An IoT Integrated Tool to Enhance User Awareness on Energy Consumption in Residential Buildings

Marco Dell’Isola,Boris Palella,Giorgio Ficco,Giovanni Puglisi,Laura Canale

doi:10.3390/atmos10120743

Abstract

Unaware behaviors of occupants can affect energy consumption even more than incorrect installations and building envelope inefficiencies, with significant overconsumptions widely documented. Real time data and an effective and frequent billing of actual consumptions are required to reach an adequate awareness of energy consumption. From this point of view, the European Directive 2012/27/EU already imposed the use of metering and sub-metering systems, setting the minimum criteria for billing and related information based on real energy consumption data. To assess the ability of buildings to exploit new information and communication technologies (ICT) and sensitize both landlords and tenants to related savings, the new European Directive 2018/844/EU promotes the use of a smart readiness indicator. At the same time, basic information about indoor thermal comfort should be also gathered, aimed at avoiding that an excessive saving tendency can determine the onset of issues related to excessively low internal temperatures. In this paper, the authors address the problem of gathering, processing, and transmitting energy consumption and basic indoor air temperature data in the framework of an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated tool aimed at increasing residential user awareness through the use of consumption and benchmark indexes. Two case-studies in which thermal and electrical energy monitoring systems have been tested are presented and discussed. Finally, the suitability of the communication of energy consumption in terms of temporal, spatial, and typological aggregation has been evaluated.

Highlights

Encouraging energy savings in residential buildings has been a topic of scientific interest since the1970s, when the energy crisis made people aware of the possible exhaustion of fossil fuels
The authors address the problem of gathering, processing, and transmitting energy consumption and basic indoor air temperature data in the framework of an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated tool aimed at increasing residential user awareness through the use of consumption and benchmark indexes
50 years later, it is clear that all intervention addressed to improve the energy efficiency of buildings should be combined with actions aimed at increasing the awareness and participation of end users, through more frequent and detailed information on energy consumption [1]

Summary

Introduction

Encouraging energy savings in residential buildings has been a topic of scientific interest since the1970s, when the energy crisis made people aware of the possible exhaustion of fossil fuels. On the basis of the results of 38 different studies addressing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at encouraging families to reduce their energy consumption [4], two macro-categories are identified, depending on the kind of information provided to families: (i) antecedent strategies; (ii) consequent strategies. It is proven that antecedent strategies raise user awareness, but do not necessarily lead to behavioral changes or sure energy savings. This category includes any type of user feedback for example, real-time feedback, information presented via in-home displays, mobile apps, or online services [7,8,9]. The inconsistencies in behaviors related to the use of energy in families are the result of the following reasons [10]: (i) temporal coherence of decisions, (ii) difficulty in processing consumption data and in assuming simple decisions, and (iii) effects of presentation

Methods

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Conclusion