Transcript Slides - Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information

Energy Literacy and ‘Green IS:’
Preparing Global Citizens for a
Post-Carbon World
Catherine Dwyer, PhD.
Pace University
New York
Agenda
Slides and links to curriculum examples are on my
website http://csis.pace.edu/~dwyer
How I became interested in Sustainability
About Pace University and Sustainability
‘Green IS/IT’ and ‘Energy Literacy’
New AIS chapter of SIGGreen
Questions and Discussion
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My background and motivation
Associate Professor, Information Systems, Pace University
in New York
Research into impact of technology on social norms and
practices. I try to understand Sustainability issues by
examining technology embedded in a social context
Three years I have been working on sustainability
curricula materials for a course in information technology,
specifically “Energy Literacy”
Energy Literacy is defined as a cognitive fluency with the
economic, technical, and social components of energy use
The goal is to give global citizens the ability to make
informed and enlightened energy consumption decisions
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Interest sparked by ‘greening’ my
Apartment Building in NYC (2004 –
present)
266 Solar Panel
Array providing
~50 KW/ year,
about 10% of
common electrical
needs (came
online Jan. 2008)
Building
has 217
apartments
NY Times Video of Solar Installation
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‘Greening’ Effort Led by Jim Dwyer
Jim Dwyer (right) with
Chris Kay (constructor
supervisor) in front of
component of cogeneration project, to
be completed in July
2010, saving 30,000
gallons of fuel oil,
removal of 700 tons of
carbon emissions and
other particulates.
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Pace University founded in
1906 in Downtown
Manhattan
Pace students combine class
work with field work
Pace Law School
is a leader in
Environmental
Law
Pace founding member of
Environmental Consortium
of Hudson Valley Colleges
& Universities (53
members)
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“River Summer” Programs Along
Hudson River
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Pace University programs in Brasil
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Pace professor
Dr. Claudia Green
brings 25 Pace
students each year to
Brasil to work on
sustainable
development projects
Example: Creation of
"Green Map“ for
village of Paraty,
highlighting sustainable
lodging, and restaurants
Pace also supports
Amigos Digitais program,
bringing laptops to
Escola Pace, a preschool
in Rio founded by Pace professor emeritus Jordan Young, PhD
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We are at a critical turning point
2004
1941
The Retreat of Muir
Glacier, in Alaska
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Record rains cause mudslides in Rio De
Janeiro, April 2010
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Desperate efforts to obtain petroleum
Gulf of
Mexico
Oil
Disaster,
April
2010
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Reaching limits of Nine Planetary
Boundaries
‘A safe operating space for
humanity,’
Nature, September 2009
“We estimate that
humanity has already
transgressed three
planetary boundaries:
for climate
change, rate of
biodiversity loss, and
changes to the global
nitrogen cycle.”
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How IS Can Impact Sustainability
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“We propose the IS community must engage
in the development of environmentally
sustainable business practices. As IS
researchers, educators, journal editors,
and association leaders, we need to
demonstrate how the transformative
power of IS can be leveraged to create an
ecologically sustainable society.”
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Watson, R. T., Boudreau, M.-C., & Chen, A. J. (2010). Information Systems
and Environmentally Sustainable Development: Energy Informatics and New
Directions for the IS Community. MIS Quarterly
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The Synergy Between IS and
Sustainability
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The IS skill set ports over directly to Sustainability
We (IS) analyze how systems actually work, not just how
they are designed
Fundamental IS concepts are directly applicable to
sustainability issues, and provide ways to measure and
encourage workable solutions
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Sustainability requirements analysis
Socio-technical systems
Supply chain planet earth
Interoperability
Distributed systems
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Interoperability
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A real virtue in any information system, it can be very
helpful if applied to energy consuming systems
Make them interoperable so they can work with any
energy source – wind, solar, ethanol, etc.
Brasil is the leader in the use of flex-fuel, this concept can
be extended to many other kinds of systems
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IS and Brasil: Global Leaders for
Sustainability
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Brasil is a global leader in
renewable energy sources
(hydropower and ethanol)
Not just talk – in Brasil, it
works!
Solution depended on
interaction of technology
(flex-fuel engines),
agriculture (ethanol), and
public policy (ban of
gasoline-only vehicles)
This model works, and we
need to deploy it around
the globe
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Ethanol distillery, Piracicaba, São
Paulo State.
