Almost all energy metering systems show a basic graph of their sensors, This is productive for the engineering staff, but usually the decision makers find it difficult to have a quick decision about real-time activity, is it normal or abnormal? also, when the data is public, if it were simple to understand, perhaps many could benefit and contribute their perspectives of being energy efficient.
I recently found a public building that has an *eGauge system installed. eGauge has changed the perception on energy metering when it brought it’s API to the public and let people interact with real time electric consumption data in creative and simple ways.
(*it is one of my favorite systems, not only because it’s robust and precise but also it has a great API to create open-source insights like the one I’ve designed)
You can see the real-time data in gauges instead of graphs and each gauge has 3 areas that analyse it’s energy consumption. green for closed state, orange for normal usage and red for above normal consumption. notice the two small gauges next to the main gauge, they are the two consumers with the highest potential of reducing and saving energy. this helps decision makers focus on the 2 most non efficient areas.
other than that, You can easily gain insights on the overall consumption of a closed school, or did someone leave the air conditioner on in the gymnasium again?
Since This visual aid has been published, the energy consumption of Bartov has dropped overall by 14.5% percent, while over 60% reduction in electric consumption was after work hours
This 14.5% reduction can be attributed to some public interventions in a “Big-brother” concept. School employees have changed a lot of their energy consumption routines after being notified by parents and municipality leaders that their expanses are viewed in real time by the public.
This system is still a work in progress, I would really appreciate Your comments or feature suggestions. Thank You.