Monitoring Energy Use Research Articles

Water Transfer Energy Efficiency Index for inter‐basin water transfer projects

AbstractInter‐basin water transfer projects (WTPs) address water scarcity by lifting water uphill, posing energy challenges due to diverse topography. This study therefore analyses historical trends in WTP distance, average annual water volumes delivered, water lift and pumping capacity to develop the Water Transfer Energy Efficiency Index (WTEEI) and apply it for the assessment of WTPs. Results indicate that the WTEEI is a valuable tool for evaluating WTP energy efficiency. While no definitive trend in WTEEI values was observed, the findings suggest the need for monitoring of energy use of WTPs and more research to better understand and improve the energy efficiency of these large‐scale infrastructure projects. By introducing a simple, intuitive and rapid assessment tool for evaluating energy efficiency in WTPs, this study addresses a critical gap in the water–energy field, namely, the evaluation of energy usage in WTPs and the identification of energy‐efficiency improvements for current and future WTPs.

Design of NB-IoT Based Household Light Electric Energy Monitoring System

Energy is a vital part of human life, especially in the digital era that requires a lot of energy. Monitoring energy use, especially electricity, is an alternative step to improve energy efficiency. This research aims to develop and implement an NB-IoT-based electrical energy monitoring. The proposed system allows users to monitor, analyze their electrical energy consumption efficiently. Then the Quality-of-Service test results at 500 m get very good results, with the results: average RSSI of -62.8 dBm, average latency of 3.0667 seconds, and PDR ratio of 100%. Quality of Service testing at 1 km gets pretty good results, with the results: average RSSI of -68.933 dBm, average-latency 3.24138 seconds, and PDR ratio of 90%. Quality of Service testing at 1.5 km gets fewer good results, especially on RSSI and PDR parameters, with the results: average RSSI of -84.80 dBm, average-latency 3.4667 seconds, and PDR ratio of 83.33%. The NB-IoT network is suitable for on-grid electricity meters in urban areas with an optimal distance of 500 to 1 km, while at more than 1.5 km it is better used for household scale.

Smart Energy Meter using IOT

In order to transform the monitoring of energy use, this study presents a Smart Energy Metre (SEM) system that is integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) technology. IoT-enabled sensors are used by the system to gather data on electricity use in real time. With the use of cloud-based analytics and seamless connectivity, the suggested solution gives consumers insight into their patterns of energy consumption. Predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and remote monitoring are important aspects that support well-informed decision-making for efficient resource management. In addition to improving energy efficiency, the deployment of an Internet of Things-based Smart Energy Metre also helps create a more robust and sustainable energy infrastructure.

A Smart Home Architecture for Energy Conservation and Multiple Energy Source Management

Smart home architecture has been widely applied in energy conservation efforts by improving control and monitoring of energy use. Energy conservation efforts can be made by controlling energy consumption and accommodating other energy sources that are environmentally friendly or renewable. Renewable energy sources can now be built quickly and affordably, for example, solar panels. This study aims to build a smart home architecture that prioritizes energy conservation and managing multiple energy sources. The method used in this research is applying the Fuzzy Multi-criteria Decision Making model and Artificial Neural Network embedded in the Single Board Computer and ESP8266 system with the Internet of Things concept. This research results in an intelligent hardware architecture and software system that can be controlled via a smartphone or PC for energy-saving efforts increasing awareness of energy use and managing multiple energy sources that are affordable and easy to implement at home.

Design and Implementation of Smart Energy Management System

It is crucial to create systems that lessen our reliance on non-renewable resources in a world with declining energy reserves and escalating economic crises. Smart Home Energy Management Systems, which employ smart switches to actively monitor energy use by each load, available power, and other parameters to transition between renewable resources and the primary power grid, are becoming more and more popular. The results of several methodologies were combined and analysed after a thorough literature review. The approach described is a synthesis of all the most well-liked approaches. The suggested methodology aims to implement demand response management simultaneously on grid electricity and solar power. The issue was divided into two scheduling scenarios: one assuming only solar power is available, the other assuming just grid power. In order to use the resources available as effectively as possible, the two halves are then combined.

Authentication of smart grid communications using quantum key distribution

Smart grid solutions enable utilities and customers to better monitor and control energy use via information and communications technology. Information technology is intended to improve the future electric grid’s reliability, efficiency, and sustainability by implementing advanced monitoring and control systems. However, leveraging modern communications systems also makes the grid vulnerable to cyberattacks. Here we report the first use of quantum key distribution (QKD) keys in the authentication of smart grid communications. In particular, we make such demonstration on a deployed electric utility fiber network. The developed method was prototyped in a software package to manage and utilize cryptographic keys to authenticate machine-to-machine communications used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This demonstration showcases the feasibility of using QKD to improve the security of critical infrastructure, including future distributed energy resources (DERs), such as energy storage.

