Rolf Bienert, technical & managing director of the OpenADR Alliance is responsible for creating and managing technical strategy, direction and activities of the Alliance. He has been involved in many international standardisation efforts and an active member of the NIST SGTCC, USNAP Alliance, SunSpec Alliance, ZigBee Alliance, and other organisations driving the development of new technologies. The OpenADR Alliance was created to standardise, automate and simplify Demand Response and Distributed Energy Resources (renewable energy, energy storage, etc) to help utilities manage growing energy demand and decentralised energy production. OpenADR is an open, secure, two-way information exchange model and smart grid standard.

How did you become involved in the Smart Buildings industry?

My background is in telecoms engineering. Originally from Germany, I was headhunted to work on broadband testing in California in the early 2000s. I then joined the OpenADR Alliance in early 2011 after being approached by companies wanting to create certification and testing programs.

Created to foster the development, adoption and compliance of the OpenADR and related communications standards, the Alliance initially focused on peak load management to help address power consumption issues during the energy crises in California. Since then, the scope of what we do has grown as needs have evolved across sectors. One of the recent catalysts for growth has been electrification, the acceleration of electric vehicle (EV) charging programs and charging infrastructure.

What excites you about the Smart Buildings industry?

It’s about the potential for a standards organisation like us when it comes to smart home appliances and EV charging. We see a real opportunity for OpenADR and also for EcoPort (the certification brand name for CTA-2045). These standards are playing a crucial role, not only in steering the energy sector towards a more sustainable future, but also in encouraging consumers to be greener.

OpenADR or EcoPort-compliant devices – HVACR systems, heat pumps, EV chargers and other smart appliances – can provide grid flexibility and enable customers to save money and be more energy efficient by automatically adjusting energy consumption based on real-time energy supply conditions. By timing energy use to match grid conditions, users can reduce their bills by shifting to cheaper non-peak times. It also means smart devices that adjust their energy use during peak times can reduce pressure on the grid. They can also participate in utility demand response (DR) programs that incentivise customers to reduce energy use at critical times.

Are there any particular technologies that we should be aware of?

OpenADR is not that new. Version 1.0 has been around since 2005, while OpenADR 2.0 is now used widely in the US, as well as Canada, Japan, Korea, China and New Zealand. But in 2023, we published a new version of the standard – OpenADR 3.0. This is a major step forward in the technology, helping to address the challenges faced by utilities, aggregators and grid operators in managing the growth in distributed energy resources (DER) and automating DR and grid flexibility initiatives to improve energy management efficiency. We also announced the first OpenADR 3.0 certified products in March this year.

In addition, the recent integration of OpenADR and Matter links home automation to energy management, allowing utilities to deploy flexible programs across devices.

Our collaboration with the UK’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero also continues to evolve. DESNZ led the development of PAS 1878 incorporating OpenADR as one of the key criteria that an electrical appliance needs to meet to be classified as an energy smart appliance (ESA).

EcoPort, our product testing and certification program for CTA-2045 compliant products, is also going from strength to strength. Increasingly, it’s being adopted by utilities looking to deliver DR and DER programs that turn appliances, like water heaters, into potential grid resources. In the US, for example, OpenADR participated in regulatory efforts with two states, Washington and Oregon, passing laws prohibiting sales of water heaters unless they have EcoPort installed. EcoPort is also referenced in the US Department of Energy’s program, Energy Star.

What services does your organisation offer?

The Alliance is a global industry organisation, so our ‘services’ are to support our growing ecosystem of members that include software and platform providers, device manufacturers, utilities, EV and automotive companies and many others. Our job is to bring these disparate parts together to help drive forward standards and certification, promote innovation, and ensure we can all work together to meet the challenges and opportunities in the market.

Are people aware of the regulations that they will need to comply with in the near future?

In terms of the area where OpenADR focuses, I think most technical people understand that there will be multiple standards working with one another. Some of these bring information, some act on them, some interact, and so on. This could become complicated, but the customer won’t care about what’s working where and how. We need to create functional units of standards. If you take a simple household appliance like a toaster, it uses the correct standard for the socket, voltage and power, and the user interface is similar enough that you can work it without reading the manual. The same principle should apply for things like solar panels, EV charging, etc. We need to have common parameters and ensure industry players adopt them but also reward customers if they buy and use equipment that fits.

What are the benefits of a smart building?

Many of the reasons we’ve already talked about – energy efficiency, cost savings, ease of use, innovation and more. The growth in DER, particularly new technologies like heat pumps, battery storage and EV chargers, offers huge potential for homeowners, businesses and communities. If you think about vehicle-to-grid as an example, this could be an extremely valuable resource for short-term changes on the grid. But whether you export the energy in the vehicle or simply use it to run the building, it is still dependent on regulations and incentive programs.

We are also seeing new use cases for virtual power plants (VPPs) like MCE, a California Community Choice Aggregator, which has established a standardised set-up for residential VPPs with OpenADR used as the utility connection to manage the prices and consumption. As a side note, it’s good to see that this particular project targets low income areas, which often cannot participate in incentive schemes.

Who has been the biggest influence in your career?

I have to say that I’m not big on idolising other people. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good speaker. If I had to name one, I would say it was an unknown person, the late Barry Haaser. He was one of the founders of the OpenADR Alliance and he showed me that running a business is not rocket science.

What is the question you are most often asked in your business life?

“How do you do all this?”. This is usually not in relation to work volume, but rather because I do everything from accounting, website updates, speaking engagements and more. That’s life in small staff non-profits.

What are the best/worst things about your job?

No day is like the other/no day is like the other!

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?

In the energy sector, find your place in something you can get behind. Whether you 100% enjoy your first job is probably less relevant than working on something that you support strongly. Of course, it’s not easy to land that job. If it’s in the standards field, don’t! Starting out in standardisation is difficult, so personally I would not recommend seeking it out. It’s something you get into for your field, then you can get submerged into it.

Where would you most like to live?

On an Earth where everyone just gets along and strives for progress.

What is your favourite book?

Harry Potter

How do you relax?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, my mind is always working. So generally, I need to do things like kitesurfing, scuba-diving, paragliding to take my mind off things. I’m also currently working on relaxing while doing nothing – but not making much progress!

What is your desert island disk?

‘Imagine’ by John Lennon

What is your ideal holiday?

Warm weather, good wind for kitesurfing, and good activities for my wife while I’m kitesurfing.