Energy Efficiency Management Office (EEMO)

Clutch your keys and buckle up to unpack your cartons. The time has come to move into the future. But just before you pass the threshold and order your robot butler to fetch you a glass of sparkling wine, click the pause button and contemplate this technological coup encompassing you.

In a matter decades, the futuristic house from the trailblazing short story, "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury, will conceivably be the most prescient and befitting metaphor for some technology, especially in the real estate industry. Computer technology will be at its infancy in your future town. At your house, at six o'clock, the coffee machine will spring into life because it has been programmed to do so. The mere scan of your eyeball on the iris recognition machine will allow the lights in the living room to spark up and smooth jazz to whirl from the concealed sound system. The fridge will also think. Small transmitters on the food packaging will enable it to recognise when, for instance, the milk and the yogurt have passed their sell-by dates. Depending on the programming, it will emit a warning signal and will order new supplies automatically online from the supermarket.

Do you want to discover more? Hop in and fasten your seatbelt as we steer you to your home of tomorrow!​

Utilities are a staple of life. On average, the majority of households across the United States spend between 2 – 3% of their annual income on electricity. That being said, the average percentage of annual income or salary that an American household will need to spend on electricity is 2.15%. You can easily reduce the energy consumption of your house by tweaking simple things. This percentage can go up as 40% for older houses.

A morning shower might seem to be an intimate affair, but this could revolutionise as technology tiptoes its way into the smallest room in the house. Today, even that most benign of bathroom essentials, the modest loo, is in for an upgrade. Smart toilets have already hit the stores. The famous Japanese Washlet, found in over two thirds of the country’s bathrooms, is controlled by a remote and consists of a self-opening, auto-heated seat, and a bidet-style cleaning system which “reduces paper consumption.” The Washlet is indisputably one of those cultural anomalies which visitors to Japan often discuss on returning.

As far as showering is concerned, we spend on average ninety minutes every week in the shower and modern bathroom technology has left no stone unturned in improving this blissful experience. In this modern era, bathroom technology has matured to allow your shower to preheat the water and pause the flow once it has hit your preferred temperature, all from your mobile device. Non-mobile activated smart showers, designed with a view to reducing both water waste and the cost of your bills, are already being standardised in Singapore, where they will be installed in 10,000 new flats by the end of the decade.

And what about everyone’s favourite? The mirror on the wall?. Rumour has it that our mirror might finally talk back too if AI holds true to its promises. A suite of tech companies are conceiving prototype smart mirrors to offer advice on everything from wardrobe choice to makeup, together with news and weather updates. Let’s just hope they’re smart enough to know when to tell a little white lie!

Technology and sleep are unlikely bedfellows: for years scientists have been wagging their fingers at those who go to bed in the company of the dazzling blue lights of their connected devices. But when it comes to hitting snooze-mode, technology need not be a nightmare.

Speakers in one’s bedroom will make it possible to plunge into a tantalising, self-sculpted 3D soundscape – waves lapping at your feet, palm trees rustling above your head, your left ear caressed by the warble of a hummingbird while the beat of its wing flutters in your right? It might sound heavenly but, as installations by certain sound artists have shown, it’s also practically possible. Better still, with the advent of directional audio devices, able to beam sound with laser-like precision, you could simultaneously be transported to quite a different setting, be it a bucolic pasture or the inside of your dream smart car.

And if all that makes you want to take a nice deep breath, then you’ll be glad to know about Bio adaptive lamps – a system recently installed at the Technology & Innovation Centre of the University of Strathclyde – that tune into your body clock, or “circadian rhythms” and gently lull you to sleep, or wake you without a jolt.

For those seeking to monitor every biological process, they can go a step further, starting with the smart mattress. As well as tracking sleep patterns, breathing rate and heart beat, the famous Eight mattress cover will also dig you back to consciousness at the most opportune moment of your sleep cycle. And that’s to say nothing of the wonders such tech could work in rearranging tousled sheets in the morning with a sleek pair of mechanical arms as Ohea envisages.

