he PSMA and IEEE PELS jointly sponsored an energy efficiency workshop titled “Power Electronics and Electrical Challenges for Energy Efficient Buildings". The workshop, which was jointly organized by the PSMA Alternative Energy Committee and the IEEE PELS Emerging Technologies Technical Committee, was held at the OMNI Hotel in Fort Worth prior to the start of APEC 2014. The report on the workshop is now available. It is our sincere wish that this report provides the same in-depth knowledge the participants in the workshop enjoyed.

The PSMA strives to bring awareness, education and action to the subjects of Energy Efficiency and Power Electronics. Seventy percent of the global energy is consumed in commercial and residential buildings. Power electronics is a major component in the effort to efficiently utilize the energy consumed.

The workshop Steering Committee was led by Phil Krein, who not only formulated the concept and outline of the workshop, but led the process of creating the topics and organizing them into a cohesive flow. The members of the workshop committee from PELS and PSMA gathered seven experts to seed the workshop with a level of expertise that enabled the workshop participants to discuss topics ranging from planning large energy efficient buildings, life cycle costing and analysis, AC-DC nanogrids, DC nanogrids, energy monitoring and an overview of two large energy efficient buildings at NREL and University of Illinois.

A copy of Power Electronics and Electrical Challenges for Energy Efficient Buildings – A Report on the Energy Efficient Workshop has been sent to workshop participants and to PSMA Regular and Associate member companies as a benefit of their membership. Additional copies may be purchased at the member price of $US100. PSMA Affiliate members may also purchase the report for $US100. The report is available to non-members for purchase on the PSMA website (www.psma.com) for the price of $US1,090.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.