New Indoor Climate-Control System to Adjust to Your Own Environmental Preferences Via the Web

A new indoor climate control system is able to make 'smart decisions' according to changing conditions in an office or building. The technology is based upon interaction with people present in the office. The users will be able to regulate the system to match their own environment preferences through the web. The system has been developed by Syracuse, N.Y.-based company CollabWorx Inc.

The users of the Open Web Services-based Indoor Climate Control System will communicate, overlook and adjust their personal environmental preferences such as temperature, humidity, light, the same way they would do it in a car.

The system is fitted with a special occupancy sensor necessary to detect the presence and identity of a person. An incorporated expert system makes decisions according to data accumulated from many sources in order to change its activity, thus saving energy while maintaining comfort of people in the office. The technology was provided with $350,000 funding.

The initial working prototype of the system is based upon three typical cubicle workstations. The system components are linked to desktop computers. The system consists of the following major components: a main unit, hand-operated control device, network interface controller, vents and a heater unit. The prototype makes use of a few major Internet-related technologies, such as Internet Protocol-based sensors and device controllers elaborated by Sensyr LLC.

The creators of the technology are going to undertake a further research to turn the three-cubicle working prototype into a fully-functional, real-world office setting. The occupants will be able to operate the system while researchers will keep track of the system performance and energy savings. The trial process will be followed by the technology's commercialization.

CollabWorx’s introduction of the prototype climate control system is found on the list of three winners of the Best Poster Award being a part of the international Clima 2007 conference held in Helsinki, Finland, this month. The CollabWorx entry left behind 206 entries presented by 33 countries competing for the award.