According to an article in GovTech, researchers at MIT have found a way to utilize thermal imaging in order to quantify how much energy is being wasted in buildings. This data can be used to help show the public ways to save both power and money on their electric bills.
“A roadside scan of a structure is combined with location and environmental data and run through a computer program that identifies the types and locations of all the energy leaks. A heat flow model calculates the amount of energy loss, and — using the estimated efficiency of the building’s heating and cooling system — that energy loss is then converted to dollars.”
So far the current system has been tested in neighborhoods in Massachusetts and New York. This project has been so successful that the MIT colleagues created a spinoff company, Eye-R, whose “major goal is to develop a national energy database using the technology”. Eye-R’s first customer was the US Department of Defense.
Do you think a national energy database like this would help you conserve power in your home?
‘Drive-By’ Thermal Imaging Quantifies Energy Loss
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Hmmm, my Christmas lights probably don’t help this situation..