Winners of DOE’s “Apps for Energy” competition will help buildings save money with energy use data

by Brianna Crandall — May 28, 2012—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on May 22 the first round of winners for its “Apps for Energy” competition, with app developers submitting more than 50 innovative mobile and Web applications that will help utility consumers save money by making the most of their “Green Button” electricity usage data. The winners were selected by a diverse panel of expert reviewers drawn from government and the energy and technology communities; Popular Choice awards will also be announced after the conclusion of a public voting period underway until May 31.

“We’re pleased to see such a strong response to our call for innovative new apps that will save consumers money by saving energy,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “This is about giving consumers easy access to information so they can make sense of their electricity bill—and more importantly, reduce their electricity bill.”

Developers competing in “Apps for Energy” created apps that are designed to make the best use of the data provided through the President’s Green Button initiative, which recently announced that nine major utilities and electricity suppliers will provide more than 31 million customers access to data about their own energy use.

Eligible apps included those for mobile phones, computers, tablets, software programs and more — providing new tools for understanding their electricity usage, taking action, and making better-informed decisions. The winning apps—which are sharing prize money provided jointly by the Department and three private sector cosponsors of the competition—were announced at Connectivity Week, a gathering of smart grid industry leaders in Santa Clara, California.

The DOE also announced new funding partnerships with utilities, local governments, and communities to create programs that empower consumers to better manage their electricity use through improved access to their own electricity consumption data.

Winners for the “Apps for Energy” competition are:

• Best Overall App Grand Prize: Leafully ($30,000); Seattle, Washington; Timothy Edgar and Nathan Jhaver. Leafully helps utility customers visualize their Green Button data as a variety of units, such as the amount of trees needed to offset an individual’s energy usage, and encourages users to set energy savings goals and to share their progress on Facebook.
  
• Best Overall App Second Prize: Melon ($15,000); Washington, DC. Melon utilizes Green Button data to simplify the process of obtaining an ENERGY STAR benchmark for commercial buildings. The app uses Green Button to evaluate the energy performance of commercial buildings, providing basic information about the building and its energy usage and delivering an ENERGY STAR score as well as recommendations on reducing energy waste and saving money.
  
• Best Overall App Third Prize: VELObill ($7,500); New York, NY. Cleantech software and services company Zerofootprint’s VELObill app helps makes it easier for utility customers to view and evaluate their energy usage and compare it to that of their peers. Users can then create an energy-saving action plan tailored to their individual needs and preferences.
  
• Best Student App Grand Prize: wotz; Irvine, CA; University of California, Irvine. The wotz app lets users explore and play with Green Button data. It provides several games based on the “shape” of users’ data, and provides creative comparisons to illustrate that usage, like how many cheeseburgers worth of energy they used last Tuesday from 5-6 pm.
  
• Best Student App Second Prize: Budget It Yourself; Cleveland, OH; Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Institute of Art. The app, a collaborative project of teams from both schools, helps users track their energy usage and make energy-savings goals.