It has a pilot project with the Department of Defense related to the electric sensor technology as well as an exclusive partnership on the water side with HydroPoint Data Systems, a company that helps companies analyze and monitor water usage. The Belkin sensors are one of 22 projects that the DoD selected to pilot, and those 22 were selected from 468 proposals.

To learn more about these sensors, branded Echo Water and Echo Electricity, I spoke with Kevin Ashton, the general manager, global product management for Belkin Business, and the guy who says he coined the term “internet of things.” Ashton joined Belkin when it acquired his startup, Zensi, three years ago. Now he’s excited to share the last three years of his work with the world.

There are two elements to the Echo sensors: a water management platform and an electricity management platform. Customers deploy sensors in buildings or on pipes to measure electricity by tracking voltage and a few other elements to determine what’s sucking power and how it’s behaving, and then the sensors send that data to the cloud. On the water side, sensors located under a sink detect pressure and vibration to understand water usage, and sends that information to a cloud-based service.

Once the data is collected, Belkin runs algorithms to figure out if things are behaving properly, where energy savings might be had and general patterns around usage that might help companies or homeowners optimize their appliances or even behaviors. At Zensi, the original plan for the voltage-reading technology was to create an itemized electric bill for different apartments or even different gadgets inside the home.

Now, Ashton said the system is still as precise, but the use case is still evolving. He said that the plan is to open this data up to utilities and other services eventually, but right now the focus is on getting this deployed and in use in different buildings. Ashton said that so far partners and Belkin are fielding calls from commercial customers but also new homebuilders, who see this as a good way to help “green” new homes for high-end clients.

Of course, the real power for these sensors — the algorithms, data and insights they produce — is linking them to other gadgets, perhaps enabling a true demand-response system between a customer and utility or even helping a homeowner set devices to react to the cost of power. Aston realizes this, which is why he’s a proponent of open standards and making it easy for people to switch out devices and talk to management systems. “We hope to let the magic happen with well implemented open standards,” Ashton said in an interview. “The value in this system may be in places we don’t expect.”

I’m pretty confident that the value is in the algorithms that Belkin’s Echo sensors use to glean insights, but I’m glad Belkin’s planning to let others build on those smarts to make the overall information exchange even better.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Belkin, the maker of the WeMo switch, has signed a deal with Jarden Corp., which is responsible for brands like Holmes space heaters, Crock-Pot slow cookers, Mr. Coffee coffee pots and assorted other appliances names like Oster and Sunbeam. The details of the partnership weren’t spelled out in the release announcing the deal, (it’s a lure to get you to the Belkin booth at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Vegas) but it does show how Belkin hopes to build an ecosystem around the WeMo. The first Jarden products with WeMo will launch later this year, with additional product offerings through 2014.

The WeMo is a switch that you plug into an outlet that lets you turn things on and off using your Wi-Fi network and the smartphone app. My colleague Laura Hazard Owen reviewed it for our Gift Guide in December, judging it pricey at $50 per connected device, but easy to implement. When the WeMo was announced at last CES, GigaOM’s Kevin Tofel thought it would help the masses implement a connected home because the kit used Wi-Fi and was simple to implement.

I’ve asked Belkin what the deal means for end users, but at a minimum it should allow Jarden devices to populate the smart phone app automatically, so users don’t have to manually type in the name of their Crock-Pot so the app recognizes it. I’d love for it to go further, allowing for finer-grained controls. Right now, the WeMo lets you turn something on or off. Combined with its motion detection device you could step out of bed in the AM and trigger the motion detector to turn on the lights in your bedroom and the coffee pot downstairs, but you would spend more than $100 for the privilege. And a better solution might just be programming your coffee pot.

But the release announcing the deal touts the ability of Jarden to reinvigorate its brands with connectivity and mentions services that it could build around connected apps. That’s something I’m profoundly interested in, especially with regards to the kitchen. It also positions the WeMo as a gateway for the connected home, with much of the required intelligence running in the cloud as opposed to on a box somewhere in the home.

