CTO of Softengi with 30 years of experience in software development, business applications implementation and digital strategy creation.
The popularity of "smart homes" can seem superficial at first glance, as they might look like the lead magnet for people who want to spend large sums of money on their property.
However, when you learn that — apart from reducing expenses — smart homes can reduce carbon footprints, the desire of real estate companies and local governments to invest in smart homes seems justified. After all, for a growing number of people, sustainability is the key factor when choosing a job, car or new house. A 2019 Nielsen study found that 73 % of global consumers intended to change their consumption habits to make a positive environmental impact.
As noted in a report from Finnish researchers: "In December 2013, the European Commission has set clear goals in its Energy Roadmap 2050 to achieve a decarbonized society. Decarbonization in this context means reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80%-95% below 1990 levels by 2050." The U.S. and China also have ambitious goals: 28% and 65% gas emissions cuts, respectively.
A 2019 study published in Environment International found that one-third of all of the world's СO2 emissions were the result of household energy consumption. This can include simple everyday routines such as cooking food and using a thermostat. CO2 emissions are highly dependent on the consumption levels of resources in households. Therefore, reducing energy consumption in homes could subsequently reduce CO2 emissions.
As an overview, the study from Finnish researchers concluded that home automation saves 12.78% of original emissions. This reduction is attributed to automated home energy management systems that increase energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. The researchers found that "part of emission reduction was achieved through peak shifting by moving energy consumption load from daytime to nighttime."
In the U.K., the Nottingham City Council noted that the city managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% from 2005 levels — using smart homes as one of the tactical solutions. The use of smart home technology continues to rise even though many don't know these facts.
How Do Smart Homes Reduce Energy Consumption And Expenses?
When we speak about effective resource consumption, we speak about automation, smart metering and preventive maintenance.
• Automation. Automation is key to a significant reduction of energy bills and CO2 emissions, as even the water temperature in the shower can be monitored and automated according to the temperature of the environment.
Automating the scheduling of appliances can decrease their running time significantly, as tenants can program to switch off thermostats when they are away or decrease the temperatures in apartments when it gets warmer outside. Scheduling some operations during the non-peak time can also result in more sustainable energy consumption; some simple things like programming a dishwasher to work at night can be a small step for one family and a big step for carbon footprint reduction.
Installing a smart lighting system can also result in lights turning off in a more timely fashion. Occupancy sensors and motion sensors "learn" when rooms are empty and turn off or dim lights. This seemingly simple procedure can result in a significant reduction in bills.
• Preventive maintenance. As noted in an Entrepreneur article, making homes smarter with the help of IoT sensors and smart meters can reduce maintenance expenditure by 10% to 40%. Popular use cases include:
1. Humidity monitoring that helps prevent the appearance of mold in apartments.
2. Installing leak detectors all over that severely minimize the threat of a flood because the information will automatically trigger the taps to switch off.
3. Smoke detectors that notify tenants about a fire and help to react accordingly.
4. The ability to turn off an iron remotely if a tenant forgets about it.
5. Motion trackers that notify tenants about unwanted guests, limiting property thefts and damages.
More than that, all of the information about the property will be available to landlords and real estate owners remotely through the web or mobile application so that travel expenses can be excluded from the equation.
• Smart meters. Smart meters are the gateways of bringing smartness inside the building. Control and transparency are two major benefits of smart meters. In fact, they aren't much different from traditional meters; they just collect data automatically.
Using smart meters can reduce the need for landlords, trusts owners and real estate companies to come and check the parameters; they can track energy usage remotely. In addition, smart meters can motivate tenants to monitor their consumption patterns. Users are notified about higher or lower consumption and are offered to change their routines accordingly.
According to energy statistics from the Energy Information Administration, one kilogram of CO2 is emitted from coal to generate one kilowatthour of electricity. Thus, if we reduce electrical power consumption by 50 kilowatthours a month, we can also reduce household emission by 600 kilograms.
"Reduce the temperature by two degrees and save 20 kilograms of CO2" is the message that can be sent automatically after receiving data from smart meters. All in all, by using accurate data received through smart meters, it is possible to define energy consumption patterns and work with them to adjust resource usage.
IoT And AI
IoT technologies can be a catalyst for transformation toward sustainability, as they provide transparency and control over resources and help people adjust to new consumption patterns faster. Yet AI can give even more to real estate companies, landlords and tenants.
With AI algorithms based on the data from IoT sensors, it can be possible to classify the energy consumption according to the types of events and give recommendations and instructions on more energy-efficient behaviors. It's easier to motivate tenants to adhere to the norms if their consumption patterns are compared to the benchmark patterns of similar households (water utilization in the shower, for example). Gamification mechanics can also be used for the comparison of consumption patterns in districts, regions and cities.
IoT and AI technologies can disrupt established ways of resource consumption and protect homes, bringing value to all stakeholders simultaneously.
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