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Who we are

In the last three decades, Information Technology has radically changed and created 'disruptive' efficiencies in a wide variety of industries that include international banking, manufacturing, travel, and consumer purchasing. The i4Energy Center will now bring such Information Technology and Smart Sensing methods to a broad landscape of energy generation, transmission, distribution, and end-use in, among other places, 'smart' buildings and homes. The ingredients of information, intelligence, integration, and innovation are essential in the global pursuit for solutions to a sustainable, profitable world economy.

The CITRIS-LBNL-CIEE i4Energy Center focuses on the development of information technology (IT) systems (hardware & software) that can facilitate significant energy and cost savings in four separate but interacting domains -- (1) facility loads that include clean local generation and storage; (2) a fully instrumented transmission (high-voltage) system that supports diverse supply, intermittent supply, and demand variations; (3) an automated distribution (medium-voltage) grid that automatically supports clean distributed energy resources (DER) and includes micro-grids and underground cable networks; (4) instrumented and controllable commercial and residential buildings.

Mission Statement

The i4Energy Center uses Information Technology and Smart Sensing to create 'disruptive' improvements in the efficiency and quality of service of a wide spectrum of energy generation, transmission, distribution, and end-use in 'smart buildings and homes' - in short, dramatic savings in the nation's operational energy supply and a major impact on societal sustainability.

The mission of the Center is

  • to facilitate and promote research on system-integrated enabling technologies that will achieve better energy efficiency, improved demand / response, and dramatic improvements in energy distribution.

In pursuit of that mission, we

  • maintain a portfolio of multi-disciplinary research programs that acts as a catalyst to accelerate innovation in energy research
  • develop and maintain partnerships with industry and govenment to profoundly impact the vision, support, and conduct of our research
  • strive to promote tight communications among all stakeholders: faculty and researchers on the CITRIS campuses, scientists at LBNL, and our partners in industry.