Energy Efficient Buildings

Employees of large organizations like CSIRO could be forgiven for thinking that anything they might do in their office to save energy won’t make much difference – after all, they don’t see the company’s electricity bill, let alone how they’re contributing to it. We developed a system that reduces energy usage of HVAC, lighting, and electric appliances using inputs from pervasive wireless sensors and human experience modules. The system’s architecture promotes information sharing between HVAC and appliances subsystems, uses sensors both to optimize system settings and to validate energy savings and comfort levels of individual employees, and provides feedback to employees on their individual performance. We have built and deployed 25 personal climate sensors and 30 personal appliances meters in 15 offices on our campus over a period of one year