The role of public sector policy in sustainable energy efficiency: an application of dynamic modelling

ABSTRACT Environmental protection and sustainability are long-standing issues in European Union policies. In this study, we focused on public policy related to waste management. Information on waste disposal guidelines is communicated to public authorities and citizens through public policy. The crucial question is whether the implementation of this policy achieves the objectives. The present analysis was based on a dynamic model of the repeated recycling and energy utilization process of sorted paper using a coloured Petri net. This model allowed for the isolation and monitoring of energy use in relation to the input amount, enabling the investigation of the potential energy efficiency of the paper recycling process. The breakpoint was calculated in terms of energy efficiency, gradual recycling and subsequent energy use. The calculation proved that, until this breakpoint is reached, recycling does not result in greater energy savings than the direct use of sorted paper for energy production. These findings have significant implications for the design and formulation of public policy for both the European Union and national governments.

Indoor environment monitoring system tested in a living lab

Recently, an indoor environment monitoring system using the internet of things sensor has been actively used to secure the thermal comfort of occupants, reduce energy use, and control indoor air quality. However, most commercial sensor and control applications are limited to the unilateral sharing of measurement results and simple operation control of related equipment. This study describes the development of a system for real-time and easy monitoring of the indoor environment and energy consumption. This study then describes the application of the system to the living lab. The system was built using Raspberry Pi and embedded sensors (temperature, humidity, PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10, and CO2) to collect indoor air quality-related data. The data can be safely stored for a long time, and residents can easily check and interact with the data. This study presents the problems and requirements that occurred during the development and implementation of the proposed system, data measured in the living lab and discusses the analysis results. The proposed system is expected to support continuous and efficient environment monitoring and control seasonal energy use by recognizing changes in the indoor environment according to the behavior of residents and estimating energy consumption.

ANALISIS PRODUKTIVITAS DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE AMERICAN PRODUCTIVITY CENTER DI CV. CUPU ARTAMA JAYA, JOMBANG, JAWA TIMUR

CV. Cupu Artama Jaya is a chicken slaughterhouse managed by a private sector, located in Jombang, East Java. So far, CV. Cupu Artama Jaya has never measured productivity, but only evaluated financial benefits. This study aims to analyze the productivity index, profitability index and price repair index at CV. Cupu Artama Jaya. The method used in this research is the American Productivity Center (APC). APC is a method that compares historical data with current data to determine the level of productivity and company profitability. The historical data used in this study are March 2019 - February 2020. The results show that the lowest productivity index value is energy input of 69.975 and the highest productivity index is also energy input of 170.221. The lowest profitability index was energy input of 69.976 and the highest profitability index was also energy input of 170.283. The lowest price improvement index occurred in July 2019 and September 2019 at 0.998, while the highest price improvement index value occurred in February 2020 with a value of 1.002. Suggestions to increase productivity and profitability at CV. Cupu Artama Jaya includes adding job descriptions to employees to monitor energy use, setting quality standards and price limits for chickens received from breeders, arranging agreements related to the number of chicken orders with breeders, holding training for new workers, implementing sanctions related to employee discipline and considering apply overtime hours to reach production targets.

Landlords and tenants must work together to meet net zero carbon targets

Almost one-third of the UK’s total emissions relate to the energy used in existing buildings. This paper discusses how it is clear that improvements in the energy efficiency performance of buildings (and the way in which occupiers use them) are absolutely central to the UK Government’s 2050 net zero carbon emissions target. It anaylyses how some of the impetus towards driving down operational energy usage is statute-led (such as the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting [SERC] regulations) but so too is the upshift in emand for greener buildings from occupiers and investors. The paper dicusses the numerous ways in which improvements can be made to a building and its services that may well improve its energy performance certificate (EPC), but also argues that it is vitally important to educate occupiers on ways in which their actions can have a huge impact on the building’s in-use performance. The paper discusses a significant hurdle to implementing energy efficiency improvements: currently, most commercial leases do not adequately address the issues involved, including often highly contentious areas such as consent for alterations, whether it is the landlord or the tenant that pays, and whether or not changes need to be reinstated at lease end. The paper analyses ways to address this: by moving the way in which leases are drafted towards the green lease model, such as that set out in the Better Building Partnership Green Lease Toolkit. Such leases include clauses which provide for environmental performance improvements, management and monitoring as well as the way reinstatement at least end is dealt with. In the paper concludes that, alongside implementing physical energy efficiency improvements, monitoring energy use and educating building users, landlords and tenants must forge a new, collaborative approach in order to reach net zero by 2050.

