Going Green with People Counters

With about 40% of energy usage being accounted for by buildings, people counters have become a valuable investment for any company interested in being "green"… to save money. With numerous environmental problems tied to building inefficiencies, it is important to measure performance in emissions reduction, improved air quality and water and energy conservation.

Traffic monitoring is an evolving technology that has already been proven to reduce costs in other areas like staffing. Other current and previous technologies relied mostly on motion sensors, often inaccurate and disruptive in quiet settings. Using people counters, each room and area is continually monitored for occupancy, creating an energy efficient organization. Lighting and temperature levels can be perpetually adjusted based on consumption per person, accommodating a comfortable and productive, yet efficient level. Using people counters, highly accurate information is available near real-time to integrate with building automation systems. Businesses can decrease waste of valuable resources in underutilized building areas and conserve the energy budget for higher trafficked areas. This reduces wasted energy which in turn reduces your energy bill.

As the construction and maintenance of both commercial and residential buildings move in the "green" direction it is becoming obvious that monitoring is a must. A scale of efficiency performance in these areas has been developed by the US Green Building Council called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED, for short, is a voluntary program providing certification for green initiatives in construction and retail. A variety of industries are participating in this program, including the government which requires its own buildings be LEED certified. Many of these industries are choosing to use traffic monitoring as a means to move forward in the "green" movement.