There are two new standards available to help contractors and owners design, build and operate commercial buildings for maximum energy efficiency.

The ZigBee Building Automation Standard "addresses a specific challenge for high performance buildings: how to ensure interoperable, secure, and reliable monitoring and control of building systems," GreenBuilding.com explained.

The standard is compatible with the BACnet wireless mesh network standard.

ISO 50001 is a non-technical approach to energy management, GreenBuilding.com wrote.

It aims to ensure "that management policies and practices account for energy efficiency metrics and that senior decision-makers are involved in the energy management process."