Abstract
The article describes the results of the project “open source Smart lamp” aimed at designing and developing a smart object able to manage and control the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) of the built environment. A first version of this smart object, built following a DIY approach using a microcontroller, an integrated temperature and relative humidity sensor and techniques of Additive Manufacturing, allows for the adjustment of the Indoor thermal Comfort Quality (ICQ), by interacting directly with the air conditioner. An experimental test in a real office showed how the use of the Smart Lamp effectively reduced energy consumption for air conditioning, optimizing the thermal comfort of the workers. As it is well known, the IEQ is a holistic concept including the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), the Indoor Lighting Quality (ILQ) and Acoustic comfort, besides the thermal comfort. The upgrade of the Smart Lamp bridges this gap providing the possibility to interact with the air exchange unit and lighting system, in order to get an overview of the potential of a nearable device in the management of the IEQ. The upgraded version was tested in an office equipped with a mechanical ventilation and air conditioning system and occupied by 4 workers. The experiment was compared with a baseline scenario and the results showed how the application of the nearable device effectively optimizes both IAQ and ILQ.
Highlights
The term “Nearable”, used for the first time in 2014 as part of a marketing campaign, is used to uniquely identify the idea of smart objects that can be equipped with a variety of sensors and can work as transmitters to broadcast digital data [1]
The motivation arises from an open source project aimed at designing and developing a smart object for the assessment and management of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) of the built environment
The new version of the Smart Lamp was tested in the same office by monitoring the environmental variables for 14 days, divided in two periods with different control configurations: the former with manual control (23 May 2016–29 May 2016) and the latter with automatic control (30 May 2016–5 June 2016)
Summary
The term “Nearable” (or nearable technology), used for the first time in 2014 as part of a marketing campaign, is used to uniquely identify the idea of smart objects that can be equipped with a variety of sensors and can work as transmitters to broadcast digital data [1]. The motivation arises from an open source project aimed at designing and developing a smart object for the assessment and management of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) of the built environment. Following the principles of the “maker movement” philosophy and the Do It Yourself (DIY) approach [4,5,6] more and more applied in different contexts: from monitoring systems [7,8] to control systems of RES installations [9,10] to applications in the biomedical field in order to make the equipment less expensive and, more accessible [11,12] Such a device, built using a microcontroller, an integrated temperature and relative humidity sensor, some other modules and Additive. The new version of the Smart Lamp was tested in the same office by monitoring the environmental variables for 14 days, divided in two periods with different control configurations: the former with manual control (23 May 2016–29 May 2016) and the latter with automatic control (30 May 2016–5 June 2016)
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