For more on the emergence of the internet of things check out these two stories:

• Ahead of CES: 4 questions to ask about the internet of things
  
• Faceless sensors and tiny routers needed for the internet of things

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• The Internet of Things: What It Is, Why It Matters
• GigaOM Research highs and lows from CES 2013
• Health care and big data in 2012

We’re on the cusp of a revolution in connectivity, the first wave of which has already arrived. More and more everyday objects — from dog collars to gardening tools to light bulbs — are now able to capture data about your life or things in your life. The dog collars, for example, use GPS to tell you when your dog is out of a certain range, while the garden sensors will track soil moisture and light so you know the ideal location and time to plant and water.

But for all the new products that are out there, there are a bunch that we think should exist and don’t. And so in the back half of this post, our writers offer another four connected devices that they wish were available at their local stores, from programmable furniture to a connected crock pot. The technology to build any of the four is here — it’s just a matter of some hacker deciding to cobble a few things together.

The second, more profound phase of the connectivity revolution will come when you can build services on top of all these connections. Take the FitBit (see disclosure at the end of this post), which now helps you track how many steps you took today and how many calories you burned as well as how long your sleep cycle is. Currently, you can only send that data back to FitBit’s proprietary app. What will be really cool is when you can also share that information with your doctor and add it to your health records.

Then we’ll be in the age of the so-called Internet of Things, when all kinds of devices can communicate with each other and with the internet itself, and companies can build out services that make our lives easier or more fun.

None of the six devices that we reviewed here — or the four that we listed on the wish list that follows those reviews — is capable of that, but they definitely count as prescursors.

– Kevin Fitchard

Belkin WeMo Switch, $49.99

At first, the Belkin WeMo Switch seems like a relatively low-priced path to a connected home. Plug any device into it and then turn that device on and off via your iPhone. Setup is easy; you just download the WeMo app and connect the WeMo switch to your home wireless network. After that, if you’re at work and fear you forgot to turn off the coffee maker, you can do so remotely as long as it’s plugged into the WeMo Switch.

You can also connect the WeMo switch to IFTTT (If This, Then That) — which would allow you to, say, turn on the Christmas lights when the sun goes down. However, I couldn’t find enough good uses for the WeMo Switch to justify its cost. You need a separate Switch for each device you want to plug in; at $50 a pop, that adds up.

And unless you regularly use an electrical device that would truly damage your home if you forgot to turn it off, the uses of WeMo Switch are limited. (WeMo gives the example of a curling iron, but I couldn’t think of many more everyday gadgets like that — and it’s not as if you can use WeMo to turn off a gas burner.) For now, I find another Belkin gadget much more useful: The Belkin Conserve Socket, which automatically turns off power after a selected interval (30 minutes, 3 hours or 6 hours) and is just $9.99.

– Laura Owen

Fitbit One, $100, and the Aria Wi-Fi Scale, $130

In the wake of the gut-bulging Thanksgiving feast, where I opted for “a little of both” pies, “yes, with ice cream, please,” I am truly thankful for my new Fitbit One and the Aria Wi-Fi Scale. The Fitbit One is Fitbit’s third version of its activity tracker, and it’s smaller and sleeker than previous versions and includes new functions like a vibrating silent alarm (a trait seemingly borrowed from the Jawbone Up).

I’ve been tracking my activity, food intake and weight in the Fitbit dashboard over the past week and have set a healthy course for shedding a few pounds post Tofurky-day, without the option for cheating (the scale and tracker know all!). The biggest downside of the Fitbit One is how easy it is to lose (or send through the wash). After four days it fell off my belt somewhere, and I was forced to buy a new one (and I’m not the only one at GigaOM who has lost one).

– Katie Fehrenbacher

Zeo Sleep Manager Pro – $100

Waking up in the morning is usually a daily battle. So I was intrigued by the Zeo Sleep Manager Pro’s promise to monitor the quality of my sleep, as well as wake me during the optimal time. Like an earlier version, Zeo’s second mobile unit includes a headband sensor that pairs with an iPhone or Android smartphone via Bluetooth.

