Energy Management
Energy management systems have been in use within non-residential buildings for over thirty years. Born on the back of the first energy crisis, the purpose of these systems was to save energy, principally by controlling the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) plant better.
Most of the energy used in, say, an office building, is for heating, cooling and ventilating. The next biggest culprit is lighting. If these elements can be controlled more effectively, energy, and hence money, can be saved.
Nowadays, of course, there is a much more compelling reason to control energy usage: heating and cooling of buildings accounts for around a half of all of the CO2 emissions, and we all need to cut this dramatically.
Implementation
So how can we implement all of these features in a house?
Fortunately, a new generation of products is emerging to do this right: fifthplay’s simple to use, yet full-featured, Home Energy Monitor, currently in development.
Energy Management topics:
