A11AberleHenriksonFischerAparicio

A11AberleHenriksonFischerAparicio

To-Do

Step 1:

• Try to find some relevant information (anywhere on the web) related to YOUR problem or topic.

• http://energy.gov/news2009/8381.htm
• http://en.openei.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Can you locate any relevant information about YOUR problem in OpenEI? Describe what you find there.
• What it would take for you to contribute information (which you may have found in step 1) to this site and what would motivate you to do so!

1. Describe the energy-related problem or topic your group selected.

The topic our group chose was the use of more efficient lightbulbs over standard incandescent ones.

Most lightbulbs in use today still utilize the old incandescent design. While efforts have been made to increase the efficiency of these bulbs, there are more energy-friendly options available. We are exploring the feasibility of changing the lighting setup of an entire house to more efficient lightbulbs and the subsequent effects of doing so. This involves any decreases in energy use as well as any energy bill savings that result in the change as well as seeing if any of these savings are canceled out in any way by the increased cost of the new lightbulbs.

2. Describe any Web resources you found about that problem or topic.

3. Describe any related OpenEI resources you found.

4. Discuss what it would take for you to contribute information (such as what you may have found in step 1) to the OpenEI site and what would motivate you to do so.

Contributing information to the OpenEI website is extremely easy for one who is properly motivated to do so. First, a person who desires to add information to this website would need to create an account on the Open EI website. Once this task is accomplished he/she is able to search for existing pages and edit or modify them with the knowledge he or she wishes to share with the world. Also, if there is not a page already in existence about the information that this person wishes to share, this person can just click on the "contribute" tab and then "add a new page." From here he or she can write out the information and then save it as a new wiki page on the OpenEI website. Motivation is a key factor in people putting up information onto this meta-design product. There are several factors that could go into the motivation. What would motivate someone like me is if I felt very strongly about some environmental issue. Feeling strongly about it is not quite enough though. It would take a realization that others are not thinking or caring about this environmental issue to make sharing the knowledge worthwhile. Another strong motivation factor could be something to do with trying to change something on one's own, but finding it very difficult to obtain information to do so. This could lead to working hard to find the information and then using a site like OpenEI to aid others in this same issue so that they do not have to go through the same trouble.