RESIDENTIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY APPLICATIONS FOR SMART PHONES
*Note* The window for new submissions to this campaign has closed; you may, however, continue to vote.
Background:
Modern smartphones are packed with a variety of sensors capable of detecting all kinds of things about their surroundings. Depending on the smart phone, sensor capabilities can include a thermometer, humidity sensor, barometer, magnetometer, light sensor, fingerprint sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer and more. There are even third-party infrared camera attachments for thermal imaging. Smart phones can determine not only whether their owners are home, or close to home, but where they are within their homes, which may be useful for managing HVAC systems, room or zone control of temperature, and controlling lighting and appliances. Smart phones can also analyze data and inform homeowners with recommendations to manage their energy costs and improve the safety and comfort of their home.
The Challenge:
This Call for Innovation will be conducted in two phases.
Phase 1
Give us your best ideas for ways to leverage the open, programmable, and sensor-rich platform that modern smartphones offer to enhance the way we live, manage, and interact with our homes today and in the future. For example, how can we use our smartphones to:
- monitor and/or manage energy use and reduce energy costs?
- conduct low-cost energy assessments?
- interact with lighting, appliances, and other devices in the home?
- reduce energy waste by consumer electronics and other plug loads?
- provide actionable health, safety and comfort feedback about our homes?
- integrate and manage multiple systems in the home, including renewables and electric vehicles?
The "we" in this question is intentionally open, and could be home occupants, home performance contractors, HVAC installers, etc. Be sure to state explicitly the target beneficiary of your innovation!
Phase 1 of this JUMP Call for Innovation requires only a written proposal. Be sure to specify which sensor(s) and or feature(s) in a smart phone will enable your innovation.
The public may submit questions, comments, and suggestions on the website in response to the written proposals, and you may find these comments to be helpful. You are free to edit or refine your submission up until the submission deadline.
The public is invited to vote on your idea throughout the submission period. Public voting will remain open for an additional 1 week after the submission deadline. Based on the results of the voting, no more than six Finalists will be invited to proceed to Phase 2 of this competition.
Phase 2
The top submissions in Phase 1 will be invited to clarify their proposals with additional details and supporting materials. A maximum of six Finalists will be invited to Austin, TX to attend the CLEAResult Energy Forum in October (https://www.clearesultenergyforum.com/event-2016). There these Finalists will give more in-depth presentations of their innovations. The 10-minute presentations in front of the industry audience and panel of judges will require, at a minimum, a slide deck overview, but you may bring other supporting items such as hardware or software demonstration. Following all of the presentations, the judges will deliberate and selected the Overall Winner.
Intellectual Property Considerations:
Review and consideration of ideas does not require submitters to provide ideas with documented Intellectual Property (IP). If you are concerned about protecting the potential of your IP, choose the “Invisible to other Innovators” option when submitting your idea. Choosing this submission option will enable the judges to review your ideas but will not show it openly on the JUMP website.
Choosing the “Invisible to other Innovators”, however, will not permit the JUMP community to comment, discuss, or vote on your idea. Finalists from Phase 1 will be selected largely based on the results of the voting so we discourage choosing "Invisible to other Innovators" unless you have a concrete IP concern. Ideas submitted this way will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the panel of judges, who have ultimate authority over which submissions are invited to move on to Phase 2.
The Award:
Selected Finalists from Phase 1 will be invited to present their concepts at the 2016 CLEAResult Energy Forum, where a grand winner will be chosen by a panel of judges. Travel to Austin will be paid for by CLEAResult.
The Winner of Phase 2 will receive a cash prize of $3000 as well as mentorship in commercialization of his/her idea, if applicable.
Successful JUMP winners may also elect to submit a "Request for Assistance (RFA)" for Round 3 or subsequent Rounds of the DOE Lab Impact Small Business Vouchers (SBV) Pilot Small Business Voucher. Successful SBV requests may be provided up to $300k in the form of in-kind technical support for prototype development, testing, and other problem statements facing small businesses in the clean energy innovation space.
Deadline:
Idea Submission Period for Phase 1 ends:
August 31, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST
Public voting ends: September 7, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST
