Assignment 3 - Team Cacti

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?

There were two specific ideas mentioned that were highly interesting. The idea of giving consumers near real-time feedback on their energy usage habits seems incredibly useful. There is currently a large disconnect when trying to compare device use to a end-of-the-month bill. It is hard to tell what device ended up using the most energy ("was it my fridge? maybe my tv?") and whether or not small changes (like being diligent about turning lights off when leaving the room) are helping. Good habits around energy consumption could be adopted quickly if there was decent feedback. With the implementation of a smart monitor, the fact that "unplugging appliances while they are off saves energy" could become much more apparent. Changes in energy use could be obvious within days, rather than still-confusing after months.

The other thing we found very interesting was the idea of providing a simulator for seeing how various changes around the house could affect energy consumption across various timeframes. This speaks to the ability to better understand the repercussions of various actions. The easier it is to see problems associated with an action, the easier it is to stop taking that action (ie, if you touch a hot stove, it is very apparent that you should not do that). The graph "Figure 7: Effect of Different Boundary Objects on Willingness to Change Behavior" was surprising, since it seemed to us that measurements like trees or money are easier to visualize than amounts of coal or kilo-watt hours. We did not understand why pounds of coal per year was the most effective way to show energy usage in a way that will make people change their habits. It seems like a much more abstract affect than others.

We were also unsure of how much room there is for collaboration or contribution. The idea that consumers being informed of their usage is great, but we didn't really see what actions these consumers would take as they move up levels in the ecology of participation (figure 2).

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

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