Back in 1990, when the Energy Efficiency Forum held its first meeting, few Americans would have known how to perform an internet search. In 21 years, the technology has become a daily, if not hourly part of our lives.

That seamless transition from niche to quotidian is the goal that brought energy thought leaders to Washington on Wednesday. Just as the basics of internet technology existed in 1990, the technology to vastly reduce energy consumption exists today. But for it to move into the mainstream, it will need to become easier, cheaper and maybe just plain more fun.

Here's a snapshot of how some business leaders at the forefront of the technological transformation are hoping to get there.

Thinking Systemically

"Why is it that my phone knows I'm here, but my office equipment doesn't?" asked Rob Bernard, who spearheads Microsoft's environmental strategy. Engineering isn't the problem. Having the structures in pace to merge the technology and the information is.

These days, Bernard spends a lot of his time thinking about how to manage this all the way from the coders on down to the consumers.

Bernard's counterpart at IBM is thinking systemically, too.

"You can't look at this in the traditional silos," said Richard Lechner, Vice President for Energy and Environment at IBM. One of his favorite examples is the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, which uses a dashboard to look at all of the resort's energy draws and make trade-offs so that the casino -- the business's main source of income -- can stay open. The Venetian is even working with the city of Las Vegas to incorporate external issues like traffic and security alerts into its planning.

The ongoing smart grid lovefest shows that taking a wider lens to energy use isn't just critical to reducing consumption -- it also poses a huge market in its own right. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is keeping its eye on the ancillary services market, currently estimated at $12 billion in the United States and growing.

Scaling Up in the Transport Sector

Robbie Diamond, president of the Electrification Coalition, frames his thoughts on the transportation sector with three numbers. "There are 1.6 million hybrids on the road today and it took about 11 years to get there," he said. "But, there are 250 million other vehicles out there."

Transportation, at once one of the nation's most entrenched energy problem and most exciting solutions, remains a slippery sector. So far, plug-ins, hybrid electric and electric vehicles simply have not penetrated the market.

While a technological breakthrough on something like battery energy storage could be a game-changer, panelists Wednesday didn't pin engineering as the biggest barrier. Cost and infrastructure are much more problematic, they agreed.