SAN FRANCISCO -- Functional trumped futuristic at the Cleantech Open this year.

EcoFactor, which has produced an energy management system for homes that doesn't need a smart meter, won the national grand prize. Other finalists included modular solar maker Armageddon Energy (see award-winning video here) and companies that promise to turn sewage and carbon dioxide into plastic and other materials. Waste heat specialist Alphabet Energy was also a finalist.

The alumni award went to Adura Technologies, which specializes in managing lights (and in the future energy) in commercial buildings. The sustainability went to HydroVolts, which has created a tidal turbine that extracts power from irrigation ditches. I kid you not. It's great stuff. Read more here. Adura is already in the market and EcoFactor will be soon.

In EcoFactor's system, a wireless thermostat sends data to a home DSL or cable box. A continual exchange of data between the home gateway and EcoFactor's servers then allows EcoFactor's servers to modulate the temperature up or down according to parameters set by the consumer and data gathered about a consumer's usage and behavior.

The centralized servers also analyze local weather patterns in order to forecast or devise a cooling/heating strategy for the next 24 hours. The weather data, along with the historical data about your home, effectively forms a thermal profile of your home that allows the company to fine-tune power consumption and reduction.

"It's like cruise control for the air conditioner," CEO John Steinberg told us earlier this month. "We are not taking away any form of control. We are doing what you would do if you were paying attention."

Oncor, the Texas utility, has tested the system in a limited number of homes and contracted with EcoFactor to install the system into close to 2,000 homes. That will give Oncor approximately 3 megawatts worth of demand response capacity it can turn to on emergency days.

Overall, the system can cut heating and air conditioning power by 20 percent to 30 percent, Steinberg claims.

The Cleantech Open seeks out promising startups throughout the western U.S. and then gives them publicity and prizes. It's a great start for anyone.