'Potential' for big CO2 Reductions From Home Automation Use, CTA Says

The increasing use of IoT-based home automation technology “has the potential for substantial energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” CTA said in a study released Thursday. Widespread adoption of home automation products such as temperature, circuit and lighting control, if used for energy savings purposes, “could collectively avoid up to 100 million tons of CO2 emissions and reduce total residential primary energy consumption by as much as 10 percent,” CTA said. The research “proves the innovation consumer technology delivers into our hands and homes through the Internet of Things can significantly reduce our carbon footprint -- whether that’s the household energy we use on our own or the carbon emissions our country produces,” CTA President Gary Shapiro said in a statement. The study is “the first of its kind” to show how “our increased use of several types of connected devices and systems can decrease our overall home energy use,” said Douglas Johnson, CTA vice president-technology policy. “While the concept and practice of home automation have been around for decades, the continuous reduction of installation costs means more and more consumers are able to access and benefit from this technology. And home automation tech delivers potential benefits to utilities as well, such as enhanced demand response capabilities and the intelligent segmentation of homes -- both of which would eventually lower consumers’ costs.”