Automation and controls is a mature industry for non-residential occupancies. I have zero interest in reaching for a tablet/phone to turn lights on, to me that is stupid. Automation shines when you have:
- sufficient monitoring and logging to accumulate and centralize data
- the ability to process the data into useful reports
- someone who can understand what they are looking at when viewing reports
I feel like I should be able to spend a reasonable amount of money and know exactly how many hours my refrigerator ran last year, how much energy it consumed and if consumption is in line with published data or if it requires service. No reason why the system couldn't alert me if energy usage spikes or falls outside normal patterns. In fact there is no damn reason why any modern fridge that already has a circuit board can't provide this info without a proprietary interface or an service call. Same goes for every other appliance and device that uses energy. The data can be used to determine the length of payback if purchasing more efficient replacements. The other big win is sensing that can be used to control multiple systems. A motion sensor can turn on a light, that's simple. I want a vacancy sensor that detects a lack of motion over a certain time then turns off lights and AC. With enough vacancy sensors, your phone system will know whether to ring an internal ring group or forward calls to another destination. If my alarm is set, every system (lighting, heating, cooling, phone) can automatically shift to unoccupied mode. My programmable thermostat will bring heat on in the morning, but it doesn't account for holidays, won't self correct for DST and won't control other systems such as lighting. To do everything I have listed above, there is zero hope of a 100% open system and the costs would add 25% to the cost of an average house, probably more.
Phone System 