Green Buildings and Homes-Part 2

Continued from Part 1:


Sensors, Smart Meters etc: After the office hours, can you either dim or turn off the lights based on motion sensors? Public usage areas can make avail of this motion sensor technologies. Like I said earlier, you have a large rooftop area that is invariably not utilized. Now on weekends and holidays if the energy produced by the panels is not utilized by the facility, can this energy be fed back to the grid? Can we claim credit for the energy that is fed back to the grid? This can be done by smart metering that accurately measures the power that is being generated and fed back to the grid. These are all the technologies that are commercially available and takes minimal effort to implement.
There is no customization involved. The products that meet or exceed the standards set by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) gets a certification (star rating). This is applicable to all electrical appliances used at home.

Building Codes: Like I said earlier, the new building codes have to be mandated by the governments. Awareness has to be created in terms of the power saved, carbon footprint, subsidies received from the state governments etc. The governments have to make it easy for people to do business with them and help implement the green initiatives.

Electronics industry will greatly benefit from making products that will help drive the energy costs lower. Whether it is active power management in a cell phone or maximum power point tracking in a solar panel; there is energy to be saved. This will require innovation both at the chip and system level. There are alliances being established between solar panel makers, sensor makers, standards committees, and electronics industry to drive energy efficient solutions that will benefit all. BEE is working with a set of corporations to help drive the standards. This will bring about the required awareness.

 I can get into the technicalities if anyone is interested in discussing this further.

Ram