understanding energy futures
TRANSCRIPT
14th September 2016 IAHS 2016, Algarve, Portugal
Sarah Pink, Yolande Strengers, Marta Fernandez, Amalia SabiescuRMIT University, RMIT Europe
Understanding Energy Futures through everyday life observation following an ethnographic approach
Ethnography In depth insights into
householder experiences underpinning energy consumption and demand
development and evolution of household routines around appropriation of new technologies
implications for designing for sustainable forms of energy consumption and demand
Research by means of “direct and sustained contact with human agents, within the context of
their daily lives (and cultures), watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking
questions and producing a richly written account that respects the irreducibility of human
experience.”
– K O’Reilly, Ethnographic methods
Sensory ethnography
Video, audio and photo tours of homes
Video recorded re-enactments of household routines
In situ observation of everyday household life
Low Effort Energy Demand Reduction (LEEDR)Cross-disciplinary study of domestic energy consumption: engineering, social sciences, design
Examining technological and social dimensions of everyday household energy consumption
Understanding how digital media can be used for energy demand reduction
Assessing energy reduction measures in the context of family life
Sensory ethnography for understanding digital
technologies and energy use in the home
1. Home video tours
2. Video re-enactments
3. Video recording everyday activity
www.energyanddigitalliving.com
Home video tour
Understanding how householders create and make their home ‘feel right’
Image: Luis Alberto Martinez, Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Image: Jamelah E., Flickr. Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Video re-enactments
Understanding habits, transitions in daily activities, improvisation
Video recording everyday activity
Understanding energy consumption practices, flows and synchronicities: media use, laundry, cooking, showering, heating, ..
Image: Filippo Baron, Flickr. Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Design inspirations for understanding digital
technologies and energy use in the home
1. Everyday improvisation
2. Flow: making the home ‘feel right’
3. Movement through the home
Design in practice
to inform concepts for low effort energy demand
reduction
1. People, objects and resources through time and space (PORTS)
2. Personas
3. Design concepts
Studying intersections of people, objects and resources through time
and space Rather than isolating instances of ‘bad behaviour’, understanding how energy use is enmeshed in everyday activities
Examining complex meshes of activities and routines across people, objects and resources
Applying ‘freeze frames’ at intersection points to study activities in more detail
Peaks in energy use during the day: matching appliance energy use to intersections between energy use and home activities elicited through ethnography
Design concepts
Kairos: allows to set delayed times & intelligent profiles for appliances and
heating system
Anima: Visualise the heartbeat of
the home, in terms of health and
fitness
Hinterland: making the invisible visible.
AR app that visualises energy consumed as loud
plumes emanating from devices
ObjectivesUnderstand how automated technologies are incorporated into households and household practices, and how they associate to changes in practices
Examine intersections between use of automated technologies and energy consumption
Analyse matches and mismatches between expectations of policy makers, energy providers and manufacturers and the lived experiences of householders
MethodsContent analysis of international media coverage of smart home and automated technologies
Interviews with Australian industry professionals selling or installing smart home products and services
Ethnographic research with Australian householders living in smart homes
Smart home as
“a residence equipped with computing and information technology which anticipates and
responds to the needs of the occupants, working to promote their comfort, convenience, security and
entertainment through the management of technology within the home and connection to the
world beyond .”
–F K Aldrich, Smart homes: past, present and futures
Ethnographic research
30 homes targeted (10 in progress)
Site visits, household questionnaire, interview, home tour
Follow up by email, phone or visit
Preliminary findings
Smart homes are a gendered project
Smart homes are fields of possibility, integrated in but also transformative for everyday practices
Smart homes demand their own energy
ConclusionMapping and shaping energy futures requires deep knowledge of how people’s energy uses are enmeshed in everyday household practices
Qualitative research is fundamental to attempts to reduce energy consumption and demand & move towards future (more) environmentally sustainable forms of energy consumption
(Sensory) Ethnography
examining energy consumption practices the way they are enmeshed in everyday activities and experiences
mapping development and evolution of new practices integrating digital technologies
informing design of technologies and interventions for encouraging sustainable forms of energy consumption
Enables understanding of relationships between everyday lived experience (present) and what is technologically possible (future)
Sarah Pink [email protected] Yolande Strengers, [email protected] Marta Fernandez, marta [email protected] Amalia Sabiescu, [email protected]
Thank you!