Welcome to the Schneider Electric: Resilient & Sustainable Homes session.
I am your moderator Thomas Eck.
Schneider Electric creates solutions that goes beyond simply smart homes,
but to homes that are also connected and sustainable.
Before we get into exactly what we do to deliver on the new electrical Home,
Let’s talk about the why.
Here I would like to introduce you
our Strategic Customers & Programs Director, Bradford Wills.
Before we get into exactly what we do to deliver the new electric home,
let’s talk about why it’s so important.
There are a number of critical areas that we know builders
First sustainability is a global priority.
Consumers are not only demanding it, there are regulatory changes
coming into effect regionally and globally that we must embrace.
We’ll go into this further, in just a moment.
Equally important is the amount of technology built into homes today,
and the corresponding increased demand it places on our homes.
Nearly 90% of our lives is spent indoors – even before the pandemic,
our time was spent in offices, hotels, homes and more.
We have entered into a new, electric world where nearly
everything is connected and we live digital lives, which means that reliability
and control of our energy is critical.
Finally, there are real-world threats that we must account for.
As CO2 levels increase - which our homes are
partially responsible for - the impacts of climate change increase,
which leads to environmental events.
These natural and manmade disasters are challenging the resiliency of buildings
and our ability to keep things running no matter what the weather,
disaster or other things happening around a home.
But first, let’s revisit sustainability.
Homes are expected to become the single largest consumer of electricity,
and the biggest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions.
Layer in the context of COVID-19 and the fact that people
are staying home and consuming more energy than ever before,
the impact of homes will grow even higher.
In fact, since the pandemic began, home energy
usage has gone up an average of 20%.
From an overarching perspective, 40% of CO2 emissions
come from buildings, second only to manufacturing.
From a regulatory standpoint, California issued
new Title 24 requirements, last year,
which require a minimum level of active solar production
on every new home built in the State.
As it relates to the real-world threats, safety and reliability are key.
We want to empower home builders to deliver homes
that allow buyers the simple ability to control their energy usage,
adjust to changing sources, rates and
rolling blackouts – and do so in a simple and automated way.
Additionally, we tend to forget that electrical faults still
happen everyday — and they happen more often than we think.
Electrical fires cost homeowners $4.2 billion
every year in Europe and US combined..
Most of this damage is preventable and we’re committed to making homes
more and more safe, from these dangers.
Thank you Brad.
It’s true that most household electrical incidents are preventable,
if you have the right equipment.
Now I would like to introduce you Michael Mahan,
our Vice President in Home and Distribution.
Hi Michael, could you tell us how
Schneider Electric is helping to protect our ecosystem?
Now that we’ve touched on what factors into how
we are designing for the future,
let’s talk about what that means for Schneider Electric.
Schneider Electric Square D products have been trusted for more than 100 years.
And today, are found in 4 out of 10 US homes.
Our focus is to create a 100% protected and connected residential ecosystem
using both the grid and distributed energy resources,
such as solar and battery to optimized efficiency.
Today you know Square D for its electrical panel and circuit breakers,
but in order to measure, control and protect this ecosystem,
we need to have insight all the way down to the plug level.
That’s why we are launching our wiring devices solutions this year.
This is what we call the Grid to Plug solution.
Let’s explain what Grid to Plug means.
As you know, Schneider Electric has a deep history in residential energy.
With the volatility in energy and the impact we’re experiencing
from climate change, we have taken proactive steps to allow
consumers better control of their energy.
We have enabled the convergence, scalability and optimization of
residential distributed energy sources, including utility power,
solar power, generators and other sources.
Incorporating that into our connected home ecosystem provides digital
control of energy use across the entire home — not only
at the branch circuit level, but all the way to the outlet level.
Let’s look further into the innovative products driving the grid to plug advantage:
First, our Square D Energy Center – a modular,
compact energy manager that gives homeowners personalized digital control
over their solar energy.
The Square D Energy Center is an industry-first product
that outpaces any other solution on the market with its features
and ease-of-install-and-use by electrical contractors and homeowners alike.
The Energy Center allows the homeowner to have digital control over
how their solar energy is produced, used and stored,
ensuring that power flow is safe, cost-effective and resilient.
Powered by Schneider Electric’s Wiser technology along with
SolarEdge’s Energy Hub Inverter with Prism Technology,
Square D™ Energy Center seamlessly enables the convergence, scalability,
and optimization of residential distributed energy resources,
That’s why we are launching
future smart home devices and even generators.
Further, built in energy monitoring capabilities enhance the user experience
bridging the gap between home automation
and digital energy management.
It’s important to understand why this meets the demands of the evolving
home and is focused on four key areas:
1. Safety - Protecting lives, property and appliances.
2. Resiliency – Enabling continuity
of power through backup ready systems.
3. Efficiency – creating easy to install solutions,
which is important for builders and homeowners.
And lastly, Personalization – bridging the smart infrastructure to
deliver full energy control and connectivity within homes
Here we can show you the Schneider Electric difference.
Existing residential solar installation tends to be complex, time consuming,
has a very large footprint, and let’s be honest,
it’s not pleasant to look at in your garage or outside your home.
Our Energy Center is different.
Home builders appreciate the features, application
and value that our product brings them:
Special Features like our
Qwik-Connect (integrated solar inverter).
Grid-forming mode to use solar power when grid shuts down.
The SolarEdge Back-Up Interface Module (BUIM) is ready
to be installed and makes it easy to add both a BUIM and
a Mounting Base kit, into the panel.
