Smart metering and systems to support a conscious use of water and electricity Carlos Alberto Fróes Lima * , José Ricardo Portillo Navas KNBS, CEP 13025-140, R. Dr. Emilio Ribas,174 Campinas, SP, Brazil article info Article history: Received 15 September 2011 Received in revised form 30 January 2012 Accepted 16 February 2012 Available online 16 March 2012 Keywords: Smart Grid Communication Consumption management Efficiency Smart sub-metering abstract Brazilian water and electricity utilities demand management tools to allow their customers to analyze, monitor and control their consumption of these goods. From a social perspective, efficiency requires involved and active of clients who can monitor and audit the actual consumed amounts as well as the values saved as new habits are established. In response to this twofold demand, the proposed system automates remote metering and sub- metering of water and electricity (internal to the residence, installed at interest points) and is inte- grated into a structured knowledge tool. This integration environment receives the collected electricity and water meter measurements. It provides customers and utility companies with compiled reports containing the historical use, daily and hourly forecasts, and projected savings due to changes in consumption habits and/or use of more efficient equipment. For developing countries with social diversity, such as Brazil, this tool can make a difference in raising awareness by identifying actual consumption. Moreover, this solution adds a new component to the relationship between energy businesses and clients/customers, who can audit and verify their consumption as well as check the reliability of the energy/water service provided. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction According to Altvater [1]: “The environment is not a limiting factor as long as it doesn’t require too much with regards to the absorptive capacity of the global ecosystems. But a capitalist, industrial society is expansive in time and space; it grows, and rapidly. Even with zero growth, which is viewed by a number of ecologists as the solution for environ- mental problems, electricity and raw materials are consumed, despite zero or negative economic/monetary growth. It may even be that, with zero growth, the environmental burden becomes greater than with positive growth, because of the need to spare costs in the economic system. Therefore, the problem lies not in the dimension of the economic growth rates, but in how this “metabolism” is regulated: the material exchange between nature, individuals and society.” “Humans use natural resources (in the realm of the expanding economic system) progressively, as a source and as a deposit for undesired products.” The advancement and incorporation of the environmental revolution’s principles (energy efficiency, recycling, pollution control and environmental design) should advance within the productive system through the sustainable guidance of public policies [2]. Therefore, in terms of energy efficiency and water demand management, these resources must be rationalized, but simply monitoring consumption is not enough. A cultural change in a population’s habits must also be achieved. Public policies demand involvement and active citizenship by the consumers and require that the production e generation e delivery e consumption chain be monitored and audited. Orga- nized market conditions are required from a consumption standpoint as are the amounts actually consumed and their financial counterpart (amounts paid). To achieve this goal, the data must be organized, the amounts saved due to any change in consumption habits must be indicated and a trend survey should be held (not only for the consumer but also for the utility company). It is also essential to monitor the entire system. Monitoring information allows incidents such as leaks to be detected and provides a review of operation procedures and * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 19 9765 2751. E-mail addresses: froes@knbs.com.br (C.A. Fróes Lima), navas@knbs.com.br (J.R. Portillo Navas). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy 0360-5442/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2012.02.033 Energy 45 (2012) 528e540