Ever wondered how much electricity different devices use? Or how much running broken equipment is costing you on your energy bill? We’re partnering with Fremantle-based start-up Ecocentric to find the answers. We’ll be working to further develop their Numen technology – a ‘cognitive’ metering system which can improve energy efficiency in homes, commercial buildings and industrial facilities by piecing together the whole picture of a building’s energy usage profile. While Numen is now ready to be used commercially, we hope to further develop our algorithms for homes and other buildings, too.

Smarter than smart meters

Unlike the smart meters you might have heard of which record ‘low resolution’ total energy use data (usually for the purpose of billing), Numen breaks that data down further to show where and when energy is being used within a given building. Algorithms designed by some of our top scientists recognise the unique energy ‘fingerprint’ generated by different electrical devices to show exactly how much energy they’re consuming. This virtual sub-metering technology means that we can avoid purchasing expensive hardware to meter devices individually.

A big step for big energy data

By better understanding how energy is distributed within buildings, we can start to predict energy use patterns and diagnose energy inefficiencies. Our Energy Director Karl Rodrigues thinks Numen has significant potential to improve energy intelligence for commercial users. “The energy domain is experiencing an increased focus in the megatrend ‘digital immersion’ that will allow energy users – both domestic and commercial – to drive opportunity, productivity and efficiency in energy consumption.”

Waste not, watt not

Numen makes use of cloud-based technology which monitors energy use in real time. Analysis of this real time data can help you to identify faults earlier, preventing energy from being wasted. The data collected by our cognitive meters will therefore allow for better decision-making on how to conserve energy, leading to substantial reductions in cost and carbon emissions for businesses.

A big focus of our energy research is on the development of intelligent systems, including tools that support decision-making to reduce electricity consumption of Australia’s buildings.