Page 29 - GB Building Science Ebook 2019

Smart and Free. Available for free from NV Energy, this smart thermostat
offers heads up info about how the house or business is performing from
anyplace via smartphone.
is greater control over their home environment from any location.

HEADS UP POWER MONITORING
Changing consumer behavior has been one of the highest hurdles Passive Observer. By tracking water usage in all corners of the home, leak
for manufacturers, across the boards. How they use products can detectors such as Phyn (by Uponor) expand smart home utility.
quickly undermine even the most efficient design. One proven
approach is something called “game theory,” where people compete members can be tracked without surveillance cameras and personal
with themselves or their peers to achieve various efficiency goals. It’s intrusions. This type of Assisted Living Technology (ALT) will
a model that’s been shown to encourage voluntary self-monitoring become ubiquitous in the home of the future. Leak detection is an
of gas efficiency in vehicles, for example. The same approach can early forerunner for other types of useful and assistive digital tools.
now be applied on a mass scale with energy savings. For example,
where a couple of years ago a homeowner would need to buy or rent SELF-MOTIVATED SENSORS
a Kill A Watt energy meter to find out which devices in the home are The advent of more affordable smart sensors also has improved future
wasting phantom power, she can now purchase a Wemo Insight or prospects for making homes more efficient and healthier. To take just
other brand of smart outlet, which offers a heads-up display of power one example, particle and humidity sensors in ventilation fans over-
usage, including an estimate of monthly consumption. come behavior quirks. Where in the past a bathroom might grow mold
before occupants would
use a bath van, new,
smarter fans operate auto-
matically when humidity
levels get too high. Similar
technology is increasingly
available in kitchen range
hoods as well, where the
hood “senses” heat or par-
ticles and clears the air.
This tech isn’t just a land-
lord’s dream, however,
it’s a way that the house
can become a proactive
partner in health for the
owners, keeping indoor Smart Fan. With humidity sensing capability,
Transparent Usage. Wifi smart plugs now offer a wealth of information in air cleaner, and increas- new bath fans remove damaging moisture
real time. ing durability of surfaces. without depending on good behavior. Panasonic
Tile showers, for example, WhisperGreen model is shown.
LEAK DETECTION have historically been one of the shortest lived features in a new home,
Led by products from Uponor (Phyn) and Flo by Moen, the category in part due to grout becoming moldy from excess moisture left in
of leak detection has become highly sophisticated, and opened the the room.
door to what we call “passive” home monitoring. Because these These and other products are becoming increasingly familiar to
devices can identify and track water usage from every faucet and consumers. Whether or not builder “push” smart technology, their
fixture in a building, they paint a virtual picture of the occupants’ clients will be “pulling” for better equipment that reduces health
lifestyle. Not only can leaks be detected and stopped, but older family risks, increases comfort and reduces energy consumption. GB

BUILDING SCIENCE SPECIAL REPORT: SIX WAYS CONSTRUCTION IS CHANGING 29