Going Green is this month's theme by default as almost every article uses the word green or somehow references to the sustainable movement.  I am pleased with our industry's response to the need for change and seizing the opportunities that lie within.

Welcome Toby Considine as our newest editorial columnist. Toby's 25 years experience in business process optimization using information technology helps him provide us his unique perspective as to where we may be going and why. Please read his first column and truly understand what an SOB really is, and get connected to his prolific blog "New Daedalus". Thanks, for sharing your views with our readers Toby.

In our lead interview with Lauren Kolb, Executive Vice President, Automated Logic Corporation answers the question we all wanted to know - "Carrier now owns Automated Logic. Will Automated Logic change its name and go-to-market under the Carrier brand?"  I am very pleased with Lauren's responses and the knowledge that all the innovation and support provided to the industry by the original core ALC folks will not be lost in the merger. Be sure to read The Focus at Automated Logic

In a twist of role reversals this month your Editor and interviewer gets interviewed By George Thomas, President of Contemporary Controls. for their newsletter "The Extension".  George digs up dinosaur bones from the past trying to figure out why we created our online global magazine. George asks; What prompted you to start AutomatedBuildings.com?  Check the interview out and subscribe to their newsletter at http://www.basautomation.com/ExtVol9N1.htm   Also check out Oops! I Missed a Point Joe Stasiek, Contemporary Controls and Industrial Ethernet University Joe Stasiek

We are a media sponsor for the Green Intelligent Buildings Conference and we are very excited, as Jeff Harris, VP of Program Development at the Alliance to Save Energy, has been secured as keynote speaker. Mr. Harris will explore the "Impact of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007", speaking about the incredible opportunity this Act presents to our industry!

Anto's article last month achieved top reads The Energy Revolution is Here! and he is back with the sequel  How Energy Revolution Affects You!

Second best read article last month was The Virtual Building Operations Center by George B. Huettel, PE, Cyrus Technologies, Inc. and he is also back with an interview to provide more insight into this interesting concept.

Lots of great information so be sure to read all the interviews, reviews, articles, columns and new products

Weaving Powerful Web Services.  We just returned from New York City where we attended and participated in both the B2G Summit and AHRExpo 2008. Although both were very different events there was a common cry for a significant change that would provide a path to sustainability. The underpinning of both was Building Automation utilizing web communications and web services are a large part of this. I have often maintained that Building Automation coupled with web services or software as a Service (SAAS) is the greenest of glues and holds tremendous power to bring radical and rapid change to our industry. Our February issue is stuffed with interviews, reviews, articles, columns and new products that suggest this is true.

Anto takes a lead in telling us The Energy Revolution is Here! and advises us about “Empowering the Energy Revolution”
Tom Hartman in his interview What is Performance Based Building Design & Operations? and his developing position paper advocates performance based building design and operations to expedite moving our industry to a more sustainable position in terms of its energy use.
George B. Huettel, PE, President Cyrus Technologies, Inc. Tells us How to implement The Virtual Building Operations Center
John Greenwell, CEPORT, LLC explains how to REALIGN Where People, Space, Time and Energy Interact
Julian Smith explains; The culture of multi-vendor integration is the future in The Multi-Vendor Integrator

These observations are followed up with an issue that is full of related ideas on why and how to weave powerful web services. Be sure to read all the interviews, reviews, articles, columns and new products

Of interest Clay Stevens, Manager, AHR Expo writes; "Your readers might be interested in knowing that the 2008 AHR Expo in New York set a new all-time record for registered visitor attendance at 39,298. Included in that number is a record number of folks from 132 countries outside the US: 6,778."

In response to the common answer at both events in New York of “Just Google It” we have moved our AutomatedBuildings.com Google Search dialog box to our home page. I must admit that I have become the greatest fan of the change.  Although it was always just a click away this is an easier way to find what you want on our web site. May 2008 will be the 10th anniversary of our online magazine and every article, interview, review, news release and new product is still online so the search engine becomes the quickest method of making our valuable information useful to you.

Also as usual lots of new products and our constant flow of industry news.

We have added a new Blog tab to our navigation menu which links to related industry blogs of interest.  We created an Industry online Forum many years before blogging was conceived and have combined these.

Of course the news just keeps flowing thru our web site and RSS feeds daily, and of course the only way to truly find what you are looking for in the vast quantity of information on our site is with our site search engine http://www.automatedbuildings.com/search/sitesearch.htm

Be sure to check our event calendar to see the number events we have in our future.

Lots of information and links in this issue use the menu on your left to explore.

We have been working on improving our web site by reorganizing how we handle the great number of news release we receive daily.  We now provide a News Feed ( Which Needs a RSS Feed Reader ) and have provided a New Our RSS news feed rendered into HTML

Tell our sponsors you saw their ad on the AutomatedBuildings.com web site and thank them for supporting your free access to evolving Automated Building Industry information. Click on their ads and view their valuable products and services. Please review all Our Sponsors. 

Be sure to check our event calendar to see the number events we have in our future.

As I always say, it is a great time to be in the news business for our industry. 

Send comments and suggestions to news@automatedbuildings.com

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