Applications for this technology include:
Single family new construction,
anytime service entrance is located on outer wall of garage;
allowing the inverter seamlessly mounts on opposite side of wall.
Backup battery system does not have to be added immediately.
The inverter mounting is integrated into Energy Center reducing
installation material and time by at least an hour
When battery is added, the BUIM installs into Energy Center reducing
footprint and installation in both time and material.
For the builder and the installer, this means faster, simpler installation
with fewer connections and more streamline commissioning.
For the homeowner, these means a cleaner more modern look.
Aswell as greater control to optimize their home energy use.
we want to take a moment to dive into a few products in more detail,
including the Wiser Energy Monitor and the Acti9 breaker.
With the Wiser Energy Monitor we are working with builders
to make homes more efficient.
Our connected home platform integrates a home's energy supply
with the homeowner's demand, empowering them to choose
the most efficient time of the day to use electricity in the home.
Wiser Energy monitor automatically identifies appliances and devices that use power,
such as a refrigerator or oven. It can track every load plugged into a Square D X
and XD range connected power socket, as energy monitoring
is included in all of our wiring device products by default.
Using Wiser, homeowners can easily track the energy usage of their
appliances and devices, get notified when they turn on and off,
and create goals to track energy savings.
The Wiser Energy app also integrates with Google Home, Alexa,
Philips Hue, and many more, allowing you to ask
if your devices are still running.
At the plug level, our solution offers not only the ability to
control power on and off to a receptacle,
but also the ability to identify the power consumption,
providing better energy management options for the consumer.
Giving homeowners this level of insight and control is a competitive differentiator.
Thank you Michael.
Indeed, with consumers’ needs changing,
these innovations are crucial in the new energy landscape,
and this is an approach we are bringing outside of the United States as well.
Now we know what products that Schneider Electric brings to make
homes more sustainable, more resilient, more efficient and more personal.
Brad, can you tell us more about what it brings to homes builders?
For home builders, all of these pieces matter
because they touch on four key areas we know their passionate about:
First, best in class safety & protection – We have
the best electrical protection system providing industry leading art fault
and over current protection, to protect against fires, ground fall protection
to protect people from electrocution do to our ground fall.
whole home search protection to protect all of those sensitive electronics of the home.
And now put this into a simple connected digital solution allowing homeowners to
more easily understand what is happening in and around their home.
Second, creating an Enhanced lifestyle with connectivity – We want to
enable you to create and enjoy remote visibility
and trouble shooting of issues in your home.
Remote control to enhance comfort and efficiency
On going over-the-air updates to future-proof your home. And integrated
voice control through the most popular systems such as Alexa and Google home.
Third, incorporating AI and Machine Learning at the core of the ecosystem
powered by Wiser Energy, will provide an updated map in every homes electrical system
Lastly, leaning into modern aesthetics, we are committed
to giving you solutions that meet the requirements
for cleaner and simpler modular design.
This approach provides labor savings at time of install.
It makes the system more stylish and approachable, with innovative feel
that easily accommodates advanced components and energy sources,
such as solar, battery storage and generators.
Thank you Brad. Now let’s take a look at what our partners think.
Providence Homes, we’re located in Jacksonville, Florida.
We mainly focus on building homes that are more comfortable,
more durable, they just live better.
My name is Charles Roberts,
I’m the Vice President of Operations for Providence Homes.
Our homes typically achieve at least a 50% energy savings,
compared to a home that’s built to code.
As far as the quality of our homes,
it starts with the construction that we use,
the things that we do differently,
the quality of insulation, for example,
the way we air seal, how the duct work is installed.
And we feel like once you live in one of our homes
and you actually experience it, it’s not the same.
But the challenge with that is,
how do we deliver that message to people
before they make that buying decision ?
And when we found the Wiser Energy monitor,
it was something that just jumped out to us
that it was the perfect solution.
So the Wiser Energy device is installed
in the breaker panel,
and it has the ability over time to learn every device
in your home, to know exactly what is consuming energy,
at any particular time.
In Schneider Electric, we found a partner
that was able to help us demonstrate
the high level of energy efficiency in our homes.
What we say we’re going to deliver,
we can prove it with this energy monitoring system,
and it’s a very powerful tool for us.
We feel the trend in home building
is a trend moving beyond energy efficiency,
getting into sustainability, durability, healthier homes.
And we wanna be known as the builder
that looks out for Jacksonville home buyers today,
and in the future.
As you heard, with Providence Homes we are going beyond
energy efficiency – it’s about building sustainable, durable
and healthy homes, and that starts with construction of the home itself.
In partnering with Providence Homes we’ve been able to help them differentiate
from a technological and insight standpoint.
They no longer have to convince homebuyers of the benefits
of the system with electric bills or technical device specifications;
instead, the homeowner can see the Energy Center in action with the Wiser app.
and the value speaks for itself.
Many thanks for Michael and Brad for taking us through these crucial innovations
for today’s sustainability challenges for home builders.
Now, you know Wiser,our residential connected home platform better,
and how we are helping consumers address the four challenges
facing our homes: sustainability, resiliency, efficiency, and personalization.
We all play a critical role in the journey to a sustainable world.
And it starts right here in our homes!
With Wiser, we empower you to transform
your home to be smart and sustainable.
Thank you for your time,
I now invite you to visit our virtual booth at CES 2021,
participate to our spotlight and breakout sessions.