Transcript Document

Technology, Gadgets and
Energy Feedback
Comparing Total Household Energy
with Disaggregated Feedback.
Tony Craig
Socio-Economic Research Group
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
Aberdeen, Scotland
Email: [email protected]

What Behaviour…..?
• ….. Energy consumption is not ‘a behaviour’!
• Overall goal => reduce those behaviours associated
with high energy consumption.
• Efficiency vs. Curtailment Behaviours
• Essentially, efficiency is about maximising utility for
each unit of energy consumed.
• E.g. Buying a fuel efficient car (reasoned decision)
• Rebound effect problem
• E.g. Insulating a house may have a theoretical energy
reduction potential of 20%, but only 5% of these savings are
realised because the thermostat was turned up (or more rooms
were heated)
• If utility=“subjective satisfaction”, when do people
become ‘subjectively satisfied’? Is this important?
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Interventions
• Two main strategies….
– Antecedent Strategies:
– (Commitment, Goal Setting, Information)
– Consequence Strategies:
– (Feedback, Rewards)
• Combined strategies:
– (Goal Setting + Feedback)
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Energy Feedback
• One definition of feedback = “The transmission of
evaluative or corrective information about an action, event,
or process to the original or controlling source”
• Energy feedback = Feedback about household energy
consumption to the ‘original or controlling source’
• Making the invisible visible….
• Making the intangible tangible…..
• E.g. Thermometer; Gas Bills, Real-time electricity
display…
Tony Craig  Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Internal Temperature
Do people know how warm
their houses are?
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
Average Internal
Temperature
2
0
1965
External Temperature
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Source: Utley and Shorrock (2006)
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Increases in Efficiency
<18C
Inefficient House
Indoor Temperature
30
25
Efficient House
•What if the heat is all let out
through the bedroom window?
20
•When a house feels hot, people
open windows…
•Humidity is also important.
15
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Outdoor Temperature
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Disaggregated feedback
CH Boiler thermostat or individual room
thermometers?
Aggregate Circuit Monitoring
vs
Individual Appliance Monitoring
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Energy Feedback
• Indirect Feedback
Low
– Standard Billing
– Enhanced Billing (e.g. additional advice)
– Estimated Feedback (e.g. web-based
energy audits)
– Weekly feedback based on self-meterreading
Information availability
Cost to implement
• Direct Feedback
High
– Real-time Feedback (e.g. in-home displays)
– Real-time plus (e.g. including appliance
disaggregation)
Source: EPRI (2009)
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Study Overview
• “North East Scotland Energy Monitoring Project”
• Research Questions:
– What is the energy conservation effect associated
with real time energy feedback? (10%?)
– What is the energy conservation effect associated
with internet-connected energy display technology?
– What is the energy conservation effect (if any)
associated with individual appliance monitoring?
– What effect do these interventions have on wider
psychological factors (attitudes, comfort, perceived
social norms, etc..)
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
What stuff is involved?
MONITOR
IAMS
BRIDGE
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Internet Bridge
18th March 2010
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Watts
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15 minute time segment
Midnight 9th Mar - 7:30 11th Mar
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outdoor
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Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Internet Bridge
‘Neighbourhood’ averages
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Summarised Study Design
Monitor
‘Control’
Group
IAMS
(All groups will fill in a standardised carbon footprint calculator)
Group 1
(baseline)
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Group 2
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Group 3
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900
Group 4
InternetBridge
Following a learning period, 50% of the
monitor group will be set a difficult goal
(reduce daily KWhr by 20%)
328
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1228
Aberdeenshire Council
Employees
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
600
Recruitment
• Recruitment Questionnaire (online)
– Very short
– Job Title, Office, Demographics, Broadband Access
– Informed Consent
• Randomise to condition
• All participants fill in (at baseline):
– CO2 calculator
– Questionnaire about environmental attitudes,
behaviours, social capital, QoL, etc….
• 50% of monitor participants asked to reduce
daily consumption by 20% (after learning period)
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Timescale
• Control and ‘baseline’ group recruited already
• All other groups to be recruited in the next
couple of months
• Project to run for minimum of two years (8
seasons), with likely extension.
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
What works?.....
• Literature tells us that a combination of feedback and
goal setting works.
• This study will shed some light on the magnitude of
this effect.
• We already know the technical solutions to energy
efficiency – especially for keeping buildings warm –
improve the building stock.
• Simply giving people gadgets is unlikely to be the
most effective strategy in encouraging energy
efficiency.
• A combination of technology, gadgets and a better
psychological understanding of individuals is
needed….
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
Or….
• Going to bed earlier?
– Less demand for heating (and lighting)
– Beneficial for mental health.
• (sometimes the easiest solutions are the most
effective)
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]
The end….
Any questions…
Tony Craig Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  Aberdeen  [email protected]