Entries for February 2011

Real-time energy monitoring at a University »

by Aaron Magner1 commentBuilding_management, Comfort, Data_visualisation, Real-time, Temperature, Transparency, Universities
Real-time energy monitoring at a University

The University of New South Wales Sustainability website now publishes our energy use, depicting the electricity usage of key buildings on campus in real time. This guest post from UNSW's Sustainability Director, Aaron Magner shows how they did it.

Craig Roussac commented :

Great to see what's being achieved at the residential colleges and compare that to the non-residential buildings on campus. I wonder if that says anything ......

We're dedicated followers of fashion »

by Craig Roussac2 commentsBuilding_management, Comfort, Efficiency, Temperature
We're dedicated followers of fashion

Most large office buildings try to keep internal air temperatures hovering around 21.5°C in winter and 22.5°C in summer. They do it because the leases require it. But is that in the best interests of the occupants? We’re not sure. With record high temperatures all over Australia this summer we’ve been calculating a shirt-to-jacket ratio as a way to investigate the connections between tenants clothes choices, building management, comfort and energy use. We count the jacket and shirt wearers twice a day, every day, in three large Sydney office buildings.

Julian Bott commented :

This is a great study and something we are trying to kick off in Hong Kong where the climate and culture is even more extreme. ......