davies presentation
TRANSCRIPT
A CASE FOR HEATING HOMELABS Prof. Anna Davies (Trinity College Dublin)
From niche to normal:
Driving energy efficiency through behavioural change
SEAI, 5th November 2015
Attempts to reconfigure consumption have improved efficiency, but there has been no absolute decoupling of economic growth and environmental degradation (UNEP, 2012)
Phase I - POP Backcasting approach: Designing Sustainable Practices: reframing debates from end-of-pipe use to the needs that using resources fulfill: ‘beyond efficiency’ - tools, rules, skills and understandings shaping practices
Phase II – HomeLabs: Technological, regulatory and informational innovations were acquired, tested and evaluated using ethnographic processes within Irish households over an intense 5 week period
SOCIETAL CHALLENGE:
CONSENSUS RESPONSE:
PROBLEM DEFINITION: HOME ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Technological
Fossil fuel dependant
Inefficient homes
Complexity in design
Socio-economic
Larger homes, fewer occupants
Affordability
Rebound effect
User
Expectations & norms
Invisibility of energy
Motivations
“How might our home heating needs be met more sustainably in 2050?”
20 Interdisciplinary stakeholders: designers, policy-makers, architects, engineers, consumer representatives, non-governmental interests, planners, suppliers, technologists
VISIONING WORKSHOPS: BRAINSTORMING
SCENARIO ELABORATION
Desirability, modification, ranking
Heat Layer
‘intriguing’ and ‘attractive’, but automation e.g. ‘spot heating’ and ‘personal heat vest’; risks of technology malfunction and the loss of practical “skills”
Community Core
concerns about privacy and loss of individualism and identity.
Carbon Control
positive overall, but unsure of technologies for control e.g. carbon quota scanner
Dominance of the ‘if’: yet-to-be-developed socio-technical innovations e.g. if it was functional, if it was equitable etc.
Green Dynamic Mainstream
CITIZEN CONSUMER WORKSHOPS
PROMISING PRACTICES
TRANSITION FRAMEWORK
WERE NEXT?
HOME HEATING HOMELABS?
PERSONAL WASHING HOMELABS Key issues: •Environmental: Water stress is likely to increase
•Governance: Metering and charges - inadequate public engagement
•Socio-cultural: Escalating water use in personal washing; low levels of conservation behaviour; disconnect between users and water supply
•Technical: Lock-in to existing infrastructure
Interventions are required to make our personal washing practices more:
1.ECOLOGICALLY CONNECTED to fluctuations in water availability
2.ADAPTIVE in response to a) water availability and b) actual cleanliness needs
3.EFFICIENT in water consumption and in meeting individual needs
HomeLabs Prototyped socio-technical interventions to promote these 3 qualities with users to evaluate their impact in promoting more sustainable personal washing practices
PERSONAL WASHING HOMELABS
HOMELABS INTERVENTIONS
Reminders to try particular products
Duck shower
Timer Shower litre meter in use
HomeLabs product line-up
HomeLabs interventions in-situ
WATER USAGE
47% DECREASE
LONGITUDINAL SURVEY … a work in progress
Baseline
(Week 1)
6
month
12
month
Changes
Av. No. of
showers p/w
8
8
7
Min. No.
showers p/w
5
(n=1)
4
(n=4)
5
(n=1)
Max. No.
showers p/w
10
(n=6)
10
(n=3)
10
(n=4)
9
4 3
2 2 1 1
0123456789
10
Takingshorter
showers
Using low-flow
showerheads
Pause andstopping
the shower
Turning offtaps
2-in-1groomingsteps e.g.leave-in
conditioner
Taking lessshowers
Using ashowertimer
Homelabs-led practice changes incorporated into daily washing routines (12 month)
4 4
2
1 1 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Non foamingproducts
Innovativehair and
bodyproducts
Dry cleaningproducts
Lower waterpressure
2 in 1products
Takingshorter
showers
Homelabs-led practice changes not incorporated into daily washing routines (12 months)
WASHLAB & WASHING PRACTICE TYPOLOGY
Heterogeneity in washing practices
• No one reason why people wash
• A large variance in the motivations, needs and expected results associated with different kinds of washing
6 key generic types of washing practice
• Participants’ stated key motivations for washing
People tended to practice 1 - 3 key forms of washing
• Each washing practice varies in frequency, time of day, water requirements & washing activities
Testing the typology: WashLab and the HOME\SICK exhibition: https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/homesick
WASHLAB FINDINGS (Residents in Ireland only n=1,235 58% of total sample)
9
4 3
2 2 1 1
0
2
4
6
8
10
Homelabs-led practice changes incorporated
into daily washing routines (12 month)
A CASE FOR HEATING HOMELABS? Positive findings to date from washing homelabs
– Amphiro meter trial = 22% reduction 1 mth study 60 Swiss households (Tiefenbeck et al., 2013a)
– Willis et al., (2010) = 27% reduction in water use in 151 households fitted with shower alarm 40 l
– CONSENSUS Homelabs = average reduction of 47%
Integrated interventions relating to tools, rules, skills and understandings yielded changes in washing practice
– Homelabs as testbeds for niche or prototypical interventions
– Utility of metering improved through use of the portal providing the motivation, learning, ability and support required to adjust their personal washing practices (benmarking, targets, alternative practices etc.)
– Power of disruption through homelabs encouraged ‘just trying it’
Heating homelabs could enhance nexus thinking between heating and water use
More advanced metering and user-focused design technologies in place e.g. O-power
Wide variations in practices over time as well as within and between households of different structures – no-one size fits all
Democratization of debates required – beyond technical fix & design-led interventions
Reorienting debates to focus on ‘needs’ opens up solutions-oriented discussions
WITH THANKS TO HOMELABS RESEARCH TEAM:
WASHING: Dr Ruth Doyle
EATING: Dr Laura Devaney
FOLLOW-ON SURVEYS: Jane Maher & Dr Mary Jo Lavelle
FUNDER: EPA STRIVE PROGRAMME
ALL RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
FULL DETAILS OF CONSENSUS PROJECT: WWW.CONSENSUS.IE