Archive for October, 2010
Smart metering: what potential for householder engagement?
Posted by: | CommentsSarah Darby from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute has published a useful article on smart metering and it’s potential for householder engagement. The abstract is as follows:
The argument for the implementation of ’smart’ metering, which is an elastic term, varies according to circumstance and place. In some countries, the business case for establishing an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) relies in part on improving consumption feedback to customers and assisting in the transition to lower-impact energy systems. There is an expectation that AMI will lead to reductions in both the demand and the cost to serve customers through improved communication, but little evidence exists to show overall demand reduction. To what extent might smart meters improve the prospects for customer engagement? To assess this question, end-user perceptions and practices must be considered along with metering hardware and economics. Using the theory of affordances, qualitative research is examined to understand how householders have used consumption feedback, with and without smart meters. Although AMI offers possibilities for household energy management and customer-utility relations, there is little evidence to suggest it will automatically achieve a significant reduction in energy demand. For that, there has to be a determined focus on overall demand reduction (rather than on peak electricity demand reduction), on designing customer interfaces for ease of understanding, and on guiding occupants towards appropriate action. Appropriate forms of interface, feedback, narrative, and support will be needed to reach diverse populations.
Building Research & Information, 1466-4321, Volume 38, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 442 – 457
Copies are available for purchase via the Informaworld site.
Smart Metering in the UK – Proposals for Delivery
Posted by: | CommentsOfgem and the DECC have published proposals for the delivery of smart metering in the UK. It invites consultation from experts and consumers on issues such as privacy and the handling of data. The deadline for responses is the 28 October 2010. Details of the documents are available at www.ofgem.gov.uk
Dehems Paper Jointly Written by the University of Salford and Hildebrand
Posted by: | CommentsProject partners the University of Salford and Hildebrand recently published “DEHEMS: A User-Driven Domestic Energy Monitoring System”.
The paper’s abstract is “Persuasive energy monitoring technology has the potential to inspire sustainable energy lifestyles within the home. However, to effect positive ecological behaviour change, a more user-driven approach is needed for the development of the technology, where the design needs to be accompanied by study on user behaviours and motivations, and the prototype deployed and tested on large sample sizes to understand user preferences.We present DEHEMS, a wide-scale energy monitoring system that undergoes three cycles of design, development and usability assessment so that it can help facilitate energy literacy and environmental awareness based on user preferences. Through real-world deployment, survey and focus group studies carried out in the UK, we present motivations and constraints for saving energy, user assessment of the DEHEMS pilot system and identify some critical user expectations and concerns. We describe how the usability analysis is then incorporated into the design of the next generation DEHEMS system and demonstrate that the resulting system achieves 8% reduction in energy consumption within the first week of feedback.”
The PDF is available here: DEHEMS – User-driven Domestic Energy Monitoring
