Custom Retailer February 2010 : Page 28
Jim Carroll, President, Savant: Savant’s mission with energy management is to tie in third- party devices into a single cohesive system that is more energy efficient than a traditional home—devices such as lighting, shades and HVAC, all working in concert to reduce overall energy use. Because Savant brings the power and functionality of an Apple computer into the equation, our system will allow homeowners to monitor their energy foot- print in real time while providing usage history data that will enable them to change the way they consume energy. Integrators will be able to offer a green solution that will lower energy costs for consumers while reducing the strain on the environment. The EC-100 displays electricity usage by individual loads throughout the home and delivers data in engaging graphs for users broken down by year, month, day and hour. “New York State hasn’t even come up with a proposal for smart meters yet.” According to LeMay, the first stage of power consump- tion management is making consumers aware of their power usage. “Once you’re aware of how much power you’re using, you tend to pull back on your power con- sumption,” he said. “It’s like a game.” The easiest and most effective way ESCs can monitor household power consumption without using smart meters is by installing an external power monitoring device on the utility meter. One such device is named TED, The Energy Detective. TED consists of a device that clips onto the main feed from the power line and communicates wirelessly with home automation gear in the house. LeMay inter- faces the TED with a Control4 home automation system run- ning an energy management application from Peak Software. The software can display cur- rent energy usage, usage trends, energy costs, and CO2 emis- sions caused as a result of the homeowner’s electrical usage. It can even predict what the homeowner’s monthly bill will be based on current usage. This system, while useful, Paul Nagel, VP of Strategic Development for Control4 monitors only overall house- hold consumption. According to LeMay, the next step is to monitor individual components and appliances so the home- owner can see where he or she is consuming the most energy. “If the customer has automated lighting, HVAC (heating/ ventilation/air conditioning) and TVs, we can use a Watts Up meter to measure how much energy these systems use,” LeMay explained. “Then we program the Control4 system to track the amount of time these devices are turned on and store that data on a computer. We can then get an almost perfectly accurate picture of how energy is being used in a home. I can tell, for example, that a TV set was pulling 225 watts of power for three hours on Tuesday.” 28 Steve Cashman, CSO, Life|ware: Life|ware is doing significant work in the energy management area with utility companies, service and cable companies, device and major appliance manufacturers. There is movement toward software that displays energy consumption on devices consumers already have in their homes today—TVs, smartphones and computers. With our software applica- tions, Life|ware inter- connects all these different disparate systems and devices on the back end while presenting them to the consumer in an effi- cient, easy-to-understand energy-manage- ment dashboard solution. Energy management is about producing energy at the same rate it’s consumed most efficiently. Energy-management solutions need to involve every step of the energy chain—from the utility companies down to the devices in the home. The information needs to be provided in an easy-to-view and easy-to-access format for consumers, in an open standard. It’s a matter of taking intelli- gent devices and displaying the energy information in the proper manner to the consumer for more widespread adoption. Michael Smith, Vice President, Energy Solutions Sales, Lutron: We’re working hard to enable Lutron partnerships with policymak- ers, utilities, energy service companies and existing customers to maximize energy efficiency through sustainable and interoperable systems for both commercial and residential use. Helping connect power utilities’ “smart metering” to the electrical infrastructure in both residential homes and commercial spaces is of utmost impor- tance to Lutron. We want to accelerate the dis- cussion on how our technology— potentially combined with the technology of others—can really change the game for end-users and consumers. We also want to ensure that our development efforts are in line with where the government, utilities and others in the energy supply chain are headed. Working in concert with the public sector will make all the difference. Lutron’s newly formed Energy Solutions business unit will accelerate and maximize the use of existing Lutron technolo- gies in a broad range of energy-saving products. Additionally, we will foster strategic manufacturer alliances to develop the infrastructure technology needed for ‘smart’ buildings and homes of the future. Working in parallel with the Energy Solutions business unit, our new “Center of Energy Excellence” will serve as an incubator and stimulant for new Lutron technologies, solu- tions and energy topics. CustomRetailer • February 2010 QuickQuotes s
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