Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has introduced a bill to promote the use of automated energy management systems in federal buildings, Nextgov reported Tuesday.Mohana Ravindranath writes the Smart Building Acceleration Act calls for the U.S. Energy Department to conduct research into commercial technologies intended to monitor various building systems and connect with utilities.
Ravindranath said some observers think connected systems can be vulnerable to a cyber attack.
Al Stayman, a staffer on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told Nextgov that he believes Congress should introduce legislation to address cybersecurity of smart buildings.
The Government Accountability Office published a report in December 2014 to highlight cybersecurity risk for access control systems installed at facilities run by the federal government.
