Convia, Inc. Brings Light to California and Title 24 Energy Guidelines

Next-Generation Building Solution to be featured at the Herman Miller National Design Center Event in Los Angeles

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Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
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Jane Chadesh
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LOS ANGELES, August 28, 2007 – Facing a looming “energy crisis,” communities throughout the state are increasingly required to implement stringent building codes to supplement the already strict energy guidelines mandated by the California Energy Commission. Providing an innovative strategy to help ease this escalating issue, Convia Programmable Infrastructure, a next-generation programmable building platform, enables customers to meet “Title 24” – strict energy guidelines that all residential and non-residential buildings must meet – of California’s statewide Energy Efficiency Standards. The signature product of Convia offers a flexible, cost-efficient and sustainable building solution for commercial spaces and will be showcased at the Herman Miller National Design Center in Los Angeles, August 28-30th.

“As a main provider of electricity in this state, we see first-hand how our customers struggle to abide by commercial building codes and adopt energy efficient strategies,” said Doug Avery, project manager of Southern California Edison, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States and an early adopter of the infrastructure. Convia Programmable Infrastructure is one of four technologies Southern California Edison is installing in an existing office building that is testing an “office of the future” concept.

Avery will be present at the event August 28, along with Convia’s President Randy Storch, to address the system’s capabilities, as well as how it can help meet Title 24 guidelines and create an office of the future.

Convia Programmable Infrastructure replaces the traditional “pipe and wire” approach to delivering electric in a space and allows for the complete virtual rewiring of an entire floor or building in just minutes via a two-button wand. Users can create immediate associations between any electrical device, switch or sensor on the system to form a network that is responsive to their ever-changing needs.

“In less than a year since we introduced the product, we’ve seen success with numerous installations across diverse industries,” said Storch. “The system truly provides exceptional monetary and environmental savings, and we’re confident that further exploration of various applications will enable us to even better maximize the products’ value – to the environment and to our customers.”

The Power to Save Power
Since the adoption of Title 24 nearly 40 years ago, California has realized savings of more than $56 billion in electricity and natural gas and, in an effort to add to these savings, municipalities across the state have established energy guidelines in addition to the title. Utility companies often request their largest energy customers to engage in “load shedding” – the process of decreasing power consumption by shutting off or minimizing the amount of electric appliances in use at any given time – to help prevent electrical disturbances, or “brown outs,” from occurring. With the power of controlling an entire building’s energy at the touch of button, users of Convia Programmable Infrastructure can set hierarchies of power zones and prioritize equipment based on users’ need and the electrical draw of the fixture, making it possible to instantly turn off low priority and unnecessary utilities. Convia’s global gateway immediately calculates and displays annual energy savings on a screen, while continually monitoring electricity being used to provide prompt feedback on if a space needs to “shed” more energy to meet the request.

The only system with this “load shed” technology, along with its capability of contributing to LEED® points – the U.S. Green Building Council’s environmental standards for building – for innovation and efficiency, Convia Programmable Infrastructure gives a glimmer of light in reversing California’s energy crisis.

As shown in a recent study conducted by The Weidt Group, an independent engineering consultant for high performance buildings, office buildings using Convia Programmable Infrastructure can gain up to 30 percent in annual energy savings as compared to the ASHRAE standard 90.1-2004, the current energy benchmark for buildings.

The system, which uses 100 percent reusable components, also eliminates substantial landfill waste and dramatically lowers up-front labor and material costs as well as throughout the lifecycle of the building. The level of flexibility and control the Convia system delivers and the “green” strategies it enables in commercial spaces make it an extremely attractive alternative to traditional building products. From office buildings and architecture firms to university libraries and retail stores, the power of this new technology can be experienced anywhere.

About Convia, Inc.
Convia/A Herman Miller Company seeks to change the way people design, build, personalize and manage space. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Chicago, Convia is dedicated to offering customers agile and programmable building environments, which allow for radically flexible spaces. For more information about Convia programmable infrastructure, visit www.hmconvia.com.

Editor's Note:

The Herman Miller National Design Center is located at: 633 W. 5th, Suite 300, Los Angeles. For more information on the showcase event August 28-30th, or to schedule an interview with Doug Avery, project manager of Southern California Edison, or Randy Storch, president of Convia, please contact Bruce Buursma (616/654-5498 or bruce_buursma@hermanmiller.com) or Stephanie Euler (908/276-4344 ext. 213 or stephanie@sternassociates.com).