The latest version provides customized advice for improving sleep, as well as the ability to charge the headband through an outlet instead of a docking station. From the Zeo app, you can see how many times you woke up, when you were in REM sleep (rapid-eye movement, or deep sleep) and the quality of your sleep (your “ZQ”). Some of the advice wasn’t that surprising (e.g., “manage alcohol,” “get enough sleep”) and, despite its “SmartWake” alarm, I still woke up feeling groggy.

But I was impressed by its analysis of my REM sleep patterns. It alerted me that my REM sleep is shorter than it should be, and suggested things like sleeping in cooler temperatures and going to bed at a consistent time. For each piece of advice, it offered an impressive amount of detail and explanation.

– Ki Mae Heussner

HDHomeRun DTV tuner for Wi-Fi networks – $129

Instead of fighting with the family for the big-screen TV over and over again, why not make use of a smaller screen for television content? The HDHomeRun is a small box with two over-the-air tuners that can pull in local broadcast digital TV signals and shoot them to any computer, smartphone or tablet via your home Wi-Fi network.

Setup is easy: Just connect it to your wireless router and add a plug-in antenna to the back of the HDHomeRun box. The included software isn’t the most user-friendly and you’ll need third-party applications to watch live television on phones or tablets — the free VLC app will work fine for computers. The HDHomeRun only does one thing, but it does it well if you have a fast Wi-Fi network and want to watch local TV without using a TV.

– Kevin Tofel

Motorola MotoACTV smart watch / exercise tracker — $145

There are a growing number of gadgets that track health and exercise, but very few can compete with Motorola’s MotoACTV smart watch. It has nearly every sensor and radio you could want: GPS; Low-Energy Bluetooth 4.0; Wi-Fi;  ANT+; FM tuner; and an accelerometer. Did I mention it can also store tons of MP3 files within its flash memory?

With all of this gadgetry, the MotoACTV is great for tracking various types of exercise types. You can listen to music during your workout or use the built-in coaching feature. There’s even support for using this smart watch on the golf course: you can tracking strokes, get help selecting a club and calculate distance to the pin. And all of this data gets shot up to the web automatically when your home Wi-Fi network is range. About the only missing feature I’d like to see is a sensor to measure my sleep habits.

– Kevin Tofel

Fenix’s ReadySet off-grid battery, $275

This product isn’t itself a connected device, but it’s an important companion gadget: It will ensure that all your connected devices always have battery power, even after a natural disaster. We’ve been following the startup Fenix for years – they make a smart user-friendly battery and accompanying solar panel, which can charge cell phones and other devices “off the grid” using basic connectors like USB. While Fenix has been laser-focused on getting its devices into developing markets, like villages in India and Africa that are truly off the grid,  the startup has more recently started selling the ReadySet to anyone who wants one.

It’s particularly useful for charging up your laptop or cell phone on a camping getaway or road trip. A couple things to remember: The solar panel takes a good deal of time to charge the battery, and the device is also pretty heavy — not great for carting around under arm. But, as my colleague Kevin Tofel pointed out in a recent review, the ReadySet would be a handy tool in the wake of a storm like Sandy.

– Katie Fehrenbacher

… And Our Wish List For Future Holidays

Now for some connected devices that don’t yet exist but that we wish were available in stores. Call it our Connected Gift Guide of the Future. With all of these four, a hacker could build them pretty easily. But we’d love for a company to start making these products so we can just buy them instead of having to program an Arduino board or connect an Electric Imp to a kitchen appliance. Let’s get connected.

Web-programmable Xmas lights

You know those awesome light shows that shops, cities or even ambitious homeowners put on? The ones that have lights that change color timed to music or that twinkle out a message of hope and cheer? Right now, creating those requires some hefty programming skills or expensive light sets and software. For example, Robert Sun Quattlebaum two years back did a series of posts explaining how he purchased a $60 set of lights that changed colors and came with 14 pre-programmed shows, and then used that to make his own programmable Christmas lights.

