Storm Drain Final Project
Representing and Visualizing Energy Use
Storm Drain
Matthew Thurston
Jennifer Carlson
Michael Odbert
Terry Smith
Tyler Howarth
Abstract
As a group we are designing tools for motivating and visualizing energy use. We want to design a system that makes people want to save energy by bringing their exact energy use to their attention and presenting it in a way that can easily be understood.
It's important for people to save energy so anything that will help people do it is worthwhile.
Keywords
Energy - Any source of usable power, as fossil fuel, electricity, or solar radiation.
Represent - The act of portrayal, picturing, or other rendering in visible form
Visualize - to make perceptible to the mind or imagination.
Problem / Goal
Statement of the Problem / Goal — including how your understanding of the problem /goal has changed while you have worked on it over the period of the course
Energy companies give poor representations of individual energy use. When a consumer gets the bill at the end of the month, all they see is the dollar amount and Watt usage. Neither representation gives a good sense of how much energy is actually being used.We want to change that
There are also very few programs in place that are used to motivate people to save energy. Because there is not motivation to save energy, some people don't care.
We want to design a system that encourages people to use less energy.
Rationale — explain why the problem /goal is interesting and important?
Energy use is something everyone should be aware of. Energy sources are, in general, limited or are detrimental to the planet.
It is important to show people how much energy they use and how they can reduce their usage to reduce the impact on the earth and save the limited resources we have.
It will also save individuals money - something everyone likes!
Energy companies give poor representations of individual energy use. When a consumer gets the bill at the end of the month, all they see is the dollar amount and Watt usage. Neither representation gives a good sense of how much energy is actually being used.We want to change that
There are also very few programs in place that are used to motivate people to save energy. Because there is not motivation to save energy, some people don't care.
We want to design a system that encourages people to use less energy.
Methodologies
(e.g.: questionnaire, interview, data analysis, software development, testing of other developments, contribution to a Wiki site…..)
Related Work
- use this section to argue the uniqueness of your contribution
Real-time pricing
The Ability to adjust the thermostat based on real-time data
Abstract units don not mean anything
Energy usage is mostly invisible
Competition
Incentives.
- Relationship of your Project to the Themes discussed in the Course
We had Multiple Lectures on Energy:
- Sep. 15 - Application Domain: Energy
- Nov. 8 - Simulations, Visualizations, Eco-Arts and Warehouses for Energy Sustainability
- Nov. 10 - Meta-Design Environments for Energy Sustainability
Characterization of the Individual Contributions
We've been focusing on three main areas of research and analysis: Physical Representations, Competition on a group scale, and Competition on an individual scale.
Physical Representations - what models are in use; how energy use is presented to the consumer
Participants: Matt
I have looked at the effectiveness of direct energy representations and what makes them work best. I looked into the different devices such as
-The Wattson
-The Kill-A-Watt
They are the most effective
- Relatively easy to implement on a small scale
- Quite complicated to fully integrate
- They are the most costly
- They require consumer initiative and investment
Competition/Achievement Systems - Efficacy of competition and achievements in energy conservation; energy use within a community
Participants: Tyler, Michael
We have investigated and analyzed existing platforms such as Xbox Live, Foursquare, and College Dorm Energy Competition. All of these utilize social competition and achievements to motivate involvement. The most effective one seems to be Xbox Live. Xbox created a point system for every game they release. When you do certain things in a game, you can get a specific achievement, which in turn gives you points for your gamerscore. A gamerscore is the total amount of achievements you have across all the games you play. Having a higher score than someone only means you have played more games than someone else. It really has no meaning or value. Somehow, it turned into a gigantic competition system where everyone is trying to get as many points as they can. Having more points than someone gives you bragging rights over them and a higher status in the Xbox live community. It's amazing how numbers that only relate to how much time you have spent playing video games motivates people like crazy to play more and more games.
There are many pros of a competition based system such as achievements. A lot of people love competition. It can be fun to be involved in a competition and even better when you get rewarded for your accomplishments. Competition also drives interaction between people.
With the pros, there are also cons. Not everyone wants to be competitive and there is no way of making someone be part of a system when they don't want to. Also, the implementation can also be a little complicated. You need to find a fair way to give out achievements as well as being able to accurately figure out what achievements an individual has met.
Competition
We want to incorporate competition between neighbors and businesses, and even on a larger scales between neighborhoods, towns, or even states! Right now we'll just focus on competition between neighbors. You can see what percentile of energy usage you are at in your neighborhood. Based off of that, people will be motivated to get to a higher percentile, because no one want's to be in the 20th percentile. There will also be opportunities to get achievements based on how much energy you use compared to your neighbors. In the end, there can even be leader boards of who is saving the most and who is doing the best overall for energy saving.
