Analysis of Next Generation HAN/BAN Systems

The objective of this project is to analyze existing and forthcoming home energy management systems (HEMS) and building energy management systems (BEMS), to create taxonomy of the systems’ features, and to explore the “next generation” of systems. Next generation refers to systems with capabilities that reflect current technology advances, and utilize architectures that can accommodate trends in technology evolution. This report documents technology and market research on commercial and residential building energy management systems (EMS). During this project the research focused on domestic and international EMS providers, assessed capabilities, and researched the focus, affiliation, product or system, technology, and capabilities of over twenty suppliers of commercial BEMS and over fifty suppliers of HEMS. The research points to recent and fast incorporation of new technology and added functionality to BEMS and HEMS, allowing market-wide offerings heretofore available only to commercial and residential customers willing to pay the price of customized systems. Four trends seem to be contributing to this growth – the exponential decrease in computing cost and increase in computing power, the ubiquity of sensors, cost reduction in wireless communications and growth in interoperability of devices. This is evidenced in the wider market availability of controls and communications for increasingly sophisticated and reliable commercial building and home EMS capabilities. These capabilities, which represent next generation capabilities, include building functions such as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and lighting control; grid integration such as Open Automated Demand Response1 ; security such as alarm systems and door locks; and entertainment such as lighting scenes and home theater. On the technology side, the focus is definitely on the consumer experience, with a corresponding shift from hardware to software. The cloud based architecture is a key enabler, providing a method for ubiquitous connectivity through hardware in the home, web based user interfaces and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The connected device space is also transitioning to platforms that connect to a full ecosystem of devices, but based on standards vs. proprietary connections. The center of the ecosystem is no longer a piece of hardware (e.g., gateway), but the smart phone or tablet screen, delivering a seamless user experience with content stored in the cloud. This shift is resulting in integration of devices with different native protocols (Z-Wave, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, and Radio Frequency (RF)) that operate as a single-sensing and control system. This explosion in cloud connected devices is also enabling growth of cloud based aggregation companies that provide software services to hardware manufacturers to outsource the cloud management. An example of this trend towards cloud computing is the recent purchase of a thermostat manufacturer by a large data analytics company, highlighting the value of data and cloud based analytics. The research conducted for this project suggests that utility companies will benefit from ongoing monitoring of BEMS and HEMS technologies in order to track a fast-evolving market. Monitoring, which can be done through regular updating and documentation of technology and architecture developments, market suppliers, prices, and customer acceptance and behavior, will provide current information on status and trends for utilities to incorporate into their planning and program offerings. There is also an opportunity for case studies or early deployments that include installation and testing of specific BEMS and HEMS technologies to obtain real-world information. The benefit to electric utilities such as Southern California Edison is the increased certainty of performance, interoperability, energy savings, reliability, cost and scalability, and customer acceptance. Benefits also include mitigation of technical, market, and economic risk. Utility technical and program staff can use this report to understand current market participants and products and to make informed decisions for their companies.