Author Archive
First Bricks Laid at Ground Breaking Energy House
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the DEHEMS partners, University of Salford is involved in another home energy initiative. This month work commenced on a unique ‘Energy House’ as the first bricks were laid on what will become the first test house in the world to be constructed inside an environmentally controlled chamber at the University. Once completed, the house will be subjected to some of the most advanced energy experiments ever conducted on a residential property.
University experts will carry out a huge range of tests inside the house to gauge how its energy consumption varies depending on changeable factors and conditions. The testing chamber will feature a unique climate system which will generate a range of snow, rain, wind and humidity conditions – which, unlike other test properties, are not dependent on that day’s weather.
Energy Saving and Gender
Posted by: | CommentsDr David Kreps from the University of Salford recently presented a paper where he examines the concept of eco-masculinities as a philosophical and critical project to understand the links between gendered and pro-environmental behaviour. The paper looks at the sociology of masculinity, and the post-gendered world to which they both aspire, alongside a brief history of ecofeminism. The last section of the paper considers how these philosophical approaches might impact upon analysis of the DEHEMS project.
For more information see: Kreps, David, “Introducing Eco-Masculinities: How a masculine discursive subject approach to the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT impacts an environmental informatics project” (2010). AMCIS 2010 Proceedings. Paper 277. http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2010/277/
Hildebrand Solves a Key Problem in Smart Metering Research
Posted by: | CommentsHildebrand, the key technology partner of the DEHEMS project has been working with IBM address the issues of traditional databases dealing with time-series data (i.e. ‘pulses’ of data arriving at regular intervals from one or more sources), because their structure makes it difficult to store and index this data efficiently. As a result, Hildebrand knew that it would be impossible to create a solution around a standard database engine without massive investment in high-end server hardware. The costs of this would be prohibitive, so a new kind of solution was required. Following research in to leading-edge database platforms Hildebrand looked at the IBM Informix TimeSeries DataBlade and Real-Time Loader, which are specifically designed to handle time-series data. Working with the software lab at IBM Hursley and they helped run a number of proof-of-concept projects using the facilities in the IBM Hursley Innovation Centre to see if it would be possible to handle the volume of data needed in a cost-effective manner.
The Informix TimeSeries technologies create a single database object for each data-source, and then simply update it with the latest readings whenever a new ‘pulse’ of data arrives. This provides a more manageable data structure, which makes it easier to store, extract and analyse data.
With help from the IBM Hursley team, it was quickly found that Informix TimeSeries could deliver spectacular results. In the first proof-of-concept three million homes were stimulated sending readings once a minute, and was able to capture nearly 40,000 readings per second using only a quad-core, dual-processor Intel server. In the second, using a slightly larger server and it was found it could deliver analytics response times of between one and three seconds for a load of 50,000 readings per second. Without understanding the technical details, energy monitoring for three million homes or more became a practical proposition.
Further details are available in the IBM press release.
Energy for Lighting and Appliances Increases
Posted by: | CommentsThe Social Trends report (published July 10) from the UK Office for National Statistics shows that the amount of domestic energy used in homes specifically for lighting and electrical appliances rose from the equivalent of 2.7 million tonnes of oil in 1970 to 6.8 million in 2007 – a 155% increase . Interestingly the energy used for cooking fell by 41 per cent in the same period.
Comments from National Energy Action said there is a need education about energy efficient appliances with the roll out of smart metering going some way towards behavioural change.
Appliance Level Monitoring – Installation Video
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a short video (3 minutes) demonstrating how to install the individual appliance monitoring equipment manufactured by Plugwise,
Dehems Cycle 2 – Plugwise Info from MDDA on Vimeo.
Base kit (data controller) – Installation Video
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a short video (2 minutes) explaining the installation of the base equipment used in Dehems Cycle 2. The video explains the individual items of equipment and how to install them.
Dehems Cycle 2 – Equipment Overview Video from MDDA on Vimeo.
DEHEMS Energy Monitoring Roll Out
Posted by: | CommentsThe DEHEMS installations are now well under way. In the past two weeks over installations have been fast paced, with volunteers coming in daily.In Manchester, Greenlight Computers working round the clock to meet the deadline. The kit involves a clamp on to the live cable at the householders meter transmitting data to the data controller box which is connected to the users broadband router. The householder can then then view their electricity usage online. The next phase is to install the individual plug meters (IAM’s) from Plugwise in a selected number of homes.
Energy Monitoring Clamp
Data Collector
DEHEMS Cycle 2 Equipment Has Landed!
Posted by: | CommentsWith a change of season and the promising signs of a real summer, DEHEMS home energy monitoring equipment is ready for installation. The new equipment has a number of similarities with those which were used in the first phase. However, the new equipment is programmed to integrate a number of other energy monitoring kit. For example, we will be introducing ‘appliance level monitoring’ – where plug adaptors or plug-level monitors, will be used to measure the amount of energy being used by each individual appliance – e.g. TV, washing machine and so on. We also introducing solution to measure gas usage, but again this is still in development.
Each Living Lab will offer a limited number of plug-level energy monitors. Using these we will be able to collect accurate data about energy usage. The plugs will act as an interface between your mains socket and the appliance (e.g. TV), transmitting information to the data receiver and the information will display on the dashboard online.
The plan is for installations to be completed by the end of May by the teams at the three UK living labs and the two in Bulgaria. This includes both online help via FAQs as well as a support line to answer any queries. There will be opportunity for users share experiences and learning with fellow DEHEMS participants via the DEHEMS Facebook group as well as at focus groups. We will also be asking everyone involved to help us with an online or telephone survey.
Appliance Monitoring with Plugwise
Posted by: | CommentsDehems is working with Plugwise, a Dutch based company to integrate IAM – Individual Appliance Monitoring – in to the Dehems system. In their presentation Plugwise describes their system in some detail.
Manchester City Council, UK – DEHEMS and the city’s strategy on climate change
Posted by: | CommentsAs a local government authority Manchester City Council is required to report against a suite of 98 National Indicators (NIs), some of which concern the environment, and one of which, NI186, requires monitoring and reduction of city-wide CO2 emissions. In practice, this monitoring is conducted at a national level and reported publically each year. The Audit Commission oversee all these indicators but they are variously reported to specific government agencies/departments eg NI186 is managed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Read More→
