Recent studies like the TNO and Halmos report for the Dutch government have indicated that building Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are often operated inefficiently with energy wastage as high as 35%. A key factor in improving efficiency is the comprehensive deployment of indoor environment sensors monitoring temperature, humidity and potentially gases like CO2.
Today such deployment is greatly limited by installation/wiring and equipment costs. In this project ChipSensors Ltd (formerly Cratlon Ltd) has developed a low cost, silicon microchip sensor. The prototypes demonstrate humidity and temperature sensing for use in Building Energy Management (BEM) applications, but the technology is also applicable to other environmental and energy sensitive applications, e.g. monitoring of perishable goods, white goods, etc. The commercial availability of such cheap easily installed wireless sensors will significantly cut energy wastage in buildings.
For further details, download the ChipSensors Ltd. PDF.