That’s pretty awesome, but I don’t quite have his level of skill (the hack required reverse engineering the radio protocol and data bus protocols that controlled the lights as well as building out a new Arduino-based controller). And while the WeMo mentioned up above lets me turn my lights on and off from the web, I’m really after something a bit fancier. There is even a Kickstarter that launched Friday that comes closer, but I’d like a product I can buy on store shelves so I can make my own shrine to the Griswalds.

–Stacey Higginbotham

Connect my crock pot

I have an iGrill digital thermometer, which links to my smartphone via Bluetooth, telling me the internal temperature of my meats and the ambient air temperature of my oven. It’s a nifty gadget, but I’m continually frustrated that my kitchen connectivity is a one-way street. My appliance shouldn’t just tell me my roast is drying out, it should do something about it.

What I would like is the ability to turn my crock pot into a poor man’s connected immersion circulator for sous vide cooking. For those who don’t know, sous vide is a hip new culinary trend, involving the long cooking of food in a warm water bath. The pros use thousand-dollar rigs, but numerous Web sites show you how you can hack a $30 crock pot to make an immersion circulator.

In my mind the only thing that’s missing is connectivity. Sous vide cooking involves long cook times, sometimes whole days, and I don’t want to be standing over my crock pot that entire time. Using an Electric Imp or a Twine temperature gauge setup, I could not only create a sophisticated and subtle cooking appliance, but one I could monitor and control from work.

–Kevin Fitchard

A photo frame that connects to others

Older versions of the connected picture frame let you email your snapshots to a connected picture frame at Grandma’s house so she could see the grandchildren as they grew up without having to mess with the complexities of taking snapshots from her email and popping them on an SD card. This idea lets you track Grandma (or anyone else) by taking advantage of today’s connected pedometers and activity trackers. The picture frame would have some kind of indication of how often a person moves throughout the day and if they are meeting their fitness or activity goals.

If the picture frame shows that a person isn’t active, there may be a problem, such as an illness or a fall. By sharing only a general activity level as opposed to the actual steps taken, it’s less invasive. You could also use something like this with a GPS tracker with the picture frame changing color or brightening based on how far away a person is, or if they have strayed from a set area or any number of settings. It’s a real-world version of the Weasley clock for those who might not want an actual clock. For those that do, check out this project.

–Stacey Higginbotham

Programmable furniture

I spend hours a day sitting in my chair, and while it’s an awesome chair it could do much more than accepting my weight. It could also interact with my computer, sound system or my lights. For example, when I’m sitting in my office chair, I’m pretty much guaranteed to be at my computer: so why not automatically turn my IM status to green and log me into Skype?

This is a project that my colleague Kevin Tofel is thinking about and might hack together. While I’m not sure how it would work with his sit-stand desk, there’s a lot of potential for certain items of furniture to have the ability to interact with the web or our gadgets. I, for one, would love it if the act of getting into bed and turning off my bedside light turned the ringer on my phone off. Sure, there are things like this table, but I’m looking for something a bit more practical. And maybe something as easy as setting up an IFTTT recipe for a connected item of furniture.

–Stacey Higginbotham

Disclosure: Fitbit is backed by True Ventures, a venture capital firm that is an investor in the parent company of this blog, Giga Omni Media. Om Malik, founder of Giga Omni Media, is also a venture partner at True.

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The answer to this single question affects every home automation decision down the line because of compatibility. Choosing among ZigBee, X-10, Z-Wave, Insteon and others (I chose Insteon) dictates which compatible devices you can connect in your smart home. With so many choices, maybe a simpler approach is needed, and that’s exactly what Belkin is offering with its new WeMo product line.

