scholarly journals FEEdBACk: An ICT-Based Platform to Increase Energy Efficiency through Buildings’ Consumer Engagement

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Soares ◽  
André Madureira ◽  
Andreu Pagès ◽  
António Barbosa ◽  
António Coelho ◽  
...  

Energy efficiency in buildings can be enhanced by several actions: encouraging users to comprehend and then adopt more energy-efficient behaviors; aiding building managers in maximizing energy savings; and using automation to optimize energy consumption, generation, and storage of controllable and flexible devices without compromising comfort levels and indoor air-quality parameters. This paper proposes an integrated Information and communications technology (ICT) based platform addressing all these factors. The gamification platform is embedded in the ICT platform along with an interactive energy management system, which aids interested stakeholders in optimizing “when and at which rate” energy should be buffered and consumed, with several advantages, such as reducing peak load, maximizing local renewable energy consumption, and delivering more efficient use of the resources available in individual buildings or blocks of buildings. This system also interacts with an automation manager and a users’ behavior predictor application. The work was developed in the Horizon 2020 FEEdBACk (Fostering Energy Efficiency and BehAvioral Change through ICT) project.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2416
Author(s):  
Marina Dorokhova ◽  
Fernando Ribeiro ◽  
António Barbosa ◽  
João Viana ◽  
Filipe Soares ◽  
...  

The energy efficiency requirements of most energy-consuming sectors have increased recently in response to climate change. For buildings, this means targeting both facility managers and building users with the aim of identifying potential energy savings and encouraging more energy-responsible behaviors. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform developed in Horizon 2020 FEEdBACk project intends to fulfill these goals by enabling the optimization of energy consumption, generation, and storage and control of flexible devices without compromising comfort levels and indoor air quality parameters. This work aims to demonstrate the real-world implementation and functionality of the ICT platform composed of Load Disaggregation, Net Load Forecast, Occupancy Forecast, Automation Manager, and Behavior Predictor applications. Particularly, the results obtained by individual applications during the test phase are presented alongside the specific metrics used to evaluate their performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 447
Author(s):  
Johannes Hüffmeier ◽  
Mathias Johanson

Generating energy efficiency through behavioural change requires not only understanding and empathy with user interests and needs but also the fostering of energy saving awareness, a technique and framework that supports operators and ship owners. There is strong potential to make use of different technical solutions to increase energy efficiency, but many cost-efficient solutions relate to carrot-and-stick incentives for operators to minimise energy consumption. These incentives range from voyage planning with weather routing eco-driving bonus, to torque limitations and changes in company policies, all of which demonstrate that the operators’ on-board importance for the energy consumption has been identified. Data collection will allow operators to make better decisions in the lifecycle of the ship from knowledge-driven design to operation, redesign and lifetime extension. Various systems are available for data acquisition, storage and analysis, some of which are delivered by well-known marine suppliers while others are stand-alone systems. The lack of standardization for data capture, transmission and analysis is a challenge, so systematic improvement is required in shipping companies to achieve energy savings. When these are achieved, they will be the result of customer requirements, cost pressure or individual driving forces in the companies. The potential energy savings, brought up in interviews, shows up to 35% on specific routes and up to 60% in specific maneuvers. These savings will be made feasible by operators and crews being involved in the decision-making process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
Fernando Martín-Consuegra ◽  
Fernando de Frutos ◽  
Ignacio Oteiza ◽  
Carmen Alonso ◽  
Borja Frutos

This study quantified the improvement in energy efficiency following passive renovation of the thermal envelope in highly inefficient residential complexes on the outskirts of the city of Madrid. A case study was conducted of a single-family terrace housing, representative of the smallest size subsidized dwellings built in Spain for workers in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Two units of similar characteristics, one in its original state and the other renovated, were analyzed in detail against their urban setting with an experimental method proposed hereunder for simplified, minimal monitoring. The dwellings were compared on the grounds of indoor environment quality parameters recorded over a period covering both winter and summer months. That information was supplemented with an analysis of the energy consumption metered. The result was a low-cost, reasonably accurate measure of the improvements gained in the renovated unit. The monitoring output data were entered in a theoretical energy efficiency model for the entire neighborhood to obtain an estimate of the potential for energy savings if the entire urban complex were renovated.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Ríos-Fernández

PurposeThis paper aims to study the use of cool roof technology to avoid unnecessary energy consumption in supermarkets. This will allow to reduce and even cancel the heat absorbed by the roofs, transferring it to the buildings and thus, creating more sustainable cities.Design/methodology/approachThirteen real supermarkets with cool roofs were analysed in Australia, Canada, the USA and Spain. An analysis of so many supermarkets located in different parts of the world with different climatic zones has allowed an inductive analysis, obtaining real data of energy consumption associated with the air conditioning installations for a year with and without implementing the cool roof technology.FindingsThe paper provides insights on how the use of cool roof managed to reduce the need for energy for heating, ventilating and air conditioning by between 3.5 and 38%. Additionally, this technology reduces the annual generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per square meter of supermarket up to 2.7 kgCO2/m2. It could be an economical technology to apply in new and old buildings with a period of average economic recovery of four years.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach, the research results may be generalisable. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test proposals in construction with other uses.Practical implicationsThe paper includes economic and environmental implications for the development of cool roof technology and smooths the way for its implementation to increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings.Originality/valueThis paper is an innovative contribution to the application of cool roof technology as a source of energy savings in commercial construction through the analysis of supermarkets located in different countries with different climate zones. This will help other researchers to advance in this field and facilitate the implementation of the technology.


