B4- Rebecca Lynch (Group A)

The topic that I chose with my partner Sean Coffey is the use of the internet of things in increasing the sustainability of buildings. There is an increasing push in society towards the development of sustainable practices and products that reduce our impact on the environment. Besides from the politicians and spokespeople encouraging this move towards a more sustainable society, the main driving force is the money savings associated with the reduction of energy usage of the building as a large incentive for both companies and individuals. Through research and case studies, we plan to show that the implementation of the internet of things into buildings can increase the sustainability of any building, even those that are LEED certified.

An important aspect in the use and maintenance of intelligent buildings is the implementation of the internet of things. The use of smart devices to monitor and control a building increases the ease of maintaining the building as well as provides optimal comfort with less and less human interference. The ability of products to communicate with each other enables the control and monitoring of an entire building with just one app. With these new capabilities, the sustainability of our buildings can be drastically improved by increasing the ease and awareness of the user in the reduction of energy usage.

Products such as the Nest Thermostat have already been developed and are currently used as an easy way of energy conservation. The system acts as a hub for the control of smart devices through a single app that not only allows the user to change the settings from anywhere, but also learns the user’s preferences and behaviors to predict future changes. This reduces the use of energy through various methods, though the most prevalent is through reducing the energy usage when no one is home. Additional products can be integrated into this system to further reduce energy impacts, such as the connection of the washer and drier to the Nest, which gathers information from the power company to determine when the peak time is, and only run the washer in non-peak times.

As with any new emerging technology, there are many limitations and potential risks of the internet of things. The major limitation at the moment is the integration of existing products to work as one. Currently, the use of hubs attempts to solve this problem by connecting all of the smart devices to a single controller. However, the hubs have their own limitations in their capabilities of connecting to only specific products. The main risk that the public is most concerned about is the impact these systems will have on personal security and privacy. Not only is there the risk of hackers taking control of a smart device to cause harm to the user, but there is a fear of the misuse of the data collected by the companies themselves. For this reason, companies will need to gain consumers’ trust in the protection and use of their data.

Sources:

Amadeo, Ron. "Google Tracker 2015: Everything We Know Google Is Working on for the New Year." ARS Technica. N.p., 29 Dec. 2014. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/12/google-tracker-2015-everything-google-is-working-on-for-the-new-year/#h1>.

Cheng, Roger. "​What Lurks beneath the Internet of Things Hype? Nagging Security Fears." CNET. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.cnet.com/news/what-lies-beneath-the-internet-of-things-hype-an-undercurrent-of-security-fears/>.

Colon, Alex. "The Best Smart Home Automation Hubs of 2015." PCMAG. N.p., 27 May 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2468647,00.asp>.

Cringely, Robert X. "Prediction #7: Internet of Things Becomes a Security Nightmare." I Cringely. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.cringely.com/2016/01/13/prediction-7-internet-of-things-is-a-security-nightmare/>.

Comments:
Laura Worley
Cristian Almendariz