Greentech Lead America: Cities that invest in smart grid
technology and infrastructure perform better in terms of economic prospects and
job growth, says a “Connected City” study by Jones Lang LaSalle.
When Jones Lang LaSalle’s researchers compared
“Connected City” smart grid cities with North American averages, they
found that connected cities have an annual GDP growth rate that is 0.7 percent
higher, an unemployment rate that is a full percentage point lower, and office
occupancy rates 2.5 percent higher than less advanced cities.
“Cities that invest in smart grid technology and
infrastructure, and that implement programs to enable energy-efficient
corporate operations, are winning the competition for new businesses and job
growth,” said Dan Probst, chairman, Energy and Sustainability Services,
Jones Lang LaSalle.
Probst further said, “This correlation speaks to the
value of strong relationships between public sector infrastructure custodians
and power suppliers and the responsibilities of private businesses to be smart
users of energy and to work together to drive productivity improvements at both
the city and individual corporation level.”
The research compared the economic performance of
connected cities with North American averages. “The Smart Grid Cities were
chosen on the basis of their investments in smart grid technology,” said
Beaudoin, Jones Lang LaSalle vice president and director of Americas Corporate
Research. “Their collective strong economic performance should be of
interest to corporations locating new operations, as well as municipalities
considering an investment in smart grid technologies.”
To realize the full potential of smart grid technology,
there has emerged a new approach to building automation and integrated
facilities management, where data is aggregated across an entire portfolio,
providing insights into achieving optimal performance. Remote, continuous
monitoring of facility energy use provides the ability to effectively leverage
connectivity with a smart grid to reduce energy cost and carbon footprint.
Integrated facilities management systems that enable
real-time energy use monitoring can make it possible for corporations to better
manage their use of the public grid, achieving cost savings and carbon
footprint reduction by proactively optimizing the power drawn off the smart
grid. They also extend the benefits of the Smart Grid beyond the public
infrastructure, and into privately held real estate.