Belkin introduced the WeMo products earlier in January, but I only recently realized they were Wi-Fi-based. Using a ubiquitous wireless standard is huge, assuming it works; the first products don’t arrive until March, so I haven’t tested them. A $49 outlet and $99 motion detector with outlet will be the first WeMo offerings, and you just plug in any electrical device you want to control to the WeMo product. The devices can then be controlled with a free smartphone app.

If Belkin’s WeMo products catch on, it means do-it-yourself home automation won’t be relegated to the early adopters and mobile geeks like me, because the technical question of a network protocol simply disappears. That’s important, because Belkin’s products are generally a plug-and-play system; the Wi-Fi modules are in the smart outlets or switches and they connect to the Wi-Fi network that’s likely already in the home.

In my case, using Insteon, I had to add a Wi-Fi access point to my home automation server; that allows me to interface with the “brains” of the system. But the system itself transmits data and commands through the Insteon solution: a separate 900 MHz wireless network that can also use my home’s electrical system to shoot information over the powerlines. For mainstream consumers, this is too much to deal with.

But when consumers hear something is compatible with Wi-Fi, it’s a network they’re already familiar with. They’re used to adding Wi-Fi objects to the home, whether its a television set, a tablet or a digital camera. For most people, Wi-Fi simply works in a “magical” sort of way, which is how Belkin is presenting the new WeMo products.

Does Wi-Fi already own the home as we said several years ago? Yes. Is Wi-Fi the best standard for home automation? That’s arguable, and I’m not sure I’d say yes. Other protocols have advantages in terms of power consumption, lower frequencies for better wall penetration and backup communication methods. But these options are an alphabet soup of acronyms and terms consumers don’t yet understand. Ask someone what Wi-Fi is, however, and I’d bet even a pre-schooler could tell you.

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Arlington, Va.-based Opower crunches property, weather, demographic and utility data to figure out how individual homes can save energy, then delivers that information via mailed reports, text messages and Web interfaces. So far it has about 2 million homes involved, with some 48 utility customers including AEP, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Puget Sound Energy and Connexus Energy.

Unlike most of the VC-funded home energy management startups out there, Opower doesn’t rely on a piece of hardware like a visual display or plug-in device to deliver its average 2 percent to 3 percent energy reductions.

“We have no hardware. It’s all analytics and messaging,” CEO Daniel Yates said in an interview Monday. That is, Opower’s strength lies in its data analysis and its marketing, built on some of the behavioral analysis work of co-founder Dr. Robert Cialdini, a prominent energy efficiency booster who has made Grist magazine’s “40 people who are redefining green” list.

Opower has also focused on an opt-out model — utility customers automatically get its mailed reports. Sure, some folks may choose to throw them out with the rest of the paper that isn’t part of the monthly power bill. Still, Opower gets to start with a customer penetration rate in the high-90 percent range, as compared to the 10 percent or so typical of early deployments of opt-in web tools like Microsoft’s Hohm or Google’s PowerMeter that require active participation.

“Utilities don’t have to ask for permission for an address or email to send you something,” Yates said. “You’re already their customer.” Utilities are also under a mandate to treat all their customers fairly, which means they’re bound by law to connect their low-income or elderly homeowners with the same energy-saving opportunities provided to those who can afford the latest energy-saving technology.

While Opower’s biggest competition seems like it would come from the kind of utility energy-awareness mail we’re used to not reading at home, a host of home energy startups are also trying different models to engage homeowners. EMeter has yielded verifiable energy savings with its home energy management web platform in Washington, D.C.’s PowerCents program. Household-wide power monitoring, smart appliances and thermostats and other home energy systems could automate energy savings, surpassing the customer-driven gains Opower has to offer.

Yates said that OPOWER intended to double its current 2-3 percent per-capita impact on energy savings over the coming year, though he wouldn’t specify whether it would come through better data analysis, behavioral psychology or market research, or a combination of the three.

Opower was also named one of 15 startups to land an Ecomagination investment from General Electric and its VC partners last month, and Yates said the startup was working with GE, though he wouldn’t say just how. Nor would he comment on whether Opower may soon add California utility Pacific Gas & Electric to its list of customers.