Sometimes it seems our appetite for tech knows no bounds. One thing that’s certainly on the menu is a spare pair of hands of a robotic chef to handle the pans and replicate your favourite Jamie Oliver dish. Not only can the latter turn up with a colander but it can also do the laundry and, apparently, garnish your breakfast tray with a red, red rose. If you are so inclined.

In the near future you will say goodbye to burners. The future of stove cooking, undoubtedly, lies in interactive induction hobs. Induction heating uses magnetic components hidden underneath the cooktop to heat pots and pans. But instead of just heating the bottom of the pot, induction heating heats the entire pot – meaning food is cooked faster and more evenly. Pots and pans can be placed anywhere on the cooking surface, not on one particular heating area. And the tech doesn’t end there either. Overhead, a projector will beam recipes, cooking information and other handy notes straight onto the counter top. Grundig’s VUX technology is already leading the way, and will likely be commonplace in future kitchens before long.

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” Andy Rooney

The living room is all about idling and entertaining yourself, so why not begin your weekend with a cool glass of something cheerful, brought to you by your very own Robot-butler? Nowadays, robot helpers are likely to become ever more sophisticated, capable not only of fetching anything, but also having an ebullient chat.

But this is not all. When it’s time to lay down and enjoy a movie in your home, how much effort does it take to get everything set up just right so that you can enjoy a movie and relax? Today, it just takes one phrase: “Alexa, it’s movie time.” Alexa kicks off a routine that turns the lights off in the kitchen, dims the lights in the living room, turns on the TV and increases the thermostat slightly while you relish the graphics from ultra-thin OLED displays and holographic technology that have made it feasible to bring characters and objects into your living room. There is no doubt that technology is now allowing couch potatoes to become globetrotters, as digital devices project them into an eclectic palette of sensory feelings through captivating sound recordings and visual feasts.

Indeed these energy-efficient technologies will try to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. The technologies above will not only leave you with a smart house, but will also reduce your carbon footprint!

Even though architects have a lot of major decisions to make when constructing an energy-efficient homes, the fact remains that they usually have several things in common, as follows:

An energy-efficient home has a tightly sealed thermal envelope.

An energy-efficient home has controlled ventilation.

An energy-efficient home has high-efficiency heating and cooling systems.

An energy-efficient home has energy-efficient doors, windows, appliances and home electronics.

Basically, the architects will aspire for the house to achieve net zero energy use, maximise comfort with high indoor environmental quality.

The whole-building approach treats a home as one energy system with interdependent parts, referred to as ‘active’ and ‘passive’ energy systems, and will assess how each of these said components will impact the efficacy of the whole-house. Implementing the whole-house approach involves first reducing the need to use energy and then using energy efficiently when  energy is required. Understanding and implementing this approach in one’s home can result in a significant long-term reduction in energy use.  The whole-building system approach makes efficient use of water, electricity and other natural resources and strives to minimise waste and materials. It also ensures that all the building professionals are informed and understand every aspect that affects energy use in the home. The goal of the whole-building system approach is to create a home with lower utility and maintenance costs, improved durability and comfort, and a healthy and safe indoor environment. From a builder’s or seller’s perspective, an energy-efficient home is likely to be more marketable— especially if you can show the prospective buyers your low energy bills. Some benefits of using a whole-house systems approach include reduced utility and maintenance costs, increased comfort, reduced noise, a healthier and safer indoor environment and improved building durability.

It will be important to seal any cracks or gaps around windows, doors, plumbing, electrical and venting penetrations so as to prevent unconditioned air from outside from making its way into the house and inside conditioned air from finding its way out.

Sources of air leaks in a typical home:

ceiling, walls and floors - 31%

electrical outlets - 2%

ducts - 15%

plumbing penetrations - 13%

fireplace - 14%

fans and vents - 4%

doors - 11%

windows -10%

An easy and cheap way to seal these cracks is by using caulking and weather-stripping.

