A Review on Energy Consumption Optimization Techniques in IoT Based Smart Building Environments

In recent years, due to the unnecessary wastage of electrical energy in residential buildings, the requirement of energy optimization and user comfort has gained vital importance. In the literature, various techniques have been proposed addressing the energy optimization problem. The goal of each technique was to maintain a balance between user comfort and energy requirements such that the user can achieve the desired comfort level with the minimum amount of energy consumption. Researchers have addressed the issue with the help of different optimization algorithms and variations in the parameters to reduce energy consumption. To the best of our knowledge, this problem is not solved yet due to its challenging nature. The gap in the literature is due to the advancements in the technology and drawbacks of the optimization algorithms and the introduction of different new optimization algorithms. Further, many newly proposed optimization algorithms which have produced better accuracy on the benchmark instances but have not been applied yet for the optimization of energy consumption in smart homes. In this paper, we have carried out a detailed literature review of the techniques used for the optimization of energy consumption and scheduling in smart homes. The detailed discussion has been carried out on different factors contributing towards thermal comfort, visual comfort, and air quality comfort. We have also reviewed the fog and edge computing techniques used in smart homes

An Energy-Efficient Elevator Operating System that Considers Sensor Information and Electricity Price Changes in Smart Green Buildings

In modern smart buildings, the energy consumption of a building is monitored every time. Smart buildings are also equipped with sensors that can collect various physical data such as temperature, motion, and light. In this paper, we use smart sensor technologies in the design of an efficient elevator operating system (EOS). Specifically, multiple sensor devices are used together to detect elevator passengers’ behavior before they arrive at the elevator door and press the elevator call button. The detected information is then delivered to EOS through building networks and the scheduling system utilizes this information for the efficient control of the elevator cars. Specifically, when the number of passengers becomes large, EOS increases the number of working elevator cars to reduce the waiting time of passengers. In contrast, when the elevator traffic lessens, EOS reduces the number of working elevator cars in order to save the energy consumption. Experimental results with a wide range of configurations show that our EOS outperforms the conventional elevator scheduling system that does not consider sensor information or electricity price changes

Coordinated Demand Response and Distributed Generation Management in Residential Smart Microgrids

Nowadays with the emerging of small-scale integrated energy systems (IESs) in form of residential smart microgrids (SMGs), a large portion of energy can be saved through coordinated scheduling of smart household devices and management of distributed energy resources (DERs). There are significant potentials to increase the functionality of a typical demand-side management (DSM) strategy, and typical implementation of building-level DERs by integrating them into a cohesive, networked package that fully utilizes smart energy-efficient end-use devices, advanced building control/automation systems, and an integrated communications architecture to efficiently manage energy and comfort at the end-use location. By the aid of such technologies, residential consumers have also the capability to mitigate their energy costs and satisfy their own requirements paying less attention to the configuration of the energy supply system. Regarding these points, this chapter initially defines an efficient framework for coordinated DSM and DERs management in an integrated building and SMG system. Then a working energy management system (EMS) for applications in residential IESs is described and mathematically modeled. Finally, the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed model is tested and validated in different operating modes compared to the existing models. The findings of this chapter show that by the use of an expert EMS that coordinates supply and demand sides simultaneously, it is very possible not only to reduce energy costs of a residential IES, but also to provide comfortable lifestyle for occupants

Efficient energy management for the internet of things in smart cities

The drastic increase in urbanization over the past few years requires sustainable, efficient, and smart solutions for transportation, governance, environment, quality of life, and so on. The Internet of Things offers many sophisticated and ubiquitous applications for smart cities. The energy demand of IoT applications is increased, while IoT devices continue to grow in both numbers and requirements. Therefore, smart city solutions must have the ability to efficiently utilize energy and handle the associated challenges. Energy management is considered as a key paradigm for the realization of complex energy systems in smart cities. In this article, we present a brief overview of energy management and challenges in smart cities. We then provide a unifying framework for energy-efficient optimization and scheduling of IoT-based smart cities. We also discuss the energy harvesting in smart cities, which is a promising solution for extending the lifetime of low-power devices and its related challenges. We detail two case studies. The first one targets energy-efficient scheduling in smart homes, and the second covers wireless power transfer for IoT devices in smart cities. Simulation results for the case studies demonstrate the tremendous impact of energy-efficient scheduling optimization and wireless power transfer on the performance of IoT in smart cities

Federated Robust Embedded Systems: Concepts and Challenges

The development within the area of embedded systems (ESs) is moving rapidly, not least due to falling costs of computation and communication equipment. It is believed that increased communication opportunities will lead to the future ESs no longer being parts of isolated products, but rather parts of larger communities or federations of ESs, within which information is exchanged for the benefit of all participants. This vision is asserted by a number of interrelated research topics, such as the internet of things, cyber-physical systems, systems of systems, and multi-agent systems. In this work, the focus is primarily on ESs, with their specific real-time and safety requirements. While the vision of interconnected ESs is quite promising, it also brings great challenges to the development of future systems in an efficient, safe, and reliable way. In this work, a pre-study has been carried out in order to gain a better understanding about common concepts and challenges that naturally arise in federations of ESs. The work was organized around a series of workshops, with contributions from both academic participants and industrial partners with a strong experience in ES development. During the workshops, a portfolio of possible ES federation scenarios was collected, and a number of application examples were discussed more thoroughly on different abstraction levels, starting from screening the nature of interactions on the federation level and proceeding down to the implementation details within each ES. These discussions led to a better understanding of what can be expected in the future federated ESs. In this report, the discussed applications are summarized, together with their characteristics, challenges, and necessary solution elements, providing a ground for the future research within the area of communicating ESs