by Shary Heuninckx, Enerjettic project leader at Vrije Universiteit Brussel – VUB
Last October we finally brought Enerjettic on the field!We organised a small refreshment area in Jette’s campus pic-nic area and invited one by one all settled students…literally knocking at their doors!
Not only we shared with them the main objective of the RENAISSANCE project and collected their consent to read smart-meters data, but we also invited them to join the Enerjettic challenges and to participate to our STEER-IT-UP event, which would take place the day after our visit.
To guarantee an environmentally friendly future, we need to focus not only on switching to renewable energy sources but also on reduced and more efficient use of energy. EnerJettic strives to raise awareness among students about sustainable ways to use electricity and heat. By measuring energy consumption and setting up various fun challenges to test which effect the daily energy use patterns of students, important information is collected to help set out the VUB future on energy saving. The goal of EnerJettic is to look at what is needed to reduce the consumption of gas and electricity. We will also learn which energy-saving actions can successfully roll out on a large scale in the future. Last year in all rooms some metering devices have been installed to collect the data necessary for this project:
➔A thermostatic valve: a radiator device that continuously measures the room temperature
➔A motion detector: installed above entrance door detects whether a room is empty or not. It will be anonymously linked to the data on heating setting and room temperature to learn from it.
➔A range extender: ensures that collected data are sent to our servers and to students’ personal online dashboard. The socket can also be used to charge devices. On the individual online dashboard students will be able to view electricity and heating consumption at any time.
Students are participating to monthly challenges about their consumption behaviour. Have a look at what they’re doing up there and find an overview of the tips at the Instagram page of the project.
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