Utility Integration Solutions (www.uisol.com) has enterened into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Labs; Berkeley, California, U.S.) to develop the Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) specification into an open-source platform for use in smart grid applications.

The current OpenADR specification defines a communications interface protocol that can allow utilities to automate management of end-use energy loads or demand response. Berkeley Labs has conducted OpenADR research for more than five years through its Demand Response Research Center. The joint project with UISOL is being administered by its Environmental Energy Technology and Computing Research divisions. The California Energy Commission and UISOL are co-funding the project.

The project is intended to transition OpenADR from its current published specification version 1.0 status to an open-source implementation that can be offered in the public domain for further research, development and distribution in the utility, controls and buildings industries.