Author: Peggy Smedley
Homeowners can track their actual energy usage. Knowing when, how, and where energy is being consumed can help identify what the largest energy use is, and homeowners can then act with that data in hand. Some call this energy baselining, which is a home’s energy baseline for the current amount of energy that is being used. That baseline can then be adjusted, as needed, helping conserve energy in the home. But how exactly do we master and track energy efficiency? I scoured the resources at the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and ENERGY STAR to…
The conversation that has been ongoing for decades on the software side of the construction industry—point solutions versus platform—is the same one that is happening with the connected home. Alongside that discussion is the one of interoperability, and there is much to cover in the home today. Let’s back up for a minute and talk about the smart home in general. Homes are no longer just made of bricks, stone, wood, insulation, plaster, and other construction materials. They are connected intelligently by technologies that provides heightened security, convenience, and comfort for the homebuyer. Homeowners have come to expect this kind…
We have entered a new era of sustainability—one where businesses are creating new products using innovative materials and processes that will ultimately be more sustainable for the environment. We don’t have to look any further than our cars to find such innovation. The first EV (electric vehicle) came onto the scene back in the 1800s, and automotive hybrid technology became more widespread in the late 1990s. Now we are beginning to see a new type of sustainable vehicle emerge onto the scene: the vegan car. Leather-free interiors are here in droves. The BMW Group is one of the latest automakers…
For years, we have been talking about stolen tools, lost equipment, and the long-term costs associated with not being able to effectively manage assets on a jobsite. Now, we are experiencing this firsthand—and I have some thoughts for contractors and builders to consider. For those of you who might have forgotten, I am still on a journey with my husband Dave to build a Living Lab – one where we have partnered with several industry players to encourage energy-efficient and green living for all. The intention is to demonstrate advanced energy-efficient connected products and systems from some leading manufacturers and…
Homes are getting smarter and connected devices are proliferating the home at a rapid pace. So, what’s next? One new report identifies the evolution of the smart home and what tech is currently coming out on top. Plume provides a glimpse into today’s smart home—literally. With more than 41 million homes and more than 1.8 billion connected devices managed on its global network, it has realtime data about what devices are actually humming in homes today. The information in its recent Smart Home Market Report, released in August, samples data from a cross-section of 200,000 homes out of the 41…
If we want smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 to be successful, we need to involve everyone in the ecosystem: large and small manufacturers, technology providers, academia, and more. As the saying goes, we are only as strong as our weakest player, and we need to raise the tide, so all boats float higher together. Perhaps one of the biggest implications of the Third Industrial Revolution—which spanned from 1970 to 2010—for small and medium-sized manufacturers was the cost and complexity of automation and digitization. Perhaps this is the reason many digital transformation initiatives are not successful—some suggest this statistic is between…
Are we headed for a recession? Are contractors still experiencing labor shortages and material delays? What is the overall outlook for the market? I have recently done a deep dive into the state of the residential construction market. Today let’s take a closer look at the heavy civil construction market and unpack where we are headed amid a changing economic market and following the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). Pointing to some specific data, the FMI 2022 Heavy Civil Construction Index, Third Quarter Report, gives us a peek into the current state of the market and what is to…
You have likely heard the expression: reduce, reuse, recycle. But now, the zero-waste approach takes this a step further, adding two more Rs to the framework: refuse—which is all about eliminating waste from the start and saying “no” to free stuff—and rot, which in its simplest form is composting. If we want to reach zero waste by 2030, we need to take everything into consideration. Every year, more than 11 billion tons of waste are produced worldwide, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. This is simply a byproduct of the way we live our lives. Enter zero waste initiatives.…
Education is evolving. The way organizations and individuals learn about digital transformation amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution looks very different from years past. One very specific example is how we are teaching and learning about datacenters. As we all know, the cloud enables many activities that we do in both life and business, and it hosts large amounts of information that feed all these applications. The way I see it, to build a secure cloud environment, we need datacenters—and we need workers to help. Enter the Microsoft Datacenter Academy, which helps individuals acquire skills and certifications for employment in the…
Nearly all consumers believe climate change will lead to rising energy bills—and as such expect homes and apartments to be equipped with smart-home devices. Still, experts suggest mindset is still the biggest barrier to change when it comes to our household energy diets. All of this is according to a new survey from Schneider Electric, which has revealed nearly nine out of 10 consumers believe climate change will lead to rising energy bills and individuals should play a larger role with climate change. The driving factors for consumers to act and invest in sustainability are the rising cost of living…