Energy consumption in buildings accounts for about 40% of total energy consumption [1]. The residential sector alone has seen a rise in electricity consumption by 54% since 1991 [2]. To a large extend, this increase can be traced back to the growing number of electrical appliances. While most large appliances (eg, dishwashers, washing machines, etc.) have become more efficient over the years, the numerous small appliances introduced into residential environments contribute significantly to today’s energy consumption. This growing number of devices and the lack in consumption transparency make it difficult to address the question of how to conserve electricity. Fortunately,“smart” pervasive computing technology can help to acquire underlying information and through combination with feedback and automation capabilities leverage energy saving effects thereafter.

Automated energy conservation is the most desirable form of saving energy. Due to the large variety of appliances, however, this is difficult to achieve in residential environments. Energy savings in such highly individualized spaces can only be achieved if we are able to plug into this diversity. The networked interconnection of physical appliances (Internet-of-Things) enables us to do so by re-using existing devices as sensors and actuators. Technological progress, such as smaller and more powerful hardware, embedded into everyday objects (eg, low-power sensors, embedded Web servers, etc.), facilitates this change. Combined with features becoming available through the smart grid (eg, demand response) automated energy savings can be realized in the background and mostly invisible for users.