For more research on the smart grid check out GigaOM Pro (subscription required):

• Smart Algorithms: The Future of the Energy Industry
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Image courtesy of Opower.

I CAN HAS XMAS

Either you love or hate this time of year: Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when shoppers rush to malls to score early Christmas gift-giving deals. There’s also the online Monday equivalent — Cyber Monday — which is much more friendly to the planet, and we actually found last year that Black Friday was 50 times more carbon intensive compared to Cyber Monday.

Whatever route you take, here’s 7 gift-giving ideas that, yes, require energy to create, but hopefully in a slight way, encourage green technology innovation, lifestyle, and lower carbon emissions:

1). Public Bikes: A couple weeks ago I bought a Public D8 bike from the startup Public, based in South Park in San Francisco. It’s a European-style commuter workhorse bike (looks at home on the streets of Copenhagen and Amsterdam), has 8 speeds, and super-stylish looks. And it’s totally perfect for me to commute to GigaOM HQ, and also to bum around to the park and different neighborhoods in San Francisco. The D8 will set you back $850 baseline, plus any additional features, like the fun back basket or bell. Best part of all: a no-gasoline based commuting option (and no parking tickets). Woot.

2). Belkin’s Conserve Line: You know you want your loved ones to have the energy efficient home office of the future. That’s why you need to check out Belkin’s line of Conserve products, including smart surge protectors, plugs, charging docks and energy monitors. Belkin has been taking a sort-of one-plug approach to home energy monitoring, and bought a startup called Zensi in April in April that built a technology that measures the voltage of the household electricity rather than the frequency. Belkin’s smart energy devices are around $30 to $40.

3). The Kiwi WiFi dongle: The Kiwi WiFi dongle, from PLX Devices, plugs into your car and connects your car data to third party apps built for the iPhone and Android. All cars built after 1996 have to have an onboard diagnostic car port, called the OBD-II, which is accessible in the front dashboard within three feet of the driver. The Kiwi WiFi dongle plugs into the OBD-II and accesses the car’s diagnostic system and engine control unit (ECU), which contains data like engine performance, speed and braking frequency. The dongle then uses Wi-Fi to connect that data with the iPhone. Using the device you can use really gearhead-style apps like DashCommand from Palmer Performance ($50) that enables a user to scan the engine, access incline data, view your braking and acceleration usage in real time, and see how often you skid on a track.

4). Eco-Driving Lesson: We stopped by Pat’s Garage a few months back to film a Green Overdrive episode about How to Give A Prius a Plug. Pat kindly walked us through the process of beefing up the Prius battery and connecting together all of the power electronics. Well, little known fact is that Pat’s Garage also gives Eco Driving Seminars, and gave one in Colorado last month. They don’t advertise widely, but if you contact the garage they’ll likely clue you into when the next one will be held. The basics of eco-driving are not accelerating to quickly — basically the way your grandma drives. It’s boring, but it seems to be taking off in some places (here’s a bunch in the U.K.).

5). Charge Your iPhone 4 With Sunlight: Design company Frostfire has created an iPhone 4 case that has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery at the base with a small solar panel embedded on it that can extend the battery life of your iPhone 4 while on the go. Twenty minutes of direct sunlight shining on the so-called “Mooncharge” case will buy you an extra 50 minutes on standby mode, or 5 minutes of chatting, so, yeah, not a whole lot. The battery can be charged via a USB cord, as well, and fully charged, will provide the user with 315 hours on standby or 5 extra hours of talk time. The case costs $70.

6). Model S Spot: While its too late to get into the first wave of reservations of the Nissan LEAF (more will be opened next year), you can still get in line to buy Tesla’s next-gen electric sedan the Model S. Yes, that’s an expensive gift — it’ll set you back $5,000, so you’ve really gotta be fond of the person to throw that much down. But for that 4-digit place holder, you can get in line for the $50,000 Model S.

