CES has a category called “Eco-Design and Sustainable Technologies” described as
Innovative features incorporated into consumer electronics products that make them safe for the environment, i.e., efficient and clean energy use; manufacturing processes that reduce use the of environmentally relevant substances (e.g., lead, mercury); durability/end-of-life (reuse, refurbish, remanufacture, recycle); resource conservation.
This year’s Best of Innovation award went to the “Nest Learning Thermostat,” which illustrates how smart buildings can monitor your actions, learn from them, and take actions themselves to reduce energy and enhance comfort. Whether this will succeed in the market is an open question, but it definitely provides one indication of where “smart buildings” are headed.
