28
F. Firouzi et al.
distributed to customers via distribution lines. The customers had meters to record
the use of the electricity, and these meters needed to be visited to be read. The next
generation of power grid adds intelligence at the customer end by making those
meters able to communicate their readings back to the power company. Further, with
advanced metering, they can be updated in real-time to reflect changing tariffs on
power based on loading and time factors. Demand can be better understood making
power generation timelier and more efficient. Energy spikes, equipment failure, and
power failures can be detected more quickly with smart sensors and the response
can be more rapid with the automatic dispatch of engineers or even an automated
restoration. Power outages and interruptions cost several billion dollars every year,
so finding solutions to reduce and eliminate the occurrences improves quality of life
and makes financial sense. Generators of electricity can better understand where,
how, and how much electricity is used on the grid, enabling them to be more adaptive
and responsive. Especially as the move is toward renewable energy sources and
decentralization of electricity generation, smart technologies are vital to unlocking
wind, solar, and tidal power to its full potential.
On the consumer side, understanding when and how electricity in the home is
used can lead to better choices. Home automation can activate appliances during
off-peak times, and thermostats can control home heating and cooling depending on
the time of day and occupancy to maximize comfort and energy savings. Electric
vehicles can serve as power storage for a smart grid, or a micro-grid for the
neighborhood, being charged during off-peak times, and returning power to the
grid during the times of highest demand. To address the above challenges, research
and development to design IoT-driven power grid as a robust, reliable, and secure
infrastructure is critical to the future of technological advances, since it powers all
the other technologies.
1.4.4 Smart Building
Large buildings are currently outfitted with proprietary solutions to assist in solving
the problems faced by facilities managers. They need information about how the
building is functioning, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, the
boilers, the power, the security system, and many other systems and subsystems
that make up a modern building. While some management systems do a good
job, they are often difficult to integrate with other solutions. Since they are often
hardware based, once they become obsolete, it can be costly to update them, making
them inflexible. Legacy buildings are a significant contributor to the increase in
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, with some estimates as high as 36 percent
of CO2. Forty percent of total energy consumption is from the maintenance of
buildings, with as much as 75 percent of current structures being inefficient. In
2016, the Paris Climate Agreement specifically targeted reducing the high energy
consumption of buildings as an excellent method for addressing climate change.
IoT will bring greater interoperability to these older, disparate systems and,
through the cloud, allow for greater remote management, improving efficiency and
F. Firouzi et al.
distributed to customers via distribution lines. The customers had meters to record
the use of the electricity, and these meters needed to be visited to be read. The next
generation of power grid adds intelligence at the customer end by making those
meters able to communicate their readings back to the power company. Further, with
advanced metering, they can be updated in real-time to reflect changing tariffs on
power based on loading and time factors. Demand can be better understood making
power generation timelier and more efficient. Energy spikes, equipment failure, and
power failures can be detected more quickly with smart sensors and the response
can be more rapid with the automatic dispatch of engineers or even an automated
restoration. Power outages and interruptions cost several billion dollars every year,
so finding solutions to reduce and eliminate the occurrences improves quality of life
and makes financial sense. Generators of electricity can better understand where,
how, and how much electricity is used on the grid, enabling them to be more adaptive
and responsive. Especially as the move is toward renewable energy sources and
decentralization of electricity generation, smart technologies are vital to unlocking
wind, solar, and tidal power to its full potential.
On the consumer side, understanding when and how electricity in the home is
used can lead to better choices. Home automation can activate appliances during
off-peak times, and thermostats can control home heating and cooling depending on
the time of day and occupancy to maximize comfort and energy savings. Electric
vehicles can serve as power storage for a smart grid, or a micro-grid for the
neighborhood, being charged during off-peak times, and returning power to the
grid during the times of highest demand. To address the above challenges, research
and development to design IoT-driven power grid as a robust, reliable, and secure
infrastructure is critical to the future of technological advances, since it powers all
the other technologies.
1.4.4 Smart Building
Large buildings are currently outfitted with proprietary solutions to assist in solving
the problems faced by facilities managers. They need information about how the
building is functioning, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, the
boilers, the power, the security system, and many other systems and subsystems
that make up a modern building. While some management systems do a good
job, they are often difficult to integrate with other solutions. Since they are often
hardware based, once they become obsolete, it can be costly to update them, making
them inflexible. Legacy buildings are a significant contributor to the increase in
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, with some estimates as high as 36 percent
of CO2. Forty percent of total energy consumption is from the maintenance of
buildings, with as much as 75 percent of current structures being inefficient. In
2016, the Paris Climate Agreement specifically targeted reducing the high energy
consumption of buildings as an excellent method for addressing climate change.
IoT will bring greater interoperability to these older, disparate systems and,
through the cloud, allow for greater remote management, improving efficiency and