A recent study suggests that smart buildings do not necessarily reduce energy consumption. The surprising results calls into question one of the main selling points of smart technology adoption in buildings, highlighting human habits as the main obstruction to efficiency. Previous studies on the topic generally use simulations in order to assess a buildings energy efficiency, but this study measured data from a real-world LEED-certified building located in Missouri. The study, led by Dr. Jianli Pan, Assistant Professor of computer science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, strategically chose the building as representative of a wide variety of smart buildings around the world. By studying a building in the real world researchers could tie in human behaviour patterns rather than simply looking at the technology in its ideal circumstances. The comprehensive study monitored overall electrical consumption as well as heating and cooling in relation to environmental data in the building for every hour of everyday […]