• world population in the year 1800 was 1 billion, now in 2010 close to 7 billion -- 6 billion increase in only 200 years!
• energy consumption going through the roof
  - every country is striving for US lifestyle
  - India/China have 3 times the US population each; not sustainable - would require the natural resources of 10 earths every country is striving for US lifestyle
• China is building the equivalent of a NYC every year for the populations moving from the country-side to the metropolitan areas

Potential Solutions to the Increasing Demands on World Energy:

• Government Management:
  - Government looking for real estate leases to have dual incentives (tenant and landlord) to decrease energy consumption
  - GSA investing in green buildings to improve operations and reduce costs - along with just being better for the environment;
  
  
• Consumer Education:
  - energy consumption control - only so much can be done by the technology; a key component is the people themselves - we all have to buy in, be smarter and more conservative with our energy usage
  - education for people/tenants on how to participate in being green is critical
  - dashboards showing energy usage and efficiency; comparisons between tenants (no one wants to be ranked last)
  - create incentives for shared energy savings
  - constellation energy - dashboards to show realtime usage and pricing of power consumption for customers - data can be integrated to your private databases
  
  
• Are smartgrids enough? No
  - Can't forget the buildings -- the source is important, but the end point, the consuming building and tenants are just as important and need to happen hand-in-hand; difficulty in engaging the leasing/tenants -- what's the solution?
  
  
• Reduce usage:
  - IBM only has enough RE for 60% of their workforce; substantial savings
  - Average office bldg is used only 18% of the 24/7 week - but energy, lighting, AC, etc are often running far longer
  
  
• Vornado, Liberty Property Trust, Transwestern, Boston Properties -- are conducting case studies of connecting and monitoring energy usage in buildings