Findings and Results (indicate specifically the aspect of the project you are most proud of)
We want to design a system much like the Xbox achievements. Achievements will be worth different amounts of points which will actually be useful. You will be able to redeem points for different rewards such as cuts on your energy bill, or gift cards from companies. (Companies can advertise they are energy conscious by supporting this program.)
- Ex: You used 10% less energy this month than you did last month so you receive 100 points. At 1000 points you can cash in and reduce your energy bill by 10%
We will always provide positive feedback for achievements. It will be simple, drive competition, and get people to save energy!
Personal Motivations - How can we motivate personal change in energy conservation?
Participants: Terry, Jennifer
"A revolution doesn't happen when society adopts new tools, it happens when society adopts new behaviors"
-Clay Shirky, Digital Guru
When motivating individuals to conserve energy, there are several factors that affect an individual's willingness to conserve. These issues in behavioral science can either work against their potential to conserve or, if exploited in the right ways, can be used to change an individual's mindset about energy conservation for the good. The first, 'time inconsistency,' says that an individual's decisions change depending on the time in which their decision is based; therefore, inconsistencies occur when "somehow preferences of some of the selves are not aligned with each other" ("Dynamic inconsistency," wikipedia.org). This relates directly to the issue of purchasing energy-efficient appliances or light bulbs; the initial cost is so high that people often would rather pay for a cheap incandescent bulb in the present then offset future savings by spending more money. Another issue is called the public good problem or the "free rider problem." This issue arises when people consume more than their fair share of resources; in terms of energy conservation, there's a mentality that individuals have in which they believe that since other people aren't monitoring their energy use that any conservation on the individual's part won't inevitably make much of a difference. In addition to time inconsistency and the public good problem, bounded rationality plays a major role in the decision-making process of energy conservation. This issue has been discussed in class, and it's based on the idea that an individual will make decisions based on the information they have, and that everyone has a certain knowledge which their decisions are founded upon.
Taken altogether, it is clear that meaningful and timely feedback are key factors in making a significant impact on changing an individual's energy consumption behavior. For example, the energy bill that an individual receives every month that is difficult to interpret is limiting the information that the individual has on their energy use. Therefore, their decisions about how to conserve energy is based on very limited knowledge and steps they take to conserve might not be as successful as others who understand their energy use better. In addition, real-time feedback can influence an individual's decision; "past studies suggest that more frequent feedback tends to be more effective" (Erhardt-Martinez, Donnelly, and Latner, "Advanced Metering Initiatives"). Therefore, feedback that is more direct has more potential to save energy, and studies have shown that the most direct feedback, real-time feedback, can save between 5-15% in energy consumption (Erhardt-Martinez).
Information is also more meaningful to individuals when grounded in context.
-Contextualizing feedback: showing the history of a consumer's energy use
-Types of feedback:
indirect feedback shows energy savings of 0-10%
direct feedback shows energy savings of 5-15%
Bringing it together
"Providing households with frequent, ongoing, and meaningful feedback regarding their energy consumption practices results in significant residential sector energy savings while engaging people to become part of the energy solution" - Advanced Metering Initiatives and Residential Feedback Programs
"A revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new tools, it happens when society adopts new behaviors."
- Clay Shirky, Digital Guru
"Feedback gadgets alone are unlikely to maximize household energy savings. Instead, the most effective forms of feedback are likely to include both products and services that provide consumers with a combination of detailed, frequent and ongoing energy consumption information as well as a meaningful context within which to interpret the information, a variety of motivational tools, and tailored suggestions for reducing energy consumption."
- Advanced Metering Initiatives paper
References (do not only provide a list at the end — but link to them from your document text where you indicate why this reference is important)
Erhardt-Martinez, Donnelly, Kat A. & Laitner, John. "Advanced Metering Initiatives and Residential Feedback Programs: A Meta-Review for Household Electricity-Saving Opportunities." ACEE Report #E105, June 2010.
Erhardt-Martinez. "Policy Innovations and People: Active Participants in the Energy Revolution" April 26, 2010.
McMakin, Andrea, Malone, Elizabeth, and Lundgren, Regina. "Motivating Residents to Conserve Energy without Financial Incentives." Environment and Behavior Journal. Feb 2002.
Todd, Annika. "Behavioral Science is the New Green: the Stanford Energy Reduction Initiative." The Observer. May 2010.
