People or machines? Assessing the impacts of smart meters and load controllers in Italian office spaces

• Findings rely on 17,856 five-minute readings from three floors of an office space.
• Demand reductions with smart meters are 5.2% higher than with the load controller.
• Load controllers flatten the load profile more significantly than smart meters.

Government initiatives in several developed and developing countries to roll-out smart meters call for research on the sustainability impacts of these devices. In principle smart meters bring about higher control over energy theft and lower consumption, but require a high level of engagement by end-users. An alternative consists of load controllers, which control the load according to pre-set parameters. To date, research has focused on the impacts of these two alternatives separately. This study compares the sustainability impacts of smart meters and load controllers in an occupied office building in Italy. The assessment is carried out on three different floors of the same building. Findings show that demand reductions associated with a smart meter device are 5.2% higher than demand reductions associated with the load controller.