Encouraging energy conservation in campus dormitory via monitoring and policies

Abstract

Promoting and practicing energy conservation requires a cost-effective system for monitoring electricity usage and a well-designed incentive policy to induce energy-saving habits. In this paper, we describe our experiences in building a smart meter system in campus dormitories and the design of an incentive policy. The smart meter system captures different types of electricity usage in each dormitory room, and allows the students to see their usage and then to pay as necessary. The policy is to assign credit to students based on their long-term usage averages, and to make students pay if they go above that, but to rebate them for any unused balance. The system allows us to log the usage behavior on a continuous basis, and we can thereafter analyze the measurement data in order to report the effectiveness of such a scheme.