Research Group for Applied Software Engineering
Forschungsgruppe für Angewandte Softwaretechnik
Masterthesis
Energy awareness in smart buildings through personalized real time feedback on mobile devices
Advisor
Sebastian Peters
Author
Masashi Beheim 
Date
15.05.2015
A solution is proposed that aims at leveraging smart meters and delivers insight into consumption as well as control to office occupants using a mobile application. Occupants receive smart meters for tracking their appliances and are personally in control of registering these. The application gives them access to current, monthly and weekly data as well as the possibility to switch appliances on and off. Additionally, consumption comparisons are presented which express Wh (watt hours) in terms of another appliance with the goal to increase the occupant’s understanding of the consumption of their appliances. This prototype of an iPhone application was built at the Intelligent Workplace at the Carnegie Mellon University. The Intelligent Workplace is a living and lived-in laboratory providing an instrumented environment with sensors and controls to developers and occupants who can test applications in their daily use. The application was created in a user-centered and scenario-based approach. Continuous delivery ensured a highly iterative process with weekly deployments to the occupants. The design of the application was reviewed weekly by experts in building controls of the Intelligent Workplace. At the end of the project a survey was conducted, in which occupants were asked about whether the application helped to increase their understanding of the consumption of the appliances and reduce the consumption. The results show that, among the implemented features, presenting the current consumption, split by appliances and giving occupants the possibility to control them has most impact when this functionality can be accessed fast and conveniently.