COLORADO - Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D) and Cory Gardner (R) today announced that a $2 million grant has been awarded to the University of Colorado Boulder from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for a Saving Energy Nationwide in Structures with Occupancy Recognition (SENSOR) project.
"We applaud the University of Colorado Boulder team and their partners for receiving this grant and look forward to seeing how their project helps develop technologies to reduce energy usage in Colorado's homes," Bennet said. "It is important that we continue to provide our communities with more opportunities for sustainable and responsible energy usage and development."
"I have long been a strong supporter of ARPA-E's research and I'm thrilled CU Boulder is receiving this grant," Gardner said. "Increasing energy efficiency in our homes and businesses will help Coloradans save money on their energy bills and I'm looking forward to seeing what cutting edge technology CU develops as part of this project."
The SENSOR program has awarded $2 million to a team at the University of Colorado Boulder to develop a project titled: Battery-Free RFID Sensor Network with Spatiotemporal Pattern Network Based Data Fusion System for Human Presence Sensing. The goal of the project is to develop an occupancy detection system that relies on cameras to detect human presence and monitor patterns of activity in electricity use throughout homes. The sensor system will be powered wirelessly, reducing overall costs.
ARPA-E's SENSOR program grants support the creation of innovative sensing technologies in order to optimize heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in commercial and residential buildings. The various project teams will develop user-transparent sensing technologies with the goal of achieving a 30 percent overall reduction in HVAC energy consumption.
"One of our priorities at CU Engineering is to increase our collaboration with the Federal government in areas where we can provide significant societal impact," said Bobby Braun, Dean of CU Engineering and Applied Science."It's great to see Dr. Henze's work being recognized for the technological advancements and energy savings it promises."
"I couldn't be more excited to lead the team made up of University of Colorado Boulder researchers and our colleagues at the University of Washington, Iowa State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory right here in Boulder," said Dr. Gregor P. Henze, Professor and Charles Victor Schelke Chair at CU's Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.
