IRVINE, CA—The Irvine Co. and AdvancedMicrogrid Solutions recently installed 16 TeslaPowerPack battery systems that weigh 4,000 pounds each atan office tower at 20 Pacifica here, completingthe first installation in what will be a fleet of Irvine Co.Hybrid-Electric Buildings® that will beused for grid support by Southern CaliforniaEdison. The first installation of Irvine Co.'sHybrid-Electric system will reduce electricity operating expenseand create a more stable, flexible electricity grid for buildings,the firm's VP of energy management Rich Bluthtells GlobeSt.com. We spoke exclusively with Bluth after theinstallation about how these buildings work, who benefits from themand where this phenomenon is headed.

GlobeSt.com: Pleaseexplain how hybrid-electric buildings work.

Bluth: Hybrid-Electric buildingsoperate with two sources of power, somewhat similar to a hybridautomobile (e.g., Prius, Volt). Both have aprimary source of power (the electricity grid or an internalcombustion engine) and a secondary source of power, a lithium-ionbattery. The hybrid-electric building charges its batterysystem in times of low use—in our case, during off-peak nighttimehours—and then discharges the battery during times of peak energyuse (e.g., summer afternoons), reducing the energy drawn from theelectricity grid.