Energy Management Systems Put Homeowners in the Driver's Seat

If you've ever driven a Toyota Prius hybrid, you know the car's dashboard includes a monitor that displays which power source is operating and how many miles per gallon you're getting. The functionality has spawned a practice called "hypermiling," in which drivers squeeze every bit of fuel efficiency out of their cars by making adjustments to the way they drive.

Now homeowners can do the same thing using residential energy monitoring and management systems. These "dashboards" give feedback that help users maximize a house's energy and resource efficiency.

At the most basic level, energy monitors provide a simple readout of the total amount of energy the home is using, often by attaching a sensor to the electric meter that sends a wireless signal to the in-home display. The monitors may show the dollar cost of the electricity based on electric rates that the user enters or may let users monitor energy usage by day or time.

Research has shown that even such basic feedback can lead to savings. In a 2006 paper "The Effectiveness of Feedback on Energy Consumption" for the University of Oxford, Sarah Darby says the literature demonstrates "that instantaneous, direct feedback in combination with frequent, accurate billing is needed as a basis for sustained demand reduction." She adds that the norm for energy savings from direct feedback is 5 percent to 15 percent, and studies using a tabletop interactive cost and power display unit have shown savings as high as 20 percent.

No matter how carefully you plan for the operation of your homes, the occupants' lifestyles and habits determine the buildings' ultimate performance. Energy management systems can help clients achieve the efficiency they thought they would get from a green home.

Beyond basic whole-house monitors, installers can turn to packaged monitoring systems that offer more detailed feedback or to control systems that let homeowners automate energy-saving tasks.

Fine-TuneD Feedback

While simple, whole-house monitoring can lead to proven energy savings, builders and remodelers can help homeowners fine-tune their homes further with energy management systems, such as Agilewaves or EcoView, that give feedback on individual systems or resources like gas and water. Agilewaves, for instance, has a resource monitor that can track individual electric loads, rooms, or floors of the home, or alternative power generation, in addition to gas and water.