[1] MELs are produced by hard-wired and “plug-in” electrical devices that draw power, including office equipment such as desktop computers and monitors, mobile electronics (laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and their charging units), printers, fans, task lighting, and home equipment such as home entertainment centers, kitchen electronics (microwaves, toaster ovens, cooking accessories), bath items (hair dryers, lighted mirrors, and electric hot tubs), and other devices such as security systems and ceiling fans.
In Passive Haus and other low-energy houses, this percentage increases due to dramatic whole-house energy efficiency improvements while MELs remain largely unaltered.
Reducing energy loads of main systems equipment providing heating, cooling and water heating can be achieved by upgrading physical equipment including replacing older equipment with newer, more energy-efficient units, upgrading the building envelope with insulation and higher-grade windows, creating more efficient zoning within heating/cooling air distribution ducts, and deployment of advanced operating technologies such as building automation systems (BAS) and building energy management systems (BEM).
It has been a generally accepted principle that, given these constraints, MELs could not be cost-effectively monitored or managed by means other than product selection decisions and occupant conservation methods.
However, recent advances in three technology areas is fostering next generation energy management solutions including a new pathway for cost-effective MELs monitoring and control solutions: 1) environmental and electrical sensor technologies, 2) cloud computing capacity and access to support AI and machine learning, and 3) wide acceptance of cloud-based software-as-a-service options by organizations of all types and sizes.