Stuart Lombard
CEO, ecobee
How can simple changes to your home make a positive environmental impact? Stuart Lombard, CEO of ecobee, tells us how consumers can make a difference even in their own house.
You share a lot about reducing carbon footprint and conserving energy. What are some of the top ways homeowners can implement these practices with their family?
It can be hard to know where to start, but there are plenty of ways for homeowners to reduce their family’s carbon footprint and conserve energy. Some of these changes are small, while some require a bit more work, but making these adjustments will create more opportunities to spend time with the people you love.
- Upgrade your technology: Upgrading existing technology in your home can be a fast and easy way to make a difference. There are plenty of new technologies available that are designed to help you save money and reduce your environmental impact, with more being released each day. The new ecobee SmartThermostat with voice control is one of those technologies. Did you know that heating and cooling can make up anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of your energy bill? Being smarter about how you heat and cool your living space is one of the best things you can do for your family and for the planet. ecobee SmartThermostat can save you up to 23 percent on your heating or cooling costs. That’s a massive impact.
- Take advantage of rebates: If you’re doing a home renovation, research the potential rebates your electric utility, city, or state is offering. Plenty of communities are encouraging home upgrades that improve efficiency by offering rebates for things like new windows, appliances, roofing, or smart thermostats like ecobee.
- Talk to your kids: If you’re consciously changing your behavior to be more eco-conscious, use these opportunities to teach your kids why it’s important to make these changes. After all, they’re the ones who will inherit the world we leave behind. Explain why you’re walking to the ice cream store instead of driving, or why you’ve switched to glass Tupperware for lunches instead of using plastic bags. Here’s something for all the dads like me – teach your kids why it’s important to turn off the lights when you leave a room and encourage them to practice this instead of doing it for them.
How has smart home technology allowed for better environmental impact?
Given the opportunity, most people want to do the right thing and save money and reduce their environmental impact. But often, doing the right thing requires effort. Smart home technology like ecobee is changing that model and making it easier for homeowners to reduce their environmental footprint without asking anyone to change behaviors or sacrifice experience. In fact, smart home technology can deliver a superior experience and allow for a better environmental impact. If you think about it, your thermostat is a simple, inexpensive device and every home has one – but old thermostats aren’t designed very well. The experience isn’t great, and they waste a lot of energy. We saw an opportunity to take this mundane product and make it magical. Now, the ecobee SmartThermostat saves you money and energy, while delivering a better comfort than you could have ever imagined.
Your product is innovating home products while also making a positive change. In what ways will smart home technology continue to do this in the future?
If you offered people cleaner energy that was also cheaper, who would say no? What we’re seeing now is that renewable energy is the cheapest type of energy you can buy. By understanding energy pricing, its carbon content, the weather, and your home and lifestyle, we are helping people win with energy that is both cleaner and cheaper.
Really, smart home technology is only getting better and more affordable. As we’ve seen, technology can be harnessed to do great things, and if we choose to harness it correctly, it can help us to stop wasting the finite resources we have left. Some companies are already moving in this direction, but we need more to follow suit.
Where do you find your inspiration to make industry-shifting technology?
I am inspired by the potential of smart home technology to transform the way we experience life at home. Our goal is not only to make great products, but to leverage technology to make our cities more sustainable and more livable. We are working with researchers from major universities and research institutions on a broad range of research: everything from uncovering new ways to build more energy-efficient buildings to helping seniors live longer in their homes. We also work with community housing groups to provide energy efficiency to those who can least afford it.
What would you say to those looking to make lifestyle changes through smart home tech?
Go for it. Whether it is an ecobee product or not, there are a ton of smart home products out there that are phenomenal. Start with something that’s important to you, whether that’s a video doorbell to check on your deliveries, a security camera to keep you safe, or a smart thermostat to reduce your environmental footprint. Once you start with one thing, you’ll find another and then another, and pretty soon you’ll have a connected home.
Staff, [email protected]