Architects and GEBs: The Role of the Profession in the Emerging Field of Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings

This report summarizes work undertaken by the NJIT Center for Building Knowledge pursuant to an Upjohn Research Initiative grant from the American Institute of Architects. The purpose of the grant – titled “Architects and GEBs: The Role of the Profession in the Emerging Field of Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings” – was to: 1) analyze existing, GEB-related R&D activities and findings; 2) identify specific GEB topics that will most strongly impact architects and the facilities they design; 3) convene a focus group of architects to review and discuss these topics in terms of how they impact day-to-day practice; 4) incorporate the results into an online toolkit designed to help architects understand the practical, real-world implications of GEBs on their practices; and 5) identify pathways through which the architectural profession can effectively engage with GEBs activities going forward.
The core deliverable for the project – an online toolkit designed to help architects understand the practical, real-world implications of GEBs on their practices (titled GEBSforarchitects.org) – is a means to both educate architects about GEBs and to bring them into the national conversation about this rapidly evolving building typology.