NREL, NYSERDA, and Con Edison Partner on Home Energy Management Systems
Twenty-four homes in New York City will be at the forefront of NREL home energy management systems (HEMS) research. The goal is to identify strategies for broad market adoption of smart home technologies that can bring comfort, convenience, and energy savings to residents across New York and the country.
With funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), NREL is collaborating with Con Edison to install and monitor HEMS products in 12 single-family homes and 12 multi-family homes. The HEMS packages will focus on smart controls for lighting; heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC); and plug loads in Con Edison's Brooklyn-Queens Neighborhood Program area.
"Many HEMS products are commercially available and technologically mature, but we haven't yet seen broad market adoption," says Lieko Earle, NREL senior research engineer and project manager. "If best practices are implemented at large scale, the overall impact could be a win-win for both homeowners and utilities, which could use connected devices to manage loads when electricity demand is highest."
After the products are installed in the fall, energy data will be collected through October 2018 and then validated by an independent measurement and verification process. The focus of the project is stakeholder engagement and education: developing strategies that utility programs across New York can leverage to incorporate HEMS successfully into their programs.
HEMS refers to a broad class of hardware and software systems that can monitor and provide feedback about a home's energy use and enable advanced control of energy-using systems in the home.
NYSERDA, established in 1975, promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. Founded in 1823, Con Edison provides electric, gas, and steam service to 10 million people who live in New York City and Westchester County.