Associate Professor of Computer Science Jeannie Albrecht will receive $42,000 as part of a National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation grant awarded to researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The three-year, $1 million grant will allow researchers to work with the Holyoke Gas & Electric Co. to develop smart energy services.
The grant will fund a continuing project that demonstrates how smart electric meters save money and power. The smart meters provide detailed records of electricity use in homes. This year, the team plans to develop three new smart energy services: iProgram, Green Demand Response, and PowerTrip. iProgram will use smart meter data to calculate cost-effective thermostat schedules. The Green Demand Response will increase grid accommodation potentials for renewable energy. PowerTrip will provide real-time unusual energy event notifications and conservation tips to users—if an appliance uses more power than it should, the homeowner receives an alert.
For her part, Albrecht will analyze data collected from homes both last year and this year. She will use this analysis to streamline home and building owners’ interactions with the monitoring systems. Eventually, she hopes to design a web framework that supports mobile devices and PCs, dynamically interacts with cloud-stored data, and ultimately provides users with a visualization of their energy usage data.
Albrecht’s research and similar work by other Williams faculty supports the College’s commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency.
Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: Noelle.Lemoine@williams.edu