Cleantech Forum: Details of Microsoft Hohm Energy Tool
February 24th, 2010 by 
The 26th annual Cleantech Forum begins today in San Francisco. With the theme of “Taking Cleantech to Scale,” this year’s conference focuses on how companies can take advantage of the growing funds available from government and the private sector.
At Friday’s “Information and Clean Technology” session, Microsoft’s Troy Batterberry will discuss the company’s Hohm software, one of the early strong entries into desktop home energy management. Below, Batterberry’s colleague Meredith Budwin previews his presentation.
Matter Network: Explain what Hohm does for a homeowner.
Budwin: Microsoft Hohm was designed to help consumers make smarter decisions about saving energy and money. Hohm uses information provided by consumers to provide personalized behavioral and home improvement recommendations, specific to their home’s situation.
MN: How does Hohm work?
Budwin: Consumers can simply visit microsoft-hohm.com to see, at a glance, how much energy and money they could be saving if they implemented recommendations provided by Hohm. From there, consumers have the option to provide supplemental information about their home to receive a personalized home energy report, complete with recommendations, estimated return on investment, do-it-yourself instructions and even contact information for local professionals, if they choose to go that route. They can also track the estimated environmental impact of their choices.
MN: Is Hohm linked to home smart meters yet?
Budwin: No smart meters are required to use Hohm, however Hohm was designed to support smart meters. We are currently evaluating several possible smart meter and device partnerships.
MN: Who do you see as your main competitors?
Budwin: While there may be other energy saving tools on the Web, very few offer the same level of personalized recommendations as Hohm. Hohm also offers a deep community for users to engage with- both on Hohm and on Facebook and Twitter, which makes Hohm’s product even more unique.
MN: Any word yet on how the service is helping homeowners save energy?
Budwin:We have been very pleased with the great feedback we’ve received from our users and the online Hohm community during the beta phase of Hohm. The Hohm team is continually evaluating ways to improve the application based on feedback we receive.
Article appearing courtesy Matter Network.
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