Maybe you’re familiar with office buildings or apartments that can never quite get the temperature right. It’s too cold in the summer and too hot in the winter. For buildings that heat and cool on a large scale the temperature variability can be bitterly unreliable, wasting energy at the same time.
Using new technology, a New York City apartment complex is saving energy while keeping temperatures comfortable and consistent.
The New York City Housing Authority has teamed up with the Environmental Defense Fund to install Wireless Energy Modules in 14 buildings of the Castle Hill housing development in the Bronx. The modules help regulate the temperature by determining the temperature inside individual apartments instead of regulating it based on the temperature outside the building.
The NYCHA houses around 400,000 residents — more than the population of Miami — and spends about $550 million on energy each year. The housing authority crunched the numbers and found that by using the wireless energy modules in all of their buildings, they can save $56 million a year.
Check out the video below to see how the wireless energy modules are working to save money and improve the lives of Castle Hill residents:
It’s a good reminder that saving energy doesn’t have to be an inconvenience.
Photo: Sarah_Ackerman/Flickr
