Centralized graphical interface for water and eletricity saving

Abstract

One can find many papers in large thematic area of Sustainable Environment, which care about the development of "smart meters" and the consumption of energy and water. For energy, the system is composed of individual electronic measurements of each consumer, a totalizing electronic measurement that includes all existing consumer units and concentrators, but the focus is not the consumer and the economy. The same goes for water consumption, in which individual measurement consists on the installation of a water meter on each housing unit of a condominium, so that it is possible to measure their consumption in order to issue individual accounts, not to raise awareness about economy. A particular benefit of these systems, proven by studies, is the presentation of updated data for consumer awareness, which together with other saving options may become a viable option for reducing consumption. This project is an incremental innovation that will develop a measure for sustainability plans, with the proposal of a centralized information display for water, energy and residential measures, in order to provide awareness of the consumer by using intuitive and inexpensive graphics, summed with the existing efforts of developed meters. In the most optimistic case, it can be disruptive, changing the market for residential meters and popularizing the SmartMeters. Technically, we expect a more intuitive display (current doesn't focus about the economy), with detailed information (graphs, limits, alerts, averages) and centered on a fixed interface in the house (display with design and finish, current focus only on smartphones). The Brazilian market will have, in the end of the project, one display to support quantitative and qualitative analysis of residential consumption, supporting sustainable consumption and serving as a guide to aware the population. (AU)