User-Centric Energy Efficiency Interface for Manufacturing Industry

The twenty-first century has seen a significant surge in energy demand, particularly in electrical energy. Factors such as increasing demand in the manufacturing sector and exponential economic growth in developing nations are expected to drive a substantial increase in electrical energy consumption, projected to reach 40,000 TWh/a by 2040. Nearly 54% of the world’s delivered energy is consumed by the manufacturing industry and factories. These are areas of high energy wastage due to energy consumption behavioural patterns that arise due to limited impact of the electricity bill payments on the stakeholders and lack of environmental awareness, thus causing significant economic and environmental implications. To address these pressing issues, this paper introduces the Integrated Behaviour Action (IBA) framework that analyses the behavioural patterns of workers in manufacturing sectors for developing an effective User Interface (UI). This UI highlights the areas of abnormal energy consumption based on several factors, such as duration of usage, time of day, behavioural patterns, appliance placement, and the adoption of energy-efficient technologies. The application and dashboard provide suggestions to increase efficiency through analysing images and retrofitting aspects like ventilation, temperature control, and gamification methods (leaderboard and incentives) that triggers real-time alerts and smart monitoring of all machinery and appliances. This subsequently notifies facility managers and can lead to significant cost-savings and facilitates smart and sustainable manufacturing.