FEATURE SMART BUILDINGS & IOT THE BIG PICTURE FOR HOME AUTOMATION
B
uildings are a major contributor to climate change. According to the
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading international body for assessing climate change, buildings account for almost one fifth of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions. With billions of people likely to move to cities over the coming decades, governments and policymakers recognise that there is a need to improve the energy performance of buildings. Speaking about energy in buildings, Marina Otto, the head of the UN Environment Smart Cities Unit, says: “If we don’t double down on dealing with emissions now, it’s our emissions that will double.” Technologies are already available today to stabilise and even reduce energy use. These include enhancing insulation, adopting energy-efficient appliances and introducing smart building systems. There are already a lot of examples from ABB demonstrates that building owners and developers are getting the message. The company’s smarter building solutions can achieve 30 to 60 per cent energy savings. One example in the Netherlands is a project with Factory Zero, a company that creates products with the goal of enabling energy neutral homes where energy bills come to zero. The firm is using ABB Ability Smart Energy Management modules to monitor energy consumption in homes that it builds. The cloud-connected system optimises energy efficiency and gives the home owners greater insight and control over the energy they use.
24 APRIL 2018 | ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
ABB’s product marketing manager for building automation Dean Reddy explains how home automation technology is set to increase levels of comfort and clean living by helping to control carbon dioxide emissions and optimising energy consumption
The Factory Zero project has been
developed in part due to the Netherlands’ commitment to the Paris climate agreement. The country has pledged to build and retrofit two million homes as energy neutral by 2030. The homes will make the most of energy from rooftop solar panels with the objective of producing as much energy as they consume. Policy around sustainable home and smart home technology will save money for home owners by offsetting the capital cost of such systems with reduced energy bills. But from a social point of view, optimising domestic energy consumption will help to cut carbon emissions and help to control climate change. For its part, the UK has set a number of
milestones along the way to meeting a 2050 target to reduce emissions by at least 80 per cent compared to 1990 levels. According to independent UK organisation the Committee on Climate Change, the UK is not currently on track to hit this target. The committee is recommends reducing domestic carbon emissions by at least three per cent every year. For home owners and developers, this is likely to mean tighter legislation around energy efficiency – with growing demand for smart home systems. Smart home systems can deliver
energy savings by providing heating or cooling and lighting only when it is needed – for example, switching off lights when your leave the room or keeping in the heat by shutting the blinds when the sun goes down. The latest solar energy storage solutions such as ABB’s REACT 2 can also deliver 90 per cent energy self-reliance for home owners. Another important aspect is
interoperability and future proofing. This will ensure that controllers are compatible with multiple services and solutions and that customers will be able to make additions and changes to their smart home system as new features become available. For example, adding new features such as voice control of heating, lighting and door control, integrating new appliances, entertainment systems, home security, electric vehicle charging and other services such as shopping. ABB’s i-bus home automation technology was the first to be compatible with Amazon, Google and Apple – the big three market leaders in voice control devices. Ultimately, home automation is all
about making peoples’ lives more comfortable while helping them contribute to a greener planet.
www.abb.co.uk
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