Advantages of MAS for the resolution of a power management problem in smart homes Shadi ABRAS ?,?? - Sylvie PESTY ?? - Stephane PLOIX ? - Mireille JACOMINO ? Abstract This paper contributes to the design of intelligent buildings. A Multi- Agents Home Automation System (MAHAS) is proposed which controls appliances and energy sources in buildings. The objective of this paper is to show that by using intelligent agents related to appliances, it is possible to improve the energy con- sumption/production in buildings. The proposed MAHAS system is characterised by its openness, its scalability and its capability to manage diversity. In this pa- per, we show how a multi-agent system, well adapted to solve problems spatially distributed and opened, can dynamically adapt the consumption of energy to vari- ous constraints by exploiting the flexibilities of the services provided by domestic devices (services shifting, energy accumulating). Finally, we conclude on the con- tribution of Multi-Agent approach to the power management problem. Key words: Multi-Agent Systems, Home Automation, Power management 1I NTRODUCTION A home automation system basically consists of household appliances linked via a communication network allowing interactions for control purposes [2]. Thanks to this network, a load management mechanism can be implemented: this is called distributed control in [3]. Load management allows inhabitants to adjust power con- sumption according to expected comfort, energy price variation and CO 2 equivalent emissions. For instance, during consumption peak periods when power plants emit- ting higher quantities of CO 2 are used and when the energy price is high, some services can be delayed, heater set-points can be reduced or services run according to the weather forecast or inhabitants’ requests. Load management offers further ad- vantages when there are local storage and production means. When combined, all Laboratoires G-SCOP ? & LIG ?? 46 Avenue Felix Viallet, 38031 Grenoble - France e-mail: {Shadi.Abras, Sylvie.Pesty}@imag.fr; {Stephane.Ploix, Mireille.Jacomino}@inpg.fr 1