Fostering energy awareness in residential homes using mobile devices

There is considerable global effort being made towards identifying ways of reducing energy consumption to cope with growing demands. Although there is potential for energy saving in many sectors, our focus is on reducing energy consumption in residential homes. We have developed a system which combines home automation and energy usage monitoring technologies. The system offers a range of tools designed for mobile devices to assist users with monitoring their energy usage and provides mechanisms for setting up and controlling home appliances to conserve energy. In this paper we describe our system and a user study we have conducted to evaluate its effectiveness. The findings of the study show the potential benefits of this type of mobile technology

Review of UK microgeneration. Part 1 : policy and behavioural aspects

A critical review of the literature relating to government policy and behavioural aspects relevant to the uptake and application of microgeneration in the UK is presented. Given the current policy context aspiring to zero-carbon new homes by 2016 and a variety of minimum standards and financial policy instruments supporting microgeneration in existing dwellings, it appears that this class of technologies could make a significant contribution to UK energy supply and low-carbon buildings in the future. Indeed, achievement of a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 80% (the UK government's 2050 target) for the residential sector may entail substantial deployment of microgeneration. Realisation of the large potential market for microgeneration relies on a variety of inter-related factors such as microeconomics, behavioural aspects, the structure of supporting policy instruments and well-informed technology development. This article explores these issues in terms of current and proposed policy instruments in the UK. Behavioural aspects associated with both initial uptake of the technology and after purchase are also considered

Building Solutions: Opportunities for Coloradans to Save Energy and Money Through Efficient Home Heating

Proposes ways to improve home heating efficiency to reduce energy use and costs, describes the expected economic benefits to the state, and makes policy recommendations for raising efficiency standards and expanding weatherization assistance programs

Evidences of lay people’s reasoning related to climate change: per country and cross country results

This deliverable is about lay citizens’ reasoning about sustainability, in particular environmental protection and climate change, in various consumption domains, and the relation of this reasoning to the day-to-day lives of the participants. It presents country and cross-country findings from all 18 STAVE trials conducted between May 2011 and February 2012 in all six PACHELBEL partner countries. Analyses demonstrate that participants in the STAVE trials predominantly display a clear awareness that citizen consumption as demonstrated in their everyday practices of energy use, mobility, waste etc. are strongly connected with issues of environmental sustainablility. The STAVE trials also demonstrated that to live sustainably is a daily challenge, and people are often not able to organize their everyday routines in an environmental-friendly manner. Frequently there is a gap between participants’ aspirations and their practical behaviours. Significantly, the group conversations enabled participants to become aware that the self-assessed soundness of their everyday lives in terms of sustainability was at variance from the actual impact of e.g. their energy use or or mobility practices

Enabling low-carbon living in new UK housing developments

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a tool (the Climate Challenge Tool) that allows house builders to calculate whole life carbon equivalent emissions and costs of various carbon and energy reduction options that can be incorporated into the design of new developments. Design/methodology/approach: The tool covers technical and soft (or lifestyle) measures for reducing carbon production and energy use. Energy used within the home, energy embodied in the building materials, and emissions generated through transport, food consumption and waste treatment are taken into account. The tool has been used to assess the potential and cost-effectiveness of various carbon reduction options for a proposed new housing development in Cambridgeshire. These are compared with carbon emissions from a typical UK household. Findings: The tool demonstrated that carbon emission reductions can be achieved at much lower costs through an approach which enables sustainable lifestyles than through an approach which focuses purely on reducing heat lost through the fabric of the building and from improving the heating and lighting systems. Practical implications: The tool will enable house builders to evaluate which are the most cost-effective measures that they can incorporate into the design of new developments in order to achieve the significant energy savings and reduction in carbon emissions necessary to meet UK Government targets and to avoid dangerous climate change. Originality/value: Current approaches to assessing carbon and energy reduction options for new housing developments concentrate on energy efficiency options such as reducing heat lost through the fabric of the building and improving the heating and lighting systems, alongside renewable energy systems. The Climate Challenge Tool expands the range of options that might be considered by developers to include those affecting lifestyle choices of future residents. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Development and optimization of zeolite synthesis route from natural koalin for adsorption of dyes

Synthesis of zeolite using kaolin as the main source of alumina and silica has been identified as a novel zeolite production process, which could reduce the cost of using the synthetic reagents and the high energy consumption. A low grade kaolin was used for studying the most suitable synthesis route and operating parameters for producing a high yield and pure phase zeolite. The study adopted the alkaline activation and microwave assisted heating as modification techniques of the conventional hydrothermal synthesis process. Calcination and crystallization proceses were identified as the bottleneck operations within the process. Hence, this study employed 2k factorial design of experiment to study the relationship of metakaolinization temperature of 600 – 800 oC with calcination time of 1 – 5 hours. And that of crystallization time of 9 – 16 hours with aging treatment time of 12 – 36 hours. Central Composite Design (CCD) is used for optimization with axial and center point for factors evaluation towards the responses; yield percent (%) and crystallinity (%) for crystallization process. Based on the Response Surface Methodology (RSM), with desirability value of 98.67 %, the significant parametric aging condition is 27 hours and crystallization time is 9 hours were suggested to yield an optimum product for 80.47 yield percent and 76.92 crystallinity. Three confirmation runs were performed based on the suggested optimum parameter and the calculated error value was found to be below 10 %. The synthesized zeolite-A from the confirmation runs was characterized through XRD. The results were then corroborated with the analytical results from SEM, BET and FTIR. The activity of the synthesized zeolite A was confirmed by a structural refinement analysis, that identified the product as a member of the cubic crystalline systems, belonging to a Fm3c space group with lattice cubic structure values where

A three-dimensional model of residential energy consumer archetypes for local energy policy design in the UK

This paper reviews major studies in three traditional lines of research in residential energy consumption in the UK, i.e. economic/infrastructure, behaviour, and load profiling. Based on the review the paper proposes a three-dimensional model for archetyping residential energy consumers in the UK by considering property energy efficiency levels, the greenness of household behaviour of using energy, and the duration of property daytime occupancy. With the proposed model, eight archetypes of residential energy consumers in the UK have been identified. They are: pioneer greens, follower greens, concerned greens, home stayers, unconscientious wasters, regular wasters, daytime wasters, and disengaged wasters. Using a case study, these archetypes of residential energy consumers demonstrate the robustness of the 3-D model in aiding local energy policy/intervention design in the UK

Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review

Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid. It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers. The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.

EcoBlock: Grid Impacts, Scaling, and Resilience

Widespread deployment of EcoBlocks has the potential to transform today's electricity system into one that is more resilient, flexible, efficient and sustainable. In this vision, the system will consist of self- su cient, renewable-powered, block-scale entities that can deliberately adjust their net power exchange and can optimize performance, maintain stability, support each other, or disconnect entirely from the grid as needed. This report is intended as an independent analysis of the potential relationships, both constructive and adverse, between EcoBlocks and the grid