Environmental Impact Reduction by Using Smart Household

Carlos Armenta-Deu

Abstract

In this paper, we study the environmental impact reduction due to the application of intelligent protocols to household heating. The study analyzes the reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions associated with lower energy consumption in heating detached and semi-detached houses and blocks of apartments. The new protocol bases its operation on a more efficient heating process, which reduces the operational time of the heating source, commonly heating equipment powered by fossil fuels. This new protocol does not reduce comfort conditions but enhances the heating system energy efficiency. A simulation process run on a standard residential installation shows a lowering in energy used between 32% and 11%, depending on the power source, gas, or heat pump, which represents an annual GHG reduction of 269.3 kg per person if gas is the selected fuel for powering the heating system, and 93.2 kg if a heat pump is the power source. We compute the environmental impact benefit in terms of annual GHG emissions reduction per person, which allows us to determine the global GHG emissions reduction for a given population.

Abstract

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