2008 ◽  
pp. 55-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojana Prodanic ◽  
Aleksandar Jokic ◽  
Jelena Markovic ◽  
Zoltan Zavargo

General trend of free trade at the regional level as well as in the direction of European Union has motivated sugar factories located in Serbia to invest into technologies that are more efficient in order to make their products more competitive in the markets of Europe. Until 2005, the project of energy efficiency improvement in Serbian sugar factories was conducted in Crvenka and Zabalj. Now, they have energy consumption around 1 MJ/kg beet, in contrast to the previous consumption of 1.2 up to 1.5 MJ/kg beet. Further improvements are possible but investments would be high. A result of measurements taken during 2006, after the sugar factory "Donji Srem" - Pecinci was reconstructed showed that a considerable saving has been achieved. The first set of measurements showed that the energy consumption was 1.01 MJ/kg beet, which was 20% higher than intended, but at the same time energy savings were about 30% lower with respect to the values before the reconstruction.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 781
Author(s):  
Federico Leon ◽  
Alejandro Ramos ◽  
S. Ovidio Perez-Baez

This article shows the optimization of the reverse osmosis process in seawater desalination plants, taking the example of the Canary Islands, where there are more than 320 units of different sizes, both private and public. The objective is to improve the energy efficiency of the system in order to save on operation costs as well as reduce the carbon and ecological footprints. Reverse osmosis membranes with higher surface area have lower energy consumption, as well as energy recovery systems to recover the brine pressure and introduce it in the system. Accounting for the operation, maintenance and handling of the membranes is also important in energy savings, in order to improve the energy efficiency. The energy consumption depends on the permeate water quality required and the model of the reverse osmosis membrane installed in the seawater desalination plant, as it is shown in this study.


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Bányai

Energy efficiency and environmental issues have been largely neglected in logistics. In a traditional supply chain, the objective of improving energy efficiency is targeted at the level of single parts of the value making chain. Industry 4.0 technologies make it possible to build hyperconnected logistic solutions, where the objective of decreasing energy consumption and economic footprint is targeted at the global level. The problems of energy efficiency are especially relevant in first mile and last mile delivery logistics, where deliveries are composed of individual orders and each order must be picked up and delivered at different locations. Within the frame of this paper, the author describes a real-time scheduling optimization model focusing on energy efficiency of the operation. After a systematic literature review, this paper introduces a mathematical model of last mile delivery problems including scheduling and assignment problems. The objective of the model is to determine the optimal assignment and scheduling for each order so as to minimize energy consumption, which allows to improve energy efficiency. Next, a black hole optimization-based heuristic is described, whose performance is validated with different benchmark functions. The scenario analysis validates the model and evaluates its performance to increase energy efficiency in last mile logistics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 655 ◽  
pp. 15-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Kreitlein ◽  
Tobias Rackow ◽  
Jörg Franke

This paper introduces a method for the assessment and evaluation of energy efficiency of the manufacturing processes in the production as well as a corporate and cross-industry comparison. Already today, energy-related characteristic value systems are used, which are related to the energy consumption of large electronic household appliances or are focusing on their production facilities. The energy efficiency value is a newly developed indicator and will provide valuable information about the energy efficiency of the production of various products, production operators, and consumers. In the following, the energy efficiency value, which is based on the approach of minimal value calculation, is presented in detail. The basic idea is the comparison and evaluation of energy efficiency based on the ratio of the theoretically required energy consumption to the actual energy consumption. Depending on the analysis of influencing factors, a model highlighting their dependencies could be established. The developed system hinges on a successive calculation of the minimum value. Each of these minimum types can be put in relation to the measured energy consumption. However, depending on the chosen basis, the conclusion and focus of the calculated key figure may vary. By using the real minimum as a basis, the actually existing energy savings become visible. The method will be put to the test through an exemplary application for processes in the fields of cutting technologies. This course of action allows for the validation of the developed energy efficiency value and reveals the potential of this method.


Author(s):  
Pawel Olszewski ◽  
Claus Borgnakke

The aim of this research is to estimate the influence of compressed air volumetric capacity on the energy consumption in systems equipped with oil-lubricated screw compressors. A mathematical model of oil-lubricated screw compressors has been proposed. The model is verified by comparing with real measurements, and overall uncertainty analysis is estimated. An in-house developed numerical code (c++) is used to calculate the energy consumption in 252,000 combinations. The final result can be used to estimate the energy efficiency of existing air systems and to assess potential energy savings due to changes in the operation of the system and its control strategy.


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aniela Kaminska ◽  
Andrzej Ożadowicz

Energy used for lighting is one of the major components of total energy consumption in buildings. Nowadays, buildings have a great potential to reduce their energy consumption, but to achieve this purpose additional efforts are indispensable. In this study, the need for energy savings evaluation before the implementation of lighting control algorithms for a specified building is highlighted. Therefore, experimental tests have been carried out in a university building with laboratories and other rooms, equipped with KNX building automation system. A dimmable control strategy has been investigated, dependent on daylight illuminance. Moreover, a relationship between external and internal daylight illuminance levels has been evaluated as well. Based on the experimental results, the authors proposed a method for the rough estimation of electrical energy savings. Since, according to the EN 15232 standard, Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS) play an important role in buildings’ energy efficiency improvements, the BACS efficiency factors from this standard have been used to verify the experimental results presented in the paper. The potential to reduce energy consumption from lighting in non-residential buildings by 28% for offices and 24% for educational buildings has been confirmed, but its dependence on specific building parameters has been discussed as well.


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