A3TEAMAWESOME

A3TEAMAWESOME

To-Do

Please answer the following questions about the article: what did you find interesting? what did you find not find interesting? what did you not understand? what did you learn (if anything) reading the article?

What we found interesting about this article was how it focuses on getting consumers involved with a large citywide project.  Since the concept of energy use is so abstract, the Smart Grid was designed to inform consumers of the nature of their energy use. The idea is that as energy users realize exactly how much energy they use, the more they will care about their power consumption. This can be directly applied to HCC, as one of the core tenets of Human-Centered design is that the user of a system should get appropriate feedback as they use said system. We wholeheartedly agree that the current standard of energy use feedback (i.e. a single number on a power meter) is insufficient to give the user a good idea of how energy is being used in their home. The article demonstrates this problem by showing a typical energy bill (page 4): the numbers on the bill are largely irrelevant to the bill-payer. Not many people know exactly what a kilowatt-hour is and even we are unsure as to what “Thermal Usage” means. We believe, as the designers of the Smart Grid did, that energy use metrics provided to consumers are largely irrelevant to how consumers actually perceive energy consumption. The Smart Grid tackles this problem by creating visualizations (when integrated with the EDC) of energy usage that the typical consumer will find useful.

The EDC was very interesting to us. We like the fact that is provides a medium for consumers to visualize and inform their energy usage within a collaborative environment. We found especially impressive the graph in Figure 8, because it revolutionizes the way consumers interact with their appliances and their house. Since even an energy-conscious consumer can have trouble conceptualizing their energy use, relating to the consumer exactly how much energy their television uses in standby mode is extremely useful. Even better is the fact that the readouts suggest ways that the user could save power. The improvements made with the EDC help put energy use into the hands of the consumer. The typical electrical bill consists of a few numbers that we believe are not useful in helping a user reduce their usage. By breaking down into categories how much power the user consumes and also showing the user’s unnecessary usage, the user can find ways to target specific appliances and electronics in order to reduce their consumption. For example, Figure 8 shows that the consumer can reduce their usage by 0.595kw per day by taking their TV off of standby mode. This is the sort of feedback that will help consumers conceptualize their energy use and is a great example of the intersection of HCC and utility design. However, we don’t think that the EDC is necessarily without flaws.

The article mentions many motivations that a consumer has for saving power or even interacting with the Smart Grid system at all, but it is somewhat difficult to draw conclusions from the data presented. The article says that the community around the users affected their involvement in the study, but in this case the users were all over the country and as such the data from their responses is inconclusive. A much better study would actually be to implement an EDC simulation in real users’ houses and then to observe how they interact with the system. It would be interesting to see if the article’s insistence that users reduce their consumption for other than financial reasons. Perhaps a good experiment would be to test two versions of the EDC: one with emphasis on the financial impact of the user’s consumption and another version that emphasizes the user’s environmental impact. Maybe future iterations of the system could incorporate machine learning to develop tailored ways of conveying power usage to the consumer. For more environmentally motivated users, the system could focus on displaying relevant information on the user’s environmental impact whereas for financially motivated consumers, the system could display relevant financial data.

Based on an exploration of the web, scientific articles, newspaper stories, ….. ? Write a Short Essay (about 1 page) about an interesting question / website related to one or more of the themes: Energy Sustainability, Smart Meters, Smart Grid

The Department of Energy published a lengthy report discussing Smart Grids and why they are necessary. Their website also goes into some detail about our future of energy. The idea behind the Smart Grid is have many forms of electricity, mainly renewable sources, accessible to the United States.  The Smart Grid could also be used to distribute this energy in an intelligent way.  For instance, many places have a set amount of electricity sent to their area.  Sometimes they use all of this energy, other times they don’t.  The Smart Grid would be able to look at the current energy usage and distribute it as necessary. This would avoid wasted energy use. 

One problem with the Smart Grid is how difficult it can be to implement. In 2008, Boulder was picked to be the first Smart Grid city, but in a very short amount of time the project was failing.  It was mostly due to poor management and estimation of costs.  The DOE also published a document entitled “Grid 2030,” which outlined the discussions behind the Smart Grid and the need to implement it. As consumers, we can see why it is hard for people to get behind the idea of the Smart Grid.   If some of us would not see the benefits of it for 20 years, there seems little incentive to support it.  The article we read for this assignment did a good job of explaining how to keep consumers interested and involved with the Smart Grid project.

The Smart Grid is a good idea to help solve the energy concerns of our nation.  If it can at least be implemented in one location, the idea would most likely catch on. Unfortunately, the Smart Grid in Boulder did not work.  However, it was not because people were not excited to see it happen. Implementing at least one Smart Grid area seems like the key to its success. 

Personally, we would be much more likely to support the Smart Grid if we could see it working.  Energy awareness is critical if people are to start supporting changes in energy consumption and take matters into their own hands.  Some of us have begun making small changes in our lives to reduce our energy use.  For instance, unplugging phone chargers and TVs can start to drop energy use. Sometimes it can be difficult to do if no one else is doing it around you.  If an entire household starts focusing on saving energy, the people living there seem more likely to do it.  Energy awareness is an important part of energy savings and if people get informed, they can start saving energy.

Briefly describe your own interests, experiences, actions, changes in your behavior (if any) related to “energy awareness”!

As young adults we are extremely interested in Smart Energy and Energy Awareness. Unfortunately though, it is difficult to become an active energy consumer when it is so unclear how and when energy is being used in our homes and how our energy use affects the system as a whole. For example, if we knew the full energy savings behind unplugging television and audio equipment when it will not be used for several days or the financial difference between running your dishwasher during the day or at night, it would be easier for us to become more energy conscience and, accordingly, smarter about the way we use energy.

As the Earth's population increases exponentially it is becoming vitally important for us to use our limited resources in the most efficient and effective ways. Implementing a Human-Centered Smart Grid is a big step in the right direction, but more research needs to be done before it can become a reality. The cost of implementing even local Smart Grid technology is staggering, and little is known about how the end-user would react to such a major shift in the way they're expected to consciously use energy. If such a Smart Grid was effectively implemented though, it's effects would be far reaching and could help promote the use of such technology worldwide.