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Distributed versus centralized
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IS concept: advantages and disadvantaged of distributed
versus centralized computing systems
Advantage of distributed: more flexible, efficient, and
more responsive
Advantage of centralized: better consistency, quality
assurance, and standardization
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Centralized power generation
Centralized
power
generation is
very inefficient,
converting only
30% of energy
into electricity
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Distributed power generation
Distributed
power captures
‘waste heat’
and uses it for
other needs
(heating, hot
water), for
~80% efficiency
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Current project:
Co-generation, or
combined heat and
power
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Giant containers for hot water heated as
a by-product of electrical generation
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These tanks will replace our use of
30,000 gallons of diesel fuel to make
hot water
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Critical themes for IS and Sustainability
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‘Green IT’ – Minimize environmental impact of the data
center, and running technology in general
‘Green IS’ – sophisticated information systems that
monitor and optimize use of resources
IS Educators – develop case studies, exercises, and
materials that give students a richer understanding of
intersection of energy policy, technical design, and
individual choices
Green HCI (next slide)
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‘Green HCI’
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It is much easier to
monitor Facebook
activity compared to
daily energy use
‘Green HCI’ – provide
clear and actionable
energy consumption
interfaces, that enable
users to minimize
their energy use
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Standard
meter
Smart
meter
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Energy Literacy Project
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What is energy literacy?
Individual consumption decisions do have ecological
consequences
Understand the relationship between individual
consumption decisions and limits of the earth’s resources
Influence energy consumption choices
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Energy Literacy
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Definition: baseline fluency and knowledge of the
complexities related to energy and energy use. It
embodies scientific, technical, economical and energy
policy awareness. The objective of developing Energy
Literacy is to lead to an increase in sustainable energy use
behavior.
Topics:
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Comparing different fossil fuels
Understanding renewable energy alternatives
See connection between individual consumption decisions, and
resulting carbon emissions and environmental impact
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Why energy literacy rather than climate
change?
Climate change is
extremely
complex, and hard
to explain to nonscientists
Energy can serve
as a proxy for all
sustainability
issues
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Data
from
Wichita,
Kansas,
USA
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Variability lowers public’s ‘belief’ in climate
change
This outlier undermines
climate change argument
Analysis of
Energy Use
is more
tangible,
more
immediate
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Data from
Bela
Horizonte,
Brasil
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Extensions of Literacy Construct
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Literacy is the “ability to understand, create, and use printed
and written materials associated with varying context
…enabling individuals to develop their knowledge and
potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider
society,” (UNESCO)
Extensions of Literacy have two key components:
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defines a baseline cognitive fluency related to a specific knowledge
area
Establishment of this fluency is a social good that supports a more
engaged citizenry
Examples include information technology literacy (Snyder et al.,
1999), information and communications technology (ICT) ereadiness (Gomez & Turoff, 2007), and mathematical literacy (Meyer
& Dwyer, 2006).
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http://csis.pace.edu/~dwyer/EnergyLiteracy
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Energy Data Analysis Module
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Students follow a series of energy data analysis exercises
(using Excel)
This exposes students to 'real world' data sources (from
US Energy Information Agency (EIA http://www.eia.doe.gov/). Using 'real world data' exposes
students to more complex data sets than are typically
included in classroom assignments.
Students are assigned increasingly complex assignments,
are exposed to more complicated problems, and are
asked to provide insights on multi-layered scenarios
without a simple 'yes no' answer.
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Reading and online discussion module
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In parallel with data analysis, students were assigned a
weekly reading and discussion exercise
Readings provide a context to energy use, and a
framework with which to interpret the findings of their
data analysis.
Tapped Out, National Geographic 6/2008
Europe Turns Back to Coal, Raising Climate Fears, NY
Times 4/23/2008
The Inevitable Peaking of World Oil Production, The
Atlantic Council 10/2005
Online Chapter on Sustainable Information Systems (IS),
The Global Text Project 2008
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Group Website and Sustainability
Analysis Module
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Capstone project - student teams produced a group
web page that presented a sustainability analysis of a
particular company.
Overview of target company: Summary of company’s
strengths, weaknesses, leadership issues; an overall view
of sustainability within the industry as a whole
Examples of Sustainability practices: Describes two
examples of sustainability efforts applying Framework of
Sustainability Options (from the ‘Green’ IS reading)
Comparison of company to its competitors
Team Bio Page
Project source page
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Student
Sites
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Evaluation of Energy Literacy materials
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How does this course impact attitudes and behaviors
towards sustainability?
