Google and Lighting Science Group's Android-controlled LED lamp: Two trends in one.
There are no shortages of hot trends and innovations in green tech and energy management these days. Here are 10 trends to keep an eye on—and what to do to plan for them. Some may be worth including in your business plans.
LEDs, LEDs, LEDs—Think Out of the Bulb
We like our old incandescent bulbs, too. But you wouldn’t keep hundred-year-old TV technology in your family room, would you? LED (light emitting diode) lamps are becoming as bright and warm as incandescent bulbs, while being about 90 percent more efficient and lasting for years. One 12-watt LED can replace a 60-watt incandescent. And LEDs are more than lights; they’re really electronics that can be dimmed and form color combinations—and in the not-too-distant future they’ll be modulated to pulse data and become networks themselves. Is that cool or what? Look for LED replacement lamps to reach the “sweet spot” of $20 soon. But don’t just think in terms of screwing in a bulb. More and more LEDs will come as complete fixtures, in different shapes, sizes and forms. Start thinking out of the bulb.
Plan for: Becoming the LED expert for your clients.
Window Shadings—Let the Savings In
Lutron, Somfy Systems and others are promoting daylight harvesting of natural light and more intelligent heating and cooling control through motorized shading systems that automatically open or close to add light or to help heat or cool a space. Very cool stuff—and about time. Leviton is doing it as well, using Insolroll Window Shading Systems (insolroll.com) shades and Somfy’s wireless RTS wireless technology, but is sticking with the commercial market through its LevNet RF system. The savings realized in commercial buildings, explains Bob Freshman, Leviton Lighting & Energy Solutions marketing manager, is much greater and the payback earlier than automated shading in the home. But still, we’d love this in the home!
Plan for: Installing truly automated motorized window treatment systems to save your clients energy.
Kinetic Energy—Make Your Own Juice
Leviton's EnOcean devices use pizeoelectricity, making all their own energy.
Leviton’s wireless commercial lighting system switches from EnOcean utilize piezoelectricity to produce their own energy from the mechanical act of flicking switch. It’s a form of kinetic energy harvesting, which has been used on dance floors in Europe to power lights and some other products via the energy caused by people bouncing on a platform. Here’s an article describing the technology, from CEPro.com. Will we see more of this in the home? There’s a cost factor, and commercial-grade products are built to tougher standards, as they have to endure the rigors of use by many more people. It has even been postulated that a woman’s breast motions could charge a smartphone, for example. Don’t laugh: the science of breast motion has been studied by about half the population for years.
Plan for: More switches and other devices utilizing kinetic energy.
ZigBee/Z-Wave/WiMax/Name Your Technology Here Bridging
“That’s going to be the next generation in energy management,” says Mary Miller, marketing director for chip maker Sigma Designs and the Z-Wave Alliance. Miller says that Sigma is hoping to take the electric utility signal from a device like a smart meter, which will likely have ZigBee wireless radio or some other proprietary tech, and bridge those to Z-Wave devices in the house.
Then there are other technologies like WiMax, HomePlug and whatever Google comes up with for its Android@Home control technology. As a wise person once said, “The nice thing about standards is there are so many of them.”
“If there’s a need for the bridge, the market will drive it,” says Jim Anderson, vice president of Smart Grid and Demand Management for Schneider Electric. “There are so many things going on. You’ve got to be prepared to be flexible and go in so many different directions.”
Plan for: Confusion over multiple standards and finding the right equipment to move data around homes and businesses.
TV Control—For Energy Management?
Will cable boxes control our homes and energy use? Who doesn’t like the TV interface? But are the cable companies up for this? Using the set-top box as a gateway and enabler of energy management has been talked about for a while, and we’re still in the talking phase. Even Verizon’s planned rollout of a home control system is said not to use a set-top box for its TV interface; that will likely be cloud-based, according to Brett Sappington, a research analyst for research firm Parks Associates. And according to a Comcast spokesman, energy management via the cable box isn’t quite on the cable provider’s radar yet, even though the company is rolling out some basic energy management solutions as a part of its Xfinity Home Security packages.
Plan for: Energy management eventually finding its way to the TV screen.
BlueBolt offers energy management in the cloud. Look for much more of this.
BlueBolt offers energy management in the cloud. Look for much more of this.
Yay Cloud!
Your energy info in the cloud? It’s already happening with some web-based energy monitors and monitoring software like Google’s PowerMeter. And we’ll likely see much more of it, as Verizon and others roll our home control with some energy management functions. Also, having more functions and the cloud—whether it’s computer software or entertainment—saves you the energy used by spinning hard drives and discs at home—not to mention the resources poured into making those old-fashioned discs. “The fact that you have fewer electronics in the home you could save energy,” says Bill Ablondi, director of home systems for research firm Park Associates. Then companies like Google can cool their server farms in volume and realize huge energy savings. “There’s all sorts of stuff they can do with commercial management of energy,” Ablondi says.
Plan for: Much more cloud-based energy management. Keep abreast of energy data ownership, security and privacy issues as regulations develop.
More Security
Security cameras are getting installed like crazy, and through systems like ADT’s Pulse, Alarm.com’s emPower and Comcast’s Xfinity Home Security, people are discovering they can control their lights and thermostats remotely—and even program them to turn off or set back when they leave the house. Sweet. This probably isn’t a fad. And that means …
Plan for: Either becoming an ADT installer or ways to up-sell these systems to more affluent clients.
People love smartphone control of their homes. Shown: UFO Power Center iPhone app.
People love smartphone control of their homes. Shown: UFO Power Center iPhone app.
More, More Smartphone Control
We just love controlling stuff with our smartphones. As mentioned previously, customers of connected security systems are finding they can manipulate their home and its energy use remotely via smartphone apps. And Google is developing its Android@Home platform, starting with an Android-controlled LED lamp. Can you say energy management? You may not have to.
Plan for: Much more smartphone and tablet use as home control interfaces.
Systems that Know Your Utility Costs
Energy monitoring companies like Eragy and EcoDog are building databases that enable their energy monitoring systems to automatically know your utility rates—and possibly whether to switch you to a different plan, such as a tired rate structure of time of use rates. Utility electricity pricing will become dynamic and complicated (meaning always changing), and we’ll want intelligent processors in our homes to decipher the signals from utilities and be able to automatically manage our energy use in the most efficient way. That means …
Plan for: Energy monitoring systems becoming more integrated with home control and automation.
Set It and Forget It
This is where energy management and home control is going. Energy management functions will largely be invisible and programmed when you need them. You’ll also only interact with them when you receive alerts or your smart appliance delays a cycle to run at a time when electricity rates are cheaper. After all, who wants to fiddle around with thermostat settings, when we can be listening to tunes from the cloud? Enjoy the savings.
Plan for: Baking energy management as a feature in all your designs and automating it as much as possible.
