UH launches pilot project to save energy and associated costs
The energy saving project, happening at three UH campuses including UH Hilo, could save up to $200,000 over five years.
Local energy startup Ibis Networks has installed more than 1,000 “smart” electrical sockets, called “InteliSockets,” across three University of Hawaiʻi campuses — UH Hilo, Windward Community College, and UH Mānoa. State officials gathered at Windward Community College to learn more about the innovative pilot project.
- See UH Hilo Stories, April 14, 2015: 500 InteliSocket devices to analyze energy use to be installed on UH Hilo campus.
“What can be done at the university can very much be ported into any other type of organization in our state — the DOE, DAGS, anywhere else. UH is a great testbed for this type of technology,” says Luis Salaveria, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Ibis Networks’ sockets and energy management software help to control and reduce electricity usage from devices such as printers, copiers and televisions — almost any device that can be plugged in.
Sockets can be programmed to turn on and off. Each InteliSocket also gives a real-time data reading every 15 seconds, which can be viewed and controlled from a mobile device such as an iPad.
If all recommendations are adopted, Ibis believes that UH’s pilot project could save up to $200,000 over five years.
The three-campus pilot project was made possible with financial support from Hawaiʻi Energy and the Energy Excelerator.
-Read full story at UH System News
