Supported by the Saving Energy Nationwide in Structures with Occupancy Recognition (SENSOR) program of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a University of Alabama team of researchers aims to ensure sensors work efficiently when detecting human movement and occupancy to control HVAC systems and applications.
According to team leader, Zheng O’Neill, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama, when the study is complete, they should be able to say that using this kind of sensor-driven control can achieve HVAC energy savings of at least 30 percent.