This week’s Smart Infrastructure roundup features data-driven infrastructure that supports smart campuses, a new system to aid grid managers, and the latest developments for smart meters.

OSIsoft collaborates on smart campuses

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OSIsoft, maker of scalable and secure infrastructure for the management of real-time data and events, signed a collaborative deal with Tongji University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the International Green Campus Alliance to collaborate on Smart Campus at the International Green Campus Alliance (IGCA) Conference.  OSIsoft’s PI System, a real-time data and events management infrastructure, will be in the center of the collaboration.

The joint pilot project aims to demonstrate how data and advanced analytics can be utilized on campuses towards next-gen sustainability.  The focus will be on creating an innovation ecosphere to foster the collaboration between industry, government, and academic thought-leaders, with the end goal being to utilize data to empower city governments, businesses, and citizens to address urban challenges at city scale.

Dr. h.c. Volker Hartkopf, Director of the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics at Carnegie Mellon University stated that they have been using the PI System since 2007 for its ‘Intelligent Workspace’. This collaboration will allow them to share their experiences and success with the data infrastructure to Tongji University.

Petaluma aids grid managers in handling distribution data

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Grid managers will now be able to take a breather as Petaluma, a subsystem reference design from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., simultaneously and accurately measures distributed power grid data to better understand the timing among phases and ensure maximum uptime across the grid.

Petaluma, which is tuned to the 50Hz to 60Hz signal to match power grids around the world, is a high-speed, simultaneous-sampling, 8-channel analog input front-end (AFE) that monitors grid data simultaneously from all phases, so grid managers can optimize their distribution automation signal chain.

Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, IHS analyst for smart utilities infrastructure, explains that as power grids become increasingly distributed, there is a need for distributed measurement solutions that can simultaneously and efficiently sample multiple channels, while providing accurate points of measurement, such as what Petaluma offers.

BGE declares smart meters safe

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A smart meter is an electronic device that records the consumption of energy, gas or even water, and is provided by utility service providers.  What makes it different from analogue meters is that uses radio frequency to transmit real-time to near real-time data to service providers.  Smart meters are useful in determining whether a household uses more electricity, gas, or water during peak hours, or the time of day when there is a huge demand for electricity, gas or water. With this technology, homeowners can be rewarded with credits if they consume more energy during off peak hours.

Some are concerned that smart meters can cause fires, be used by service providers to cut services intentionally and without warning, and can be detrimental to one’s health because of the radio frequency.

Baltimore Gas and Electric wrote a letter to address the concerns of its customers, especially those who have yet to adopt the new smart meters.  BGE explains that smart meters not only can reduce monthly utility bills, but added that the smart meters underwent rigorous testing done by the company itself and Underwriters Laboratories to ensure that the devices are safe to use.

“BGE is confident in the fact that smart meters operate in the same frequency range as many common household devices, such as cordless telephones and wireless security systems. Smart meters typically operate at only 1.4 percent of the maximum level set by the Federal Communication Commission. Also, the World Health Organization has noted that no adverse health effects from low-level long term exposure to RF fields have been confirmed,” BGE’s letter read.

To point out how harmless smart meter’s RF is, BGE stated that it would need 375 years of constant exposure to a smart meter to receive a radio frequency that is equivalent to one year of daily 15-minute cell phone conversations.  Simply put, our beloved mobile phones pose more danger to our health than smart meters.

photo credit: Referenceace–Switching Gears via photopin cc