Tips for promoting energy efficiency through technology

Alejandro Cordero, Head of Presales and Business Development at Ikusi

All human activity, and also technology, leaves a footprint and has an impact on the environment. Finding ways to reduce this impact is a challenge for all industries and individuals who are committed to fighting climate change.

In this context, small actions that help customers save on energy costs and reduce emissions and global energy demand can contribute to the major shift in consumption standards that is needed in order to reverse environmental degradation.

Ikusi recently organised an event related to intelligent spaces, where it explained the benefits of incorporating intelligence into multiple spaces, whether private, public or commercial, by integrating networks, sensors and analytics.

One of these benefits is, without a doubt, a reduced environmental impact; for example, by using Cisco Meraki sensors for managing temperature, humidity, the opening and closing of doors, monitoring the office environment and data centre, and subsequently using that information to automate energy-saving behaviours. In fact, organisations that use IoT-compatible intelligent devices and sensors report energy savings of 70% over a period of three years.

The next generation of Wi-Fi 6 sensors will allow further energy savings to be made. Thanks to TWT (Target Wake Time) technology that allows the time between connections to be set in advance, the Wi-Fi 6 sensors can reduce energy consumption, switching to energy-saving mode until the time specified in their TWT. It is also possible to save up to 60% of the device’s battery.

In addition, these devices proposed by the manufacturers also incorporate the energy efficiency perspective and other improvements are being made to reduce the amount of energy required to operate IT facilities.

Power supplies also play a fundamental role in managing product energy efficiency. You can now connect the devices to a wired network instead of the mains. An intelligent wired network for switching the devices on and off as necessary, thus avoiding periods of wasted energy expenditure, by managing energy consumption from the switching infrastructure.

These are small actions, as previously mentioned, but when multiplied by the millions of technological infrastructures needed to keep our digitalised world going, they contribute to a more rational use of resources.