Research
Want a real-time orb on your homepage? Simply click the "Add to iGoogle" button on your Building Dashboard®.
Building Dashboard® Orbs
When you look at Building Dashboard®, you'll notice something glowing. This "orb" tells how your building is performing right now by translating levels of consumption into a spectrum of colors. If consumption is high, the orb will glow fiery red. If it's mellow, the orb is yellow. If it's lower than usual, you'll find the orb glowing a cool green.
The color spectrum found on the orb is determined by your recent patterns of consumption. Imagine it's 8:00pm. You normally consume very little during this evening hour, yet your consumption right now is higher than average. As a result, you'll see the orb advance toward red. Likewise, shades of green indicate when consumption is below average.
Orb Technology Research
Working with Lucid co-founder Dr. John Petersen at Oberlin College, Lucid has collaborated on real-time energy orb technology that tells building residents how they are performing throughout the day. As they enter or exit a building, students and visitors pass glowing orbs, each indicating their building's current level of consumption.
Each orb connects remotely to Lucid's servers to translate the same real-time consumption information found on Building Dashboard®. On the web, virtual orbs complement the physical orbs displayed in the buildings.
Photo credit: Chris Hamby
Power meters help homeowners track and cut their energy use
"Without a doubt, [building dashboards] are where the future is . . . Right now homes have a meter outside that's the same variety as the one that was on [turn-of-the-century inventor Thomas] Edison's house. In a few years, though, new homes will be equipped with them as a design feature." -- Ahmad Faruqui
Energy Efficiency Markets chooses its favorites of 2008
"Best appliance: Energy orb. Remember the mood rings we wore as kids? The stone changed color depending on how we felt. Here is a variation on the theme: an orb that signals the energy mood of a building."
Dorm Competition Lights Up with Energy Orbs
"Because electricity is invisible, the orbs are an innovative breakthrough. Like a crystal ball, they make electricity visible by translating basic consumption information into a spectrum of colors." -- John Petersen
"It's a way of alleviating 'information overload' by moving data off a computer screen and into our present environment." -- Adam Hull
Energy Orbs Encourage Conservation