Comparison of heat lamps and heat mats in the farrowing house: effect on piglet production, energy use, and piglet and sow behavior through live observation

Objectives: To determine the effect of heat lamps versus heat mats on piglet performance measures, sow lying behavior, piglet behavior, and energy use. Materials and methods: Seventeen multiparous crossbred sows housed in farrowing stalls were randomly assigned to one of two heat source treatments: Baby Pig Heat Mat - Single 48 (MAT; n = 8) or Poly Heat Lamp Fixture (LAMP; n = 9). Piglets were weighed on day 1 and at weaning and any mortalities were recorded to evaluate piglet production measures. For 7 days over the course of lactation (day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, week before weaning, and day before weaning), sows and their litters were observed for 2 hours twice daily to evaluate behavior. Electric meters were attached to individual heat source units to monitor energy use. Results: Piglet production parameters were unaffected by treatment type; litter weaning weight (P = .85), litter average daily gain (P = .79), and preweaning mortality (P = .58). Piglet behavior had variation in the number of piglets using a heat source within day across treatments (P < .001). The number of piglets in contact with the sow decreased during early lactation for both treatment types and increased during late lactation with more MAT pigs tending to be in contact with the sow (P < .001). Implications: Using heat mats as supplemental heat in the farrowing house may result in decreased energy use and increased savings without hindering piglet production parameters.

On calculated and actual energy savings from thermal building renovations – Long term field evaluation of multifamily buildings

Thermal renovation of existing buildings is one of the most popular actions to decrease the energy consumption for heating and cooling. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no long-term field studies that present the influence of hydraulic rebalancing of the heating system after the thermal renovation of the building’s envelope on the level of achieving the calculated energy savings.This work presents the results from a field study that collected data on actual operational energy over several heating seasons, from 11 similar multifamily buildings in Poland. All buildings were thermally renovated by insulating their envelope, while for some of them the works were completed by a hydraulic rebalance of their heating system. The modernization activities were implemented with a different sequence. For another group of buildings, the hydraulic balancing of the heating system was not performed after the envelope thermal renovation. This offered an excellent opportunity to compare the actual energy performance of the renovated buildings and quantify the achieved energy savings resulting from different practices. Energy audits were performed in all buildings in order to calculate the energy use of the buildings before and after the renovations. These estimates were then compared with the actual energy savings from the monitored energy use for all renovated buildings. Accordingly, the actual energy savings range between 8.8% and 74.8% of calculated energy savings, depending on the different renovations. The actual payback time for the analysed modernization actions was longer than the calculated one, ranging between 3.1 and 104.8 heating seasons.

Remote sensing of night lights: A review and an outlook for the future

Remote sensing of night light emissions in the visible band offers a unique opportunity to directly observe human activity from space. This has allowed a host of applications including mapping urban areas, estimating population and GDP, monitoring disasters and conflicts. More recently, remotely sensed night lights data have found use in understanding the environmental impacts of light emissions (light pollution), including their impacts on human health. In this review, we outline the historical development of night-time optical sensors up to the current state of the art sensors, highlight various applications of night light data, discuss the special challenges associated with remote sensing of night lights with a focus on the limitations of current sensors, and provide an outlook for the future of remote sensing of night lights. While the paper mainly focuses on space borne remote sensing, ground based sensing of night-time brightness for studies on astronomical and ecological light pollution, as well as for calibration and validation of space borne data, are also discussed. Although the development of night light sensors lags behind day-time sensors, we demonstrate that the field is in a stage of rapid development. The worldwide transition to LED lights poses a particular challenge for remote sensing of night lights, and strongly highlights the need for a new generation of space borne night lights instruments. This work shows that future sensors are needed to monitor temporal changes during the night (for example from a geostationary platform or constellation of satellites), and to better understand the angular patterns of light emission (roughly analogous to the BRDF in daylight sensing). Perhaps most importantly, we make the case that higher spatial resolution and multispectral sensors covering the range from blue to NIR are needed to more effectively identify lighting technologies, map urban functions, and monitor energy use.

