阿拉巴馬州的一個(gè)智能家居社區(qū)

阿拉巴馬州的一個(gè)智能家居社區(qū)

Hannah Kennedy wakes up in the morning, turns to Alexa — a smart speaker — and asks, "What's the weather like today? What are the traffic conditions?"

漢娜•肯尼迪(Hannah Kennedy)早上醒來，轉(zhuǎn)向Alexa——一位聰明的演講者——問道:“今天天氣怎么樣?”交通狀況如何?”

She leaves for work, checking an app on her phone that warns her if any doors or windows have been left open at home. She looks at the app two or three more times during the day to monitor the thermostat or let a delivery in. At the grocery store, she checks to see if she has enough milk, via the refrigerator's in-built camera.

她離開去工作，查看手機(jī)上的一個(gè)應(yīng)用程序，如果家里有任何門或窗被打開，該應(yīng)用程序會(huì)警告她。她在一天中再看兩三次APP來監(jiān)控恒溫器或者讓送貨員進(jìn)來。在雜貨店，她通過冰箱內(nèi)置的攝像頭檢查自己是否有足夠的牛奶。

Kennedy is living in Reynolds Landing, a neighborhood of 62 smart homes developed by Alabama Power on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama. It is part of an experiment by the utility company to imagine how homes will look in 2040.

肯尼迪現(xiàn)在住在·雷諾茲著陸區(qū)，這是阿拉巴馬電力公司在阿拉巴馬州伯明翰郊區(qū)開發(fā)的一個(gè)有62個(gè)智能住宅的社區(qū)。這是這家公用事業(yè)公司進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)的一部分，目的是想象2040年住宅將會(huì)是什么樣子。

With North America's smart home market expected to grow from $12 billion to $36 billion in yearly revenues between 2017 and 2022, according to market research firm Berg Insight, this experiment could foretell the future of home design. By 2022, the report estimates that 63 million households in North America will have adopted smart home systems.

根據(jù)市場研究公司·伯格洞察公司的數(shù)據(jù)，2017年到2022年，北美智能家居市場的年收入預(yù)計(jì)將從120億美元增長到360億美元，這項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)可能預(yù)示著家居設(shè)計(jì)的未來。報(bào)告估計(jì)，到2022年，北美將有6300萬個(gè)家庭采用智能家居系統(tǒng)。

"What we've done here is create some very efficient homes, connect them up, and we're trying to understand how we're serving those customers...and how they're using that energy and interacting with those devices in their homes," Todd Rath, Alabama Power's marketing director, tells CNN Business.

阿拉巴馬電力公司營銷總監(jiān)托德·拉特告訴CNN Business：“我們在這里所做的是創(chuàng)建一些非常高效的家庭，將它們連接起來，我們正在努力了解我們是如何為這些客戶服務(wù)的…以及他們是如何使用這些能源，并在家里與這些設(shè)備進(jìn)行互動(dòng)的，”Todd Rath，阿拉巴馬州電力公司的營銷總監(jiān)，在接受CNN Business采訪時(shí)表示。

Energy-efficient technology

節(jié)能技術(shù)

Homes at Reynolds Landing are 35% more efficient than standard newly built homes in the area, earning Alabama Power the Alliance to Save Energy's 2019 Stars of Energy Efficiency Award. The electricity that powers them is generated locally, by a microgrid made up of solar panels, battery storage and a backup natural gas generator.

雷諾茲蘭丁的住宅比該地區(qū)新建的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)住宅能效高出35%，這為阿拉巴馬州節(jié)能聯(lián)盟贏得了2019年能效之星獎(jiǎng)。為它們提供動(dòng)力的電力是由一個(gè)由太陽能電池板、電池存儲(chǔ)和備用天然氣發(fā)電機(jī)組成的微型電網(wǎng)在當(dāng)?shù)禺a(chǎn)生的。

The biggest energy savers are the temperature control systems, which are particularly important in Alabama's extreme climate. "Here in the southeast United States, we have hot summers but also really cold snaps in the winter," says Rath. "The biggest energy user in an individual home is the heating and air-con system."

最大的節(jié)能裝置是溫度控制系統(tǒng)，這在阿拉巴馬州極端氣候下尤為重要。拉斯說:“在美國東南部，夏天很熱，但是冬天也很冷。“單個(gè)家庭最大的能源消耗是供暖和空調(diào)系統(tǒng)。”

The houses are kitted out with a smart home system that includes thermostats, voice-activated security and interconnected kitchen appliances.

這些房屋配備了智能家居系統(tǒng)，包括恒溫器、聲控安全裝置和相互連接的廚房電器。

This means that the homeowner can control almost everything remotely: from room temperature to opening the door and turning on the oven.

這意味著房主可以遠(yuǎn)程控制幾乎所有東西:從室溫到開門和打開烤箱。

Such smart devices use less energy than heating and air conditioning units, and consumers love remote control and tactile interaction, says Nick Lange, a consultant at sustainable energy company VEIC.

可持續(xù)能源公司VEIC的顧問尼克蘭格(Nick Lange)說，這類智能設(shè)備比供暖和空調(diào)設(shè)備耗電更少，而且消費(fèi)者喜歡遙控和觸覺互動(dòng)。

"The little things do add up" he says. "Smart thermostats are a good example of a relatively pain-free way to have a big impact."

他說:“小事總會(huì)積累起來。”“智能恒溫器就是一個(gè)很好的例子，它可以相對輕松地產(chǎn)生巨大的影響。”

Living laboratory

生活實(shí)驗(yàn)室

Houses in the smart neighborhood came onto the market in the usual fashion, costing around $400,000 each — about average for a home in the area, says Rath.

拉斯說，在智能小區(qū)里，房子以通常的方式進(jìn)入市場，每套房子的售價(jià)約為40萬美元，大約相當(dāng)于該地區(qū)一套房子的平均價(jià)格。

When buying a home, residents agreed to share anonymized data on energy usage with Alabama Power and meet researchers monthly to discuss their experience and likes and dislikes.

在買房時(shí)，居民們同意與阿拉巴馬州電力公司(Alabama Power)分享匿名的能源使用數(shù)據(jù)，并每月與研究人員會(huì)面，討論他們的經(jīng)歷和喜好。

"Each of the homeowners is part of this research project, we call it the living laboratory," says Rath.

“每個(gè)房主都是這個(gè)研究項(xiàng)目的一部分，我們稱之為生活實(shí)驗(yàn)室，”拉斯說。