Feasibility of plug-load monitoring and energy-saving interventions in residential and office buildings on the University of Washington campus

The University of Washington (UW) is aiming to reduce the overall electricity consumption on campus as part of its Climate Action Plan launched in 2009. To achieve this goal, UW installed 216 smart grid meters and automatic heating, ventilation, and cooling control systems across the entire campus and acquired over 200 sets of plug-load monitoring equipment. The university used the smart grid data and the monitored plug-load data to test how occupants in selected residence halls responded to receiving detailed information about their energy usage patterns, its environmental impacts, and associated costs. The experiment demonstrated that in residence halls, plug-load monitoring did not have any significant impact on the occupants' electricity consumption. Hence, there is still a need to further assess which strategies are effective in achieving long-term electricity reduction goals for the university. The goal of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis by replicating the plug-load analysis conducted in residence halls in a faculty/staff office setting. The study entailed interviewing university administrators that were involved in the residence hall plug-load study. Interviewees were asked questions about the findings, shortcomings, and recommendations for future studies. Also, this study characterized the load profiles of the faculty/staff offices by monitoring the plug-load consumption in four offices for nine weeks and explored plug-load reduction interventions applicable to office settings. The study found that the unreliable network connection caused frequent disruptions in data collection and strong bias in the individual electricity consumption data. The inventory of electronic appliances in the monitored offices revealed a high variability in the number of devices which lead to variations in base consumption and peak plug loads between faculty offices, and lack of occupant engagement was found to be the main challenge in the implementation of plug load monitoring campaigns. The results provide universities around the country with valuable information and insights on how to design and implement an on campus plug-load reduction intervention with quantifiable energy-saving potential.