A smart socket to reduce emissions

Achieving CO2e and cost savings through socket and device monitoring.
Climate Change Mitigation Advancing Net Zero

Problem Addressed

The built environment is directly responsible for 25% of UK emissions, lifting to 42% if you include surface transport, and is a significant source of wasted energy – energy that is not being utilised which continues to contribute to GHG emissions and electricity bills. According to measurable.energy, plug sockets can account for as much as 40% of a total building’s energy use, half of which is completely wasted energy from idle devices that have been left on.

Solution Overview

measurable.energy automatically identifies and then eliminates wasted energy from commercial buildings through targeting these plug sockets and plugged-in devices, resulting in several tonnes of CO2 emissions being avoided and thousands of £’s saved in electricity bills. The platform uses secure, machine-learning enabled hardware and software to automatically:

  • Monitor in real-time
  • Control sockets remotely
  • Detect devices, anomalies, and unusual activity
  • Protect by preventing key devices from drawing power
  • Balance with incentivized integration into Demand Side Response
  • Heal with platform-wide behavioural change

To monitor 100 devices/year, one hardware/software cost is approximately £1.8k followed by £750 from year two onwards. Based on the savings already achieved with current customers this would provide 5.5 tonnes of avoided yearly CO2e and a yearly electricity bill reduction of £6.8k.

Scaling this up to 1000 devices/year, one hardware/software cost is approximately £18k followed by £7.5k from year two onwards. This would provide 32.4 tonnes of avoided yearly CO2e and a yearly electricity bill reduction of £41k.

The ROI is dependent on the mix of socket types, installation costs and the price of electricity per kWh paid by the user. Typically this can vary from 1 month on a smaller installation to 1 year on a scaled install.

Company name

measurable.energy

UK availability

Yes

Solution launch date

2020

Links

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Case Study

The system has been installed in a number of different commercial buildings with companies including Kier, Stantec, Yugo, Reading University, Reading Council, Chaucer, Huckletree, Darke&Taylor, Sky and Capgemini.

Kier installed across 37 sockets in two construction site cabins, costing approximately £1,300 for a whole year. This saved them 15,200 kWh which equated to £5,900 off their electricity bill and 2.7 tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions. They achieved full system payback in 3 months. As they now own the hardware, their Year 2 cost is a subscription of £555.

Facts and Figures

1-12 months

Return on Investment.

This page presents data, evidence, and solutions that are provided by our partners and members and should therefore not be attributed to UKGBC. While we showcase these solutions for inspiration, to build consensus, and create momentum for climate action, UKGBC does not offer commercial endorsement of individual solutions. If you would like to quote something from this page, or more information, please contact our Communications team at media@ukgbc.org.

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