ASHRAE Journal - November 2019 - 6

INDUSTRY NEWS
FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY

Study: Slow Adaptation to Smart Sensors Stifling Innovation
ture sensors are very common in
buildings today, and these sensors
gather and store data that could
be used in innovating building
designs to improve energy management and space efficiency. But
smart sensors are often added to a
building after it has been built.
Researchers at San Diego State
University interviewed architects
to investigate barriers that have
slowed the addition of smart
sensor technology (SST) into new
building plans.
The researchers said they wanted
to know why architects and design
professionals were slow to integrate smart sensor design and data
into their work as well as other
new technologies. They started
by interviewing 29 architecture

professionals who had experience
with smart sensors or were educated about SST. The most common barrier they found was the
increased time required to incorporate SST into the design process.
Lack of technical knowledge, possibly increased costs, mistrust of
the data and loss of control in the
design process were other barriers.
The researchers also found
advantages of using this technology that architects overlooked or
ignored. A key advantage of using
this technology is that it gives
insight into improving ventilation,
safety standards, energy and water
efficiency and efficient space planning.
The same researchers started a
second study. This time, they used

ISTOCK/ METAMORWORKS

SAN DIEGO-Motion and tempera-

SST data could streamline renovations.

236 architects' responses about
their experiences with SST, commitments to learning and working
with SST experts and their intentions of adopting SST. That study
showed 70% of those surveyed said
they trusted SST data, and 10%
considered themselves proficient
enough to integrate this technology in their projects. Also, 60%
said they were open to using SST
data and working with SST professionals.

Device Generates
Light From the Cold
Night Sky

Energy 'Kites' Create
Electricity From
Wind in Switzerland
turbine hub is 120 m (394 ft) in the
sky, but at 500 m (1,640 ft) high,
wind energy is up to eight times
stronger. A Swiss company is harnessing wind energy in the same
manner as a kite. Several designs
were tested, and the most successful device looks like a drone, with
small rotors for take-off and landing. The commercialization phase
of the project looks to generate 100
kW of electricity, enough to power
60 single-family houses.
The company launched an energy
kite that circled autonomously for

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EMPA

DÜBENDORF, SWITZERLAND-A modern wind

The prototype circled in the air and produced electricity
during a 2018 flight test.

30 minutes while producing electrical energy before landing on the
launch platform about two years
ago. That company is working on
another prototype, which is scheduled to be in operation in November, that will automatically takeoff and land and generate up to 10
kW of electrical power and feed it
into the grid. A utility is transmitting the experimental wind power
to the first customers.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 19

LOS ANGELES-Researchers at UCLA
have designed a device that can
produce enough electricity at
night to power an LED bulb. The
inexpensive device works without
heat input, which offers a solution to the inability of solar cells to
function at night. A surface of the
thermoelectric generator faces the
night sky and passes heat into the
atmosphere, making the device
cooler than the surrounding air. In
the future, this technology could be
used to generate power in remote
locations.

ASHRAE Journal - November 2019

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