Difference between revisions of "Energy Monitoring and Control"

Latest revision as of 20:37, 16 June 2009

This page is under construction. It will be finished in a normal pattern format later. return to Living Building Design Studio

What is It?

• A brief description of what it is.
• If it is part of a system-level pattern put a link to it in here.

• Also known as:

Why is it Important?

Describe how it:

• strengthen our relationship to the earth...all are connected (sun, wind, water, plants and animals)
• helps restore the planet's eco-systems (plant, animal, water, air)
• builds strong communities.
• creates equal economic opportunities and energy.
• creates One Earth patterns of living

When to Use It?

• List the important considerations when to use this pattern.
• When would it be sustainable?
• When would it not be sustainable?

Green Garage Use of Energy Monitoring and Control

Sustainability Goals

• Affect the awareness, knowledge and behavior of the Green Garage community to reduce the energy footprint of the building
• Create a connectedness of occupants to the earth's natural systems
• Support a community-level transparency and openness for sharing information and an environment for learning and continuous improving.
• Support achievement of the GG net-Zero energy goal
• Create a product that others can use
• Easy to operate and evolve

Strategy and Conceptual Design

• Energy Truth Window - Real time public display of our energy consumption.
• Supports decision making and action in real time

.....................................................

• Describe how we plan to achieve these goals
• Explain why we chose this specific strategy and design (our rationale)
• Include pictures, drawings or videos(flickr)

Who would use the system and why?

The Energy Truth Window would be used by:

• Green Garage Community Members to determine:
  • how much energy is being used and produced?
  • if short and long-term energy goals are being achieved
  • what can be done today in the building to minimize energy usage (e.g. windows open for natural ventilation)?
  • how much is being spent on energy?
  • what is our carbon footprint?
• Community building energy leadership to determine:
  • how each of the building energy components are performing (e.g. temperature of thermal storage)?
  • make manual changes in the heating/cooling/ventilation system to improve performance or change for the season.
• General public to learn:
  • a greater awareness of energy usage and it's impact
  • ways to reduce energy consumption
  • knowledge of what's even possible (e.g. net-zero energy)

Potential data sources

• Weather
  • Temperatures
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
    • Forecasted
  • Humidity
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
    • Forecasted
  • Wind (speed and direction)
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
    • Forecasted
  • Solar Strength / Cloud Cover
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
    • Forecasted
  • Pressure
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
    • Forecasted
  • Rainfall
    • Accumulation
• Living Building
  • Temperatures
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
  • Humidity
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
  • Pressure
    • Current
    • Hourly
    • High, Low, Average
• Sub-systems
  • Solar Collectors
    • Temperature
    • Water Temp = energy produced ... hourly, daily, monthly
    • Is in on - off?
  • Thermal Storage tanks
    • temperature
    • Total BTU's calculated
  • Earth Tubes
    • cfm's
    • air temp...in and out
    • humidity...in and out
  • ERU
    • cfm's
    • air temp...in and out
    • humidity...in and out
  • Geo-thermal
    • on or off?
    • kW used
    • loop temp?
• Utility Information
  • DTE
    • Current kW usage + cost
    • kW Usage (day, month, year)
      • Peak
      • Off-peak
    • Cost ($)
    • Carbon (ton)
  • Detroit Water Dept
    • Usage in gallons (day, month, year)
    • Cost ($)
• Planning Data
  • Energy Usage (day, month, year)
  • Energy Cost (day, month, year)

Potential Sub-system Controls

• Living Building
  • Thermostats
    • by building, by zone
    • high and low set points
    • off hours setbacks
    • web controlled
  • Humidity
    • Max and min set points?
  • Pressure (fans and dampers)
    • Max and min set points?
• Sub-systems
  • Solar Collectors
    • Temperature (max and min) set for turning on - off
    • Set on - off
  • Thermal Storage tanks
    • max and min temperature
  • Earth Tubes
    • max and min air temps for by pass
    • pressure levels
  • ERU
    • cfm's
    • air temp...in and out
    • humidity...in and out
  • Geo-thermal
    • on or off?
    • kW used
    • loop temp?
• Utility Information
  • DTE
    • Current kW usage + cost
    • kW Usage (day, month, year)
      • Peak
      • Off-peak
    • Cost ($)
    • Carbon (ton)
  • Detroit Water Dept
    • Usage in gallons (day, month, year)
    • Cost ($)
• Planning Data
  • Energy Usage (day, month, year)
  • Energy Cost (day, month, year)

What would the Energy Truth Window Look Like?

What would be the information Architecture?

Supporting science:

• Univ Michigan study of behavior and data
• Prius and Camry and Insight feedback system

Proposed Materials / Suppliers

• Identify (via links and short description) the materials and suppliers we propose to use.

Development Story

The Energy Monitoring and Control - Development Story page contains many images and videos documenting the process used at the Green Garage to design, build and operate our ?? system.

Related Internal Links

• Help people find other related Green Garage pages that may help them. Keep it tight.

Resources

• Provide valuable links to help make it easier for others to pursue this pattern.

To Do's