Conducted pre- and post-course survey of measures
adapted from scale of Environmentally Responsible
Behavior (ERB) and New Environmental Paradigm (NEP)
Students were also asked open ended questions about
sustainability and their response to the course materials
No significant difference between measures for pre and
post course results (p = .056 for Carbon Tax question)
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Summary of Results
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Analysis of Attitude Clusters
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Students attitudes towards sustainability formed three
clusters:
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Denial - Denies climate change is “real,” and has no intention
to change consumption behavior
Agency/Self-Efficacy - Individual recognizes climate change as
an urgent issue, believes their own actions can contribute to
a solution
Anxiety - Individual expresses concern that climate
change/energy shortages with lead to chaos and global
destruction
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“Denial” Cluster
Description: Denies climate change is “real,”
and has no intention to change consumption
behavior
 Measure (1 SD – 7 SA): “The so-called
ecological crisis facing humankind has been
greatly exaggerated.”
 Comment: “Sustainability is important for
businesses to do for the future and I agree with it...
It just doesn't play a part in my life.”
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“Agency/Self Efficacy” Cluster
Description: Individual recognizes climate
change as an urgent issue, believes their own
actions can contribute to a solution
 Measure (1 SD – 7 SA): “We must take
stronger measures to conserve our nation’s
resources.”
 Comment: “I think everyone has a responsibility
to help keep our environment livable.The impact of
sustainability has a dramatic impact on my future.”
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“Anxiety” Cluster
Description: Individual expresses concern
that climate change/energy shortages with lead
to chaos and global destruction
 Measure (1 SD – 7 SA): “When humans
interfere with nature it often produces
disastrous consequences.”
 Comment: “The Earth I live on could potentially
become a wasteland if humans do not change
their attitude about sustainability”.
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Summary of Analysis
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In pre-course survey, Denial cluster was strongest
predictor of attitudes toward Sustainability, and Anxiety
the lowest
In post-course survey, Denial cluster became weak
predictor of attitudes towards Sustainability, and Agency/
Self-Efficacy and Anxiety Clusters became stronger
predictors
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Student end of term comments
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Sustainability was not something I usually thought about
but now I will pay more attention to make sure I am doing
anything that I can to contribute.
2012 Doomsday
I have joined the Pace Sustainability committee and have
declared an Environmental Studies minor.
I will actually start taking "go green" more seriously
if we practice sustainability our futures can be better ones
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New AIS Chapter SIGGreen
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“The mission of SIGGreen is be a forum that brings
together members of AIS who have an interest in, and
passion for, environmental responsibility and
sustainability as an area where IS has the potential
to really make a difference. Environmental issues present
enormous challenges that are of global concern and
therefore are now the responsibility of everyone,
including the IS profession who can play a prominent in
meeting these challenges. … The field of IS has the
understanding and expertise to be central to this
range of environmental solutions.”
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Online resources for SIGGreen
Ning Site:
http://greenis.ning.com/
SIGGreen Wiki:
http://siggreen.wikispaces.com/
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How to join SIGGreen
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AIS member? Go to http://home.aisnet.org/ join the
SIGGreen through the membership pages (dues are $10
US)
Attending AMCIS 2010 in Lima, Peru? Come to the
SIGGreen planning meeting – Friday August 13th at 5:30
local time
Join the SIGGreen Ning Site – send me an email to ask
for invitation to join
Visit the SIGGreen WikiPage:
(http://siggreen.wikispaces.com/ - send me an email to
request membership)
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Recommended Green IS papers
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Chen, A. J. W., Boudreau, M. C., & Watson, R. T. (2008). Information
systems and ecological sustainability. Journal of Systems and
Information Technology, 10(3), 186-201.
Hilty, L. M., & Ruddy, T. F. (2010). Sustainable Development and ICT
Interpreted in a Natural Science Context. Information, Communication
and Society, 13(1), 7-22.
Smil, V. (2006). Energy at the Crossroads. OECD Global Science
Forum. Retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/52/25/36760950.pdf
Watson, R., Boudreau, M.-C., Chen, A., & Huber, M. (2007). Green IS:
Building Sustainable Business Practices. In R. Watson (Ed.),
Information Systems. Atlanta, Georgia: The Global Text Project.
Watson, R. T., Boudreau, M.-C., & Chen, A. J. (2010). Information
Systems and Environmentally Sustainable Development: Energy
Informatics and New Directions for the IS Community. MIS
Quarterly, 34(1), 23-38.
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http://csis.pace.edu/~dwyer/EnergyLiteracy
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Questions?
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Thank you!
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Slides and Energy Literacy materials are available at
http://csis.pace.edu/~dwyer
Contact information:
Cathy Dwyer, PhD.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: ProfCDwyer
Skype: cdwyer900
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