When Buildings Talk, People Listen

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The green economy is bristling with new technologies that have to the potential to lead us into a new sustainable economy, but we have only begun to scratch the surface of conservation driven by behavior change.

Conservation is the low-hanging fruit of resource sustainability. The only investment it requires is that we become more aware of the impact of our unconscious habits and the difference we can make by living more consciously both at home and at work. This must include day-to-day business practices and activities (switching off lights and computers) as well as demanding change in building practices and corporate policy. The drivers of these changes are simple and powerful: financial incentive and behavioral feedback.

Residential and commercial buildings account for nearly 40 percent of the energy consumed in the U.S. A 10 percent reduction in energy consumption would save tens of billions of dollars in spending for new power plants. It would reduce carbon emissions in the residential market by 130 million tons annually, the equivalent of taking 22 million cars off the road.

Behavioral feedback has been proven time and time again to positively impact behavior, as illustrated by the automobile industry. The standard dashboard of a car provides information about anything the driver needs to know: gas, temperature, speed, oil.

The latest hybrid technology dashboards in a Toyota Prius even provide an instantaneous mileage metric and a time-series plot in five-minute increments. The Prius display, because it directly connects the action of the gas pedal with the effect on gas consumption, modifies a driver's behavior. Prius owners are well known for their sometimes quirky driving habits that improve their gas mileage.

No one would consider buying a car without a dashboard, but we live in the dark with respect to resource consumption in buildings. The only information we are privy to in our homes and offices is the monthly bill or the energy meter itself -- definitely not designed with the end user in mind.

If home and business owners have real-time information about their gas, electricity and water consumption, and could witness the economic effects of their activities, they will connect their actions with resource use and modify their behavior accordingly. It is safe to say that most Prius owners hold a genuine concern for the environment, but they are also motivated by saving money at the pump, especially when the savings results from their own modified driving habits.

Research during the past several decades has proven the effects of direct and indirect feedback on behavioral change. Sarah Darby, at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford, published the results of 25 studies that took place between 1979 and 2005, investigating the effects of a variety of energy consumption feedback technologies. She concluded that various types of feedback all garner the same result: a definitive correlation between feedback and reduction of energy consumption. The results in Darby's study showed a typical 10 percent-15 percent reduction in energy use, illustrating that when end users connect cause with effect, they will modify their behavior.

Assuming that an understanding of the environmental and financial effects of activities on energy expenditure can stimulate changes in behavior, it is imperative to incorporate dollar savings into the feedback. However, the majority of commercial buildings use un-metered power -- they pay a flat rate for unlimited gas, electricity and water. Therefore, users of commercial space do not have the same personal incentives to conserve. Real-time monitoring of home energy consumption both in carbon outputs as well as dollars, can help raise individual consciousness so that they can manage their energy use at home as well as at work.

On January 8, 2008, the Pacific Northwest Laboratory released the results of a year-long trial that gave consumers in 112 homes constant pricing information updates (feedback) coupled with the ability to control set points on thermostats, water heaters and clothes dryers. "The tools used in the study gave consumers the chance to be active participants in managing the electric grid. When you give people the right tools, most of the time they will put them to good use," said Washington state's Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Bremerton). On average, participants in the project saved 10 percent on their electricity bills and 15 percent during peak power periods.

For these reasons, a number of monitoring solutions have now found their way to the market. At the least expensive end of the spectrum are devices like the Kill-A-Watt, which will measure the electricity consumed by any appliance that is plugged into an outlet. For a few hundred dollars there are devices like Blue Line Innovations Power Cost Monitor and The Orb that track and feedback the total electricity consumption of the building. High-end monitoring and feedback systems provide on-line dashboards with intuitive displays such as Agilewaves Resource Monitor, which delivers detailed, real-time information on electric, gas and water consumption, as well as power generation by solar panels on a web-enabled touch screen or from any computer.

Early adopters can expect to pay $15,000-$25,000 for the Agilewaves Resource Monitor system. That price will drop significantly with more installations and especially when dashboards become standard, built-in equipment in larger developments. A 10 to 15 percent savings resulting from feedback and behavior change, might net an average homeowner $500 annually. Businesses typically use much more energy and would save even more.

Beyond direct behavior change, the system enables building managers to identify inefficient appliances for upgrade, track their performance over time and schedule maintenance. The performance data greatly clarifies the cost-benefit analysis of capital improvements. In the near future, as integrated dashboards become smarter, these functions will be automated and send reminders and warnings to the owner. Vacation homeowners like the ability to check on their property remotely and, with the addition of an automated shut-off valve, to avoid the disaster of an undetected water leak with the click of a mouse.

Clearly the time has come for consumers to take control over the resource performance in their homes and buildings, but they can't change what they don't know. Understanding the impact of every action in carbon and dollars will be the driver of change for energy consumption in buildings as well as for the adoption of new green technologies. Until recently it has been impossible to determine the exact amount of carbon saved or energy derived from solar panels. Monitoring tools articulate savings and advance the adoption of breakthrough technology. It's a new market, but bringing to light the connections between behavior and energy use will motivate consumers and businesses to reduce their impact.

Peter Sharer is the CEO of Agilewaves.

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