EV Charging Station Infrastructure for Smart Buildings

For this episode of the Smart Buildings Technology Podcast, senior editor Matt Vincent sat down with Andrew Blauvelt, senior product director with Acuity Brands’ Atrius unit, with a focus on sustainability, ESG, IoT, SaaS, and energy technologies; and Chris Vintinner, product line manager with Distech Controls. 

Andrew Blauvelt is the Senior Director of Product at Acuity Brands for the Atrius Intelligent Spaces group, who works with building owners, operators, consultants and systems integrator to help provide an integration IoT platform which aggregates, normalizes and benchmarks all building related data to help achieve sustainability goals. Blauvelt believes transparency and collaboration are the key to unlocking sustainable buildings which close the loop the between owners and occupiers. He has a strong background in building science, starting in high school as building automation technician, working as an energy engineer for AECOM (Sieben Energy Associates), managing business development for Siemens in Energy Services and analytics, and finally helping to design a seamless edge to cloud experience at Acuity Brands. He holds a Bachelors degree in Physics from Albion College, a Bachelors in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Masters in Energy Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Chris Vintinner has worked in product management and sales support with intelligent business specialist Distech Controls since 2017. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University. In his LinkedIn bio statement, Vintinner states, "Most buildings aren't broken, but they aren't working as well as they should be. I find ways to increase comfort, decrease energy consumption and reduce operating costs. I make buildings work." 

Drawing on Blauvelt and Vintinner’s expert insights, the podcast discussion investigates the latest trends and technologies for the deployment and maintenance of EV charging station infrastructure for smart buildings.

Questions from SBT addressed during the talk include the following:

* What are the main challenges for integrating EV charging infrastructure into a smart building, in terms of BMS/BAS? * How does integration and use of EV charging infrastructure affect a building’s energy costs? * What's required for smooth integration of EV charging infrastructure both into the power grid and a building’s IT/OT system?  * How does a building’s electrical grid interaction change when an EV system is installed, with regard to monitoring and reporting? * How much cabling, connectivity, electrical and networking hardware is involved in installing and maintaining EV systems?  * Who usually installs the EV system and who maintains it?  * What makes for a good EV charging station location? * What types of EV charging stations can be installed? * What site design factors affect the installation cost of EV infrastructure? * Are DC fast charging stations optimal if they don't handle hybrid vehicles? * What's the breakdown for capex and opex for buildings installing EV charging infrastructure?  * How much in-person tech staff is required to maintain these systems?

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