7). Eco TV: Dubbed Europe’s greenest TV, Philips introduced the Econova LED TV, which consumes 40 watts in eco-mode, uses a solar remote control, and has partly recycled aluminum stand, in September. Greenpeace gave Philips props for the product, saying it is the first TV free of chemicals like PVCs and BFRs, and placing Philips “well ahead of other TV manufacturers.”

For more research on the smart grid check out GigaOM Pro:

• M2M is Taking Off From Kindle to Smart Grid
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• The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Images courtesy of mjernisse, Tesla, Frostfire, PLX Devices, Belkin, Public.

On Tuesday, People Power launched its Energy Services Platform (ESP), a cloud-based service to control the energy use of devices made by others. While People Power has until now put a lot of emphasis on its in-house Open Source Home Area Network (OSHAN) networking and communications technology, ESP will be fully compatible with ZigBee and Wi-Fi-enabled devices, Wang told me last week.

People Power once planned to develop its own products, but Wang made it clear that the company now considers its customers to be the manufacturers of lights, thermostats, office equipment, home appliances, and other future energy-aware equipment. He compared the approach to Silver Spring Networks, the startup with networking gear inside many of today’s smart meters. “What they do for smart meters, we’re doing for manufacturers,” he said.

That’s a pretty significant shift from what most have made of People Power’s original plans, but it seems to make sense. The home energy management field is crowded with me-too startups competing against some huge players — Google’s PowerMeter, Microsoft’s Hohm, Belkin and Intel, to name a few. A platform that can manage disparate smart energy devices and technologies could be a big selling point.

People Power’s new list of what it calls active partners — Texas Instruments, D-Link, Ricoh, Energy Inc., Esprida and Stanford University — give a hint at how the platform-plus-technology approach may play out. Ricoh, for one, is interested in going “way beyond office equipment” like the copiers and fax machines it makes, to offer an integrated office energy management solution, said Daja Phillips, executive vice president of U.S. subsidiary Ricoh Innovations. While she wouldn’t give any specifics on how Ricoh will approach the market, the company is testing People Power’s platform to control a number of devices, she said.

People Power isn’t alone in pitching a cloud-based energy management platform — companies like U.K. company Intamac are trying it out. At the same time, several new efforts centered on demand response seem to be aimed at an enterprise-wide platform for homes and businesses. General Electric has a home energy management plans that include smart appliances, solar panels, household batteries and energy dashboards. Companies like IBM and Cisco are putting together building energy management at the enterprise level.

Wang places emphasis on People Power’s open source approach to its technology mix (for more on that, read my report at GigaOm Pro, “Report: An Open Source Smart Grid Primer” (subscription required).) The company is also deep into smart grid standards development, he said. OSIAN (Open Source IPv6 Automation Network) is being developed alongside the IEEE 802.15.4g process, and ESP plans to support Smart Energy Profile 2.0 and other emerging standards.

As for the home energy management market, Wang pointed to its partnership with Energy Inc., maker of the Energy Detective — a device that also interacts with Google PowerMeter — as well as its ARPA-E funded partnership with Stanford University for examples of how it will still work on getting people engaged in saving energy. While Wang conceded that the home energy market will be harder to crack than the office market, he hinted at some potential partnerships for the company on that front — “Home entertainment tends to use a lot of power,” he noted.

In either case, company-by-company integration will continue to be a challenge for building energy management systems for years to come, he said. As long as that’s the case, “We want to be the universal translator, a software-as-a-service collection point, for this data set.” It will be interesting to see how a startup with a little less than $3.7 million raised to date ($2.5 million from New Cycle Capital, Greener Capital, and other investors, $1.15 million in Department of Energy research grants and $10,000 from General Electric’s Ecomagination prize last week) fares against the competition.

To read the rest of my article on GigaOM Pro (subscription required)

For more research on the smart grid check out GigaOM Pro:

• M2M is Taking Off From Kindle to Smart Grid
• Smart Algorithms: The Future of the Energy Industry
• The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Image courtesy of Agrion SF via Creative Commons license.