Preferred attributes of home energy management products for smart grids - results of a design study and related user survey

This paper presents an insight into end-users' perception of smart grid products for households. The analysed products included three types of home energy management products (HEMPs) namely: smart thermostats, smart plugs and smart wall sockets. The analysis involved existing commercial HEMPs, as well as newly designed HEMPs from a students' project executed at University of Twente (Netherlands) in 2013 and 2014. Various industrial design methods were applied, and an online survey was utilised for data collection. The smart thermostat was considered the product with the greatest potential to stimulate energy-efficient behaviour. Features most preferred by end-users are: 1) visual display of energy information; 2) monitoring of energy use of appliances; 3) remote control, and expected ease of use. Appearance also appeared to have influenced the preferences of end-users regarding specific HEMPs. This study highlights the main features that household end-users desire in products that could stimulate energy-efficient behaviour.

Design and Testing of a Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container System for Urban Food Production

In urban centers today, Controlled Environment Agriculture is being proposed as a potential alternative to conventional agriculture using hydroponic methods in controlled spaces as a means to increase local food production and improve urban food security by growing crops. One newly proposed technique, growing crops inside refurbished shipping containers, offers a flexible, mobile, and scalable means of year-round food production in a variety of climates. Despite the benefits of producing food locally, some concerns associated with shipping container systems include high-energy consumption from climate control and electric lightning systems, as well as expensive capital investments. This study investigated the viability and effectiveness of shipping container farms as alternative food production systems through an analysis of system energy requirements and resulting crop yields. A Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container system was designed and a Nutrient Film Technique hydroponics system was tested by growing lettuce plants and monitoring energy use throughout the growth period. Theoretical energy use at full scale was quantified for one year of production by modeling energy consumption of major system components through modeling or extension from results on the bench scale. Baseline crop production and overall energy consumption were assessed using a crop production efficiency metric created to evaluate the ratio of system outputs to inputs. Examination of alternative energy scenarios showed potential energy consumption reductions of up to 53 percent and an improvement of the total system crop production efficiency of up to 55 percent from the baseline. Implementation of suggested energy use reduction strategies could allow for the creation of viable and sustainable alternative food systems using shipping containers capable of providing local, accessible foods year-round for a variety of urban communities.

Transforming social housing neighbourhoods into sustainable carbon neutral districts

This paper gives an overview of the results of the European demonstration Project ECO-Life (2010-2016) in Belgium. The goal of the project was to transform a number of social housing neighbourhoods in Kortrijk, Belgium into a sustainable carbon neutral community. A neighbourhood of single family social houses built in the 1950’s was partly replaced by new multi-family buildings and new housing blocks, and partly refurbished to current standards and comfort. Based on the ECO-Life targets and guided by energy performance calculations, different energy concepts have been defined for the demonstration buildings and systems within the community. In order to evaluate the actual operation of the buildings and building systems during the first years of occupation of the neighbourhood, energy monitoring and commissioning activities have been performed. They include monitoring of energy use and temperatures, surveys of the occupants and quality assurance tests. In this paper the approach and findings of monitoring activities are discussed. Monitoring results are used to assess primary energy balance and CO2-balance. The monitoring has highlighted the importance of proper commissioning and operation of heating systems to achieve the design targets.

Building professionals’ views on energy efficiency compliance requirements

In Sweden, the national building code (BBR) stipulates the specific energy use as an indicator to verify whether a new building is complying with its design-phase energy performance values. However, previous studies have shown that there may be large differences between the calculated specific energy and the actual monitored energy use. The differences are attributed to various reasons including the actual energy behaviour of the occupants as compared to the standard values used in the simulations. This may lead to disputes between the client and the contractor on the responsibility of meeting the energy requirements.In this study an adapted version of Delphi methodology was used to understand the building professionals’ view on various indicators used to verify building energy performance. The study showed that professionals are concerned with the use of specific energy as an indicator in the building procurement process as they do not have control over the occupants’ energy behaviour. Majority of the professionals expressed a large confidence in the average U-value of the building, component U-values and the specific heat loss figure by the Swedish center for zero-energy buildings as indicators of building energy performance.

Building energy model calibration with schedules derived from electricity use data