It will be indispensable to prevent any moisture and air infiltration to the inside of the house. In eliminating thermal bridges, air tightness is considered to a critical factor. Indeed, to prevent rot and growth of mould and mildew, as these can lead to a serious degradation to the indoor environmental quality of a home, moisture resistance is pivotal. Two imperative things to an energy-efficient home design so as to minimise air and moisture infiltration are air and moisture barriers and continuous insulation. Bautex Wall System is a high thermal mass product that provides con­tin­u­ous insu­la­tion and minimises air and moisture infil­tra­tion. The creation of a moisture resistant, airtight home which caters for the elimination of thermal bridges and condensation is promised by the noise reducing, easy-to-install and disaster free Bautex AMB 20 air and moisture barrier.

A cool roof is one that has been designed to reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat than a standard roof.  A cool roof can benefit a building and its occupants by reducing energy bills by decreasing air conditioning needs, improving indoor comfort for spaces that are not air conditioned, such as garages or covered patios and decreasing roof temperature, which may extend roof service life.  Beyond the building itself, cool roofs can also benefit the environment, especially when many buildings in a community have them. Cool roofs can reduce local air temperatures (sometimes referred to as the urban heat island effect), lower peak electricity demand, which can help prevent power outages and reduce power plant emissions, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and mercury, by reducing cooling energy use in buildings.

Design of an energy-efficient home includes energy-efficient appli­ances: washer and dryer, refrigerator, dish­washer, microwave, dehumidifier, freezer, etc. Energy-efficient appliances reduce a home’s energy use, emit less air pollution and increase the resale value of a home.

Lighting con­tributes up to 15% of a home’s annual electricity costs and is a crucial design consideration of an energy-efficient home. Controls such as timers, photocells that turn lights off when not in use and dimmers can save money and energy. Examples of energy-efficient lighting include light-emitting diodes (LEDs), compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and halogen incandescent.

There are several high efficiency water heater options that can save energy and money: tankless water heater, high efficiency water heater, high efficiency heat pump water heater, and high-efficiency solar water heater.

Including smart home products in the design of an energy-efficient home is a convenient option for a homeowner that saves money and energy and makes a home safer. 

The design of an energy-efficient home should strive to create as much energy as it uses by installing renewable energy measures.  Renewable energy sources can reduce or completely eliminate a home’s utility bills and may even have tax incentives.

To more fully illustrate the impact of both reducing demand and using efficient equipment,  the table provides a sample comparison between: 1) a conventionally air sealed and insulated home with a large, inefficient furnace; 2) a tightly sealed, well insulated home with a small but inefficient furnace; and 3) a tightly sealed, well insulated home with a small and efficient furnace.

Conventional homes

Tightly sealed, well insulated home

Tightly sealed, well insulated homes with efficient furnace

Installed furnace cost

Rs56545

Rs45235

Rs82630

Insulation and air sealing cost

Rs0

Rs37695

Rs37695

Net cost

Rs56545

Rs82930

Rs120630

Incremental cost

-

Rs263890

Rs64085

Therms per year

1140

640

540

Annual operating cost

Rs25635

Rs14325

Rs12065

Annual savings

-

Rs11310

Rs13570

Payback period (years)

-

2.3

4.7

Lifetime operating cost

Rs512660

Rs284490

Rs241255

Lifetime savings

-

Rs226175

Rs271410

Energy efficient appliances consume less energy throughout their service lives without sacrificing quality, and are an excellent way to save on your energy expenditures.

Savings can offset the initial price premium on energy efficient options, and offer a significant return in comparison to conventional, non-efficient alternatives.

Private residences with green certifications have been proven to sell at a premium compared to similar homes in the area.

The financial benefits of energy-efficient buildings yield a benefit-cost ratio of over 4 to 1, and 75 percent of those benefits can be attributed to health advantages.

Homes were responsible for 19 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, and implementing energy efficiency measures in your home can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.

Conducting energy efficiency improvements on your home helps to insulate you from the financial impact of unpredictable sharp energy price increases that could happen in the years to come.

Every $1 million dollar invested in energy-efficient homes will generate 13 jobs and about $3-4 million of economic growth.