ITs Growing Role in Energy Efficiency

One of the largest consumers of electricity in most homes and offices is the heating and cooling system. Even though computerized  networks to control HVAC loads have been in place since the 1980’s, greater interaction between occupants and the technology may be necessary to maximize energy efficiency.

Previously much of a building’s environmental data was only seen by a few individuals, such as the building manager, but now new technology is enabling this data to be shared on every workers computer desktop. The idea of making this data more available is that with individuals being able to view their level of energy consumption, they will be further encouraged to use less electricity leading to both cost and environmental savings.

Oberlin College for example has used new sensors which give energy usage information for buildings and dorms. Energy use is then displayed in computer kiosks located inside the buildings and on the web. To encourage conservation of energy, contests are run to see which dormitory manages to use the least amount of electricity. 

New sensing systems using the Zigbee communications standard would be able to relay multiple sets of data back to a main computer which in turn could control energy usage by lowering the thermostat or turn off the lights when no one is located in a specific room or area.

These sensors could be used with older buildings as well and would not require rewiring. This would allow for a greater number of buildings to become more energy efficient while curbing the use of energy overall.

Another added benefit of such a computer controlled system is that the temperature readings can be more accurate as the readings do not originate from just a single thermostat but from multiple readings spread throughout an area. When embedded into walls the sensors can also measure surface temperature and not just air temperature further adding to the accuracy of temperature readings. With better readings of temperature, users may not have to set thermostats to extremes to achieve the desired temperature, therefore reducing the usage of electricity.

The costs of such systems are still relatively high but some utility companies will install the systems for free and use the energy savings to pay for all associated costs.

As global warming continues to take hold, and our climate continues to change, the use of IT must be leveraged in our buildings in order to help us adapt faster to a dynamic environment while conserving as much energy as possibly.

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