Building energy models can accurately predict energy performance of buildings, if properly calibrated. This study developed and demonstrated a novel method to calibrate building energy models based on the occupancy and plug-load schedules derived from metered electric use data. Importantly, this study also proposed an occupancy assessment method applicable to resource limited situation when a building sub-metering system is not available. Furthermore, the developed method can facilitate accurate predictions of building energy performance without a requirement to simultaneously monitor energy use and occupancy rates. The method development process used data from an office type building (OB1), and further verified the method accuracy with data from two campus buildings (CB1 and CB2). The developed method is novel because it considers interactions of the validated modeled occupancy patterns, processed electricity use patterns, and the calibrated building energy model results at the hourly level. This approach allows addressing limitations in the current studies that are not fully capable of modeling occupancy patterns, electricity use patterns, and calibrated building energy models with this level of granularity. The accuracy of the building energy modeling results increases with the derived occupancy schedules and plug-loads. Specifically, the Coefficient of Variation Root Mean Square Error (CVRMSE) of OB1 building energy modeling results improved from 21% to 12% compared to the modeling results obtained with default schedules. The results from case study buildings CB1 and CB2 show that the accuracy of modeling results increased as the hourly electricity CVRMSE decreased from 128% to 31% and from 156% to 16%, respectively. These improvements are significant, while the developed method is applicable to other office or campus buildings from the category of medium-size commercial buildings. Finally, the identification of actual occupancy rates provides opportunities for inexpensive implementation of occupant-based controllers in buildings.

An hourly hybrid multi-variate change-point inverse model using short-term monitored data for annual prediction of building energy performance, part I: Background (1404-RP)

The primary purpose of the research was to develop analysis methodologies by which the time period for field monitoring of energy use in buildings can be reduced to less than a whole year while satisfying preset accuracy levels of annual energy performance verification. Such methodologies would be of great benefit to the ongoing efforts to spur the diffusion of high-performance buildings by actual monitoring and to energy service companies and energy professionals who need a more cost-effective and acceptable alternative to year-long monitoring. The analysis has been completed in detail at two different time scales: daily and hourly. The research revealed that (1) 2 weeks of hourly monitored data can be adequate for producing accurate long-term whole building energy predictions, provided the monitoring is taken at a correct time, and (2) adding more data to the regression model (extending the length of the short-term monitoring period) can, contrary to intuition, make the predictive model much poorer. The analysis with both hourly and daily data revealed that the proper monitoring period is highly dependent on the time at which the data is taken, with the best time to collect data being during the swing seasons. To determine the amount of short-term building energy-use data that would be enough to generate acceptable annual predictions, four different daily analysis methods were tested on year-long data sets from three buildings, and five different hourly analysis methods were tested on year-long data sets from over 40 buildings. Several analysis methods were proposed and studied based on the type of data available. These categories include use of: (1) ambient temperature data only, (2) simulated/monitored data, (3) year-long utility bills and a short monitored dataset, and (4) year-long utility bills only. Three application areas for research of this nature were identified: detailed audits, green building performance verification, and verification of post-retrofit claims using pre–post monitored data. The results of the studies using the daily scales are already published (Singh et al. 2013, 2014). This paper is the first of three papers reporting on the hourly scale methodology and results, and covers the background of the research undertaken, providing a detailed literature survey that was necessary for conducting the work.

Evaluating the ‘as-built’ performance of an eco-housing development in the UK

This paper uses a socio-technical building performance evaluation approach to forensically and systematically evaluate the actual performance of two case study dwellings located in a flagship eco-housing development in the UK, during the post-construction/initial occupation stage. The 12-month study captures the ‘as-built’ performance of the building envelope (principally heat loss) and installed equipment along with remote monitoring of energy use and environmental conditions, review of the handover processes and initial experiences of the occupants in relation to the home environment. It is found that actual annual energy use and CO2 emissions of the case study dwellings exceed design predictions by factors of 1.8 and 2.5, respectively. The main reasons for this gap are complex interdependencies that occur across the performance of building fabric and energy systems, usability of controls and occupant expectations and behaviour. Underperformance of mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems and air source heat pumps results from inadequate commissioning and maintenance procedures and poor occupant control due to complex control interfaces. Furthermore, unclear user guidance and inadequate training during handover lead to poor occupant understanding of the mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems and heat pumps, resulting in their misuse. The findings have proved that building performance evaluation processes are vital for examining operational outcomes and discovering performance-related issues that would otherwise go unreported and lead to bigger problems in future. Practical application: The methodological approach for evaluating housing performance adopted in this study provides design and construction teams with a practical approach to diagnose workmanship issues with building fabric and any installation or commissioning issues with energy systems and services. Maintenance regime of heating and ventilation system should be clarified at the installation and commissioning stage. Maintenance contracts should be set up for unfamiliar low carbon systems such as heat pumps, MVHR. Occupants need to be trained through graduated and extended handover that involves occupants trying out systems and controls in the presence of trained housing officers, supplemented by visual home user guides (developed by the architects) offering clear guidance on the daily and seasonal operation of systems and controls. Learning from such real-world case studies, from design to early occupation, is helpful in understanding the exact causes of the performance gap and how it can be addressed.