrids and Nanogrids, First International Conference on DC Microgrids, Atlanta, GA, June 2015. Slides
- The Need for Communications to Enable DC Power to be Successful, First International Conference on DC Microgrids, Atlanta, GA, June 2015. Slides
- DC Local Power Distribution: Technology, deployment, and pathways to success IEEE Electrification Magazine, June 2016.
- Optimizing Device Operation with a Local Electricity Price, Micro-Energy International: Innovating Energy Access for Remote Areas: Discovering Untapped Resources, Berkeley, CA, April 2014. Slides
- Local Power Distribution with Nanogrids, International Green Computing Conference, Arlington, VA, June 2013.
- Electricity Technology Needs for Energy Access, prepared for the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, San Jose, CA, October 2017.
- Rethinking Grids with Local Power Distribution, Keynote address to ACM e-Energy, Bangalore, India, July 2015.
- "The Fit Grid"-Principles for a better electric future, submission for the SEPA 51st State Process, Phase 2, March 2016.
- Grid Architecture for Buildings, prepared for GMLC Grid Architecture project, December 2019.
- Local Grid Definitions, developed by the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, Home, Building and Industrial Working Group, February 25, 2016.
- Networked Local Power Distribution with Nanogrids from the 2nd Military and Commercial Microgrids workshop, May 2013. These update the presentation slides on Dynamic Nanogrid Concepts from the DOD Advanced Microgrid Concepts and Technologies Workshop, June 7-8, 2012. (a version of this also presented at the ACEEE 2012 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August 15, 2012
Older Material
Other Current Projects / Interests
Select Talks
- Electronics, Networks, and Energy, IEEE Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE), January 10, 2011
- Proxying: Reducing PC energy use with network technology - EEDN Seminar , September 10, 2010. 1 slide/page PDF or 6 slides/page PDF
- What the Real World Tells Us about Saving Energy in Electronics - Symposium on Energy Efficient Electronic Systems (E3S) — CITRIS / UCB , June 11, 2009
- Linux, Energy, and Networks: "Saving Large Amounts of Energy With Network Connectivity Proxying" - Linux Collaborative Summit, April 9, 2009
- ICT, Networks, and Energy: The Energy Perspective - OFC / NFOEC conference, March 22, 2009
- Digital Networks: Energy and Beyond - LBNL/EETD noon Seminar, January 9, 2009 (at actual seminar, only electronics slides shown)
Buildings as Networks
A large amount of future energy savings in buildings is only possible through closely matching the energy services delivered to occupants to what they need and desire at each particular point in time (and as informed by prices). This is only possible by highly dynamic, effective, functional, and robust future building networks, which are in turn only possible through adopting the goal of Universal Interoperability.
This needs to be the basis of a globally standard network architecture for future building networks. Just as the Internet was not an evolutionary step from existing common information networks, but rather introduced many new concepts, future building networks need to be designed from the ground up, not by adapting existing controls technologies. As with the Internet, we should expect this to enable future functionalities for buildings that we have not even imagined today.
Presentations
- House of the Further Future: the 'Networked' House - LBNL Science at the Theater, May 10, 2010. Video available on YouTube
- The Case "Against" the Smart Grid - at I4energy Seminar Series - CITRIS — CITRIS / UCB , October 2, 2009. Video available on YouTube
- Networks, Standards, and Energy: The Energy Perspective - IEA/IEC/ISO Workshop on Standards and Climate Change, March 16-17, 2009
- Building Networks for the 22nd Century - EPRI AMI/HAN work group, February 13, 2009
- Networks in Buildings: Which Path Forward? - 2008 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August, 2008
- Thermostats. See a recent talk on Climate control for 2020 - T-stats as a digital network presented October 15, 2007 to a workshop on thermostats at LBNL
Past Projects
Power Management Controls - standards for terms, symbols, indicators, etc. to increase power management savings.
Audio/Video Inter-Device Power Control - Proposed standard mechanism for managing audio/video content streams to enable automatic power management of A/V devices.

Materials Use / Consumption
This is no longer an active research area of mine.
 |
Paper End-Use Efficiency - practical information on reducing paper use. This web site dates from Fall, 1998, but much of the information is still applicable. Web site currently off-line |
|
 |
Consumption Efficiency in general - improving materials consumption to reduce industrial production and increase quality of life. |
Last Modified: June 11, 2020.
|
|