Call for Members (ASHRAE Smart Grid)

Yesterday the long-awaited (by me, anyway) announcement and call for members for a new ASHRAE committee went out. My participation having been already approved, I had my application submitted in less than 45 minutes -- not that I'm really in a hurry to be on yet another committee.

In any event ASHRAE is forming SPC (Standards Project Committee) 201 to develop a standard called ASHRAE/AHAM/ISA Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model. This will be a critical component of the Smart Grid development effort and goes far beyond the apparently commonly-held notion that the Smart Grid is nothing more than "the utility comes into your house, adjusts your thermostat and turns off your appliances." If that were to be where it winds up, I'd preduct a massive backlash. But we're looking at more cooperative models.

On of the interesting things about the application form is the voting membership category. ASHRAE's rules for project committees requires some balance on its committees, unlike a certain other organization with "pay to play" rules that result in it being massively dominated by if not entirely comprised of manufacturers. (There is no charge to participate on an ASHRAE committee and you do not even have to be a member.) Speaking from a manufacturer's perspective, I'm really happy for User category participation in BACnet and only wish we could get more of some, to get their direct input on what we do.

In any event, the categories defined for SPC 201 are:
- General
- Utility
- Consumers - Residential, Commercial, and Industrial
- Appliance, Residential Automation, and Consumer Electronics Producer
- Commercial/Institutional/Industrial Producer

It seems that as a representative of Honeywell, Trend and Alerton I am in the last category and that's how I applied.

But it would be really good if we could get good representation in the "Consumers - Residential, Commercial, and Industrial" category.

The deadline for applying is July 27th; the announcement is here:
http://www.ashrae.org/docLib/20100706_SAjuly62010.pdf

(If you are applying for the "Consumers" category and want help navigating the system, contact me.)