smart utopia? book launch presentation

Smart Utopia? Public seminar and book launch

Book available from: http://us.macmillan.com/smartenergytechnologiesineverydaylife/YolandeStrengers

Welcome

Professor Ralph HorneDeputy Pro Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation College of Design and Social Context

Smart Utopia?

Yolande StrengersBeyond Behaviour Change Research ProgramCentre for Urban ResearchTwitter: @yolandestreng @RMIT_CUR #smartutopia #resourceman

Thanks

• RMIT University – School of Global Urban Social Studies, Centre for Urban Research

• Rose Read, Sarah Pink, Alan Pears, Ralph Horne

• Cecily Maller and Gay Hawkins

• Beyond Behaviour Change research program

• Ben Goodall

4School of Global Urban and Social StudiesRMIT University © 2013

Smart Utopia?

Yolande StrengersBeyond Behaviour Change Research ProgramCentre for Urban ResearchTwitter: @yolandestreng @RMIT_CUR #smartutopia #resourceman

I am not an ‘energy’ expert


I am not a ‘technology’

expert


I do know a lot about everyday practices


Smart energy technologies

9

Image sources: http://news.techworld.com/personal-tech/3377043/panasonic-air-conditioners-and-washing-machines-controlled-by-android-app/http://www.prlog.org/10339688-how-to-build-solar-panels-for-your-home-in-under-200.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission

School of Global Urban and Social StudiesRMIT University © 2013

http://news.techworld.com/personal-tech/3377043/panasonic-air-conditioners-and-washing-machines-controlled-by-android-app/






http://www.prlog.org/10339688-how-to-build-solar-panels-for-your-home-in-under-200.html




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission



What is Smart Utopia?

• The international vision for smart energy technologies, in which the social and environmental problems facing the electricity sector are solved through data and technology.

• Advocated globally by:

– Governments; electricity providers; technology designers and manufacturers; consumer research groups; engineers, economists, some consumers

• Intended to:

– Address peak electricity demand

– Decarbonise the electricity system

– Secure electricity supply

– Enable greater uptake of renewable generation, electric vehicles, microgrids and other ICT technologies

– Empower consumers to participate in energy demand management

– Realise a ‘smart lifestyle’


A vision from the past

Westinghouse’s ‘Total Electric Home’

“Imagine this: Total Electric Living... where electricity does absolutely everything: heats, air conditions, cooks, preserves food, lights, entertains, encourages hobbies, makes it the easiest way ever for you and your family to be happier, healthier, to live fuller lives”

11

Source: http://thriftshopromantic.blogspot.com.au/2008/06/futures-so-bright-inside-1950s-total.html

School of Global Urban and Social Studies 11RMIT University © 2013

http://thriftshopromantic.blogspot.com.au/2008/06/futures-so-bright-inside-1950s-total.html

A vision for our future

12

• Control4 home automation: ‘Imagine a house that remembers to lock itself at 10 pm. Shades that close as the sun hits. A home theater setup that takes care of lights, sound and picture with one touch. With Control4, everything works together the way you want it to. Life is just better with a little more control’.

Source: http://www.control4.com/info/main-street-america


•Utopian visions have never eventuated as planned

•They are productive: they aim to do something(in this case solving energy problems whilst improving our lives)

•Utopian visions have unintended consequences

13

Warning!


The smart energy consumer

•‘The rise of the New Energy Consumer will ultimately become the driving force behind the Smart Grid and the Green Economy of the Future‘ (Zpryme, 2011: 1)

•The new energy consumer will ‘unlock the vast potential of the smart grid’ (CEA 2011: i).

•The smart energy consumer is transformative in realising the smart energy vision

14School of Global Urban and Social Studies 14RMIT University © 2013

Who is the smart energy consumer?

RESOURCE MAN


Kevin Nolan, vice president of technology at GE's Consumer & Industrial unit, shows off GE's demand response appliances and Home Energy Manager at GE's smart grid symposium at its Global Research Center in upstate New

York. Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10286278-54.html

Resource Man: the ideal energy consumer

• Educated in resource management concepts (kilowatt hours, greenhouse gas emissions)

• Interested in energy data and resource management concepts (e.g. uses an in-home display or web portal)

• Techno-savvy and technologically-enabled in managing his energy consumption (e.g. he has smart appliances, micro-generation and home energy management systems)

• Assigns management of his energy to technology

• Responds rationally to pricing signals (or his appliances do)

• Makes appropriate choices about the ‘right’ energy options to suit his needs


Resource Man: individual and gendered

• Operates largely independently and individually

• Makes decisions on behalf of his household

• Shares his resource management data with other ‘resource men’ through social networking sites

• Constructed in the image of the male-dominated professions of the electricity sector (engineering, economics, technology)

• Consumer data shows that the smart energy consumer is more likely to be male

Image source: http://www.globalgiants.com/archives/power_engineering_petro/index2.html


Micro-resource managers

•‘The goal isn't to move utilities into our living room—rather it's to allow consumers to take advantage of some of the same technologies utilities are finding useful in smart metering and monitoring/ managing the distribution grid’ (Harper-Slaboszewicz et al. 2012: 34)

Householders to become micro-resource managers or ‘Mini-Me’ versions of their utility providers (Sofoulis 2011)


Mini Me is a character in the second and third Austin Powers movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in GoldmemberImage Source: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Mini-Me-II-Austin-Powers-III-Posters_i8563546_.htm

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Mini-Me-II-Austin-Powers-III-Posters_i8563546_.htm

19

Family tree

Rational economic manHomo economicus

Choice ManHomo optionis

Social ManHomo sociologicus

Tool ManHomo faber Normal/ Average Man

L’homme moyen

Resource ManHomo facultas


Making Resource Man a reality

TWO STRATEGIES (involving energy data and technology)


1. Resource Man in control

Utilities need to ‘empower consumers’ (OSTP 2012) to ‘take control’ (CEA 2011) of their consumption and make ‘informed choices’ (AEMC 2011) about how they use energy.


Resource Man in control: Getting ‘energy fit’

• Electricity utilities are helping their energy consumers become ‘energy fit’ (SGA 2011: 34)

and ‘active’ (Accenture 2010: 37)

• The critical goal for energy providers is to develop ‘a new value proposition that convinces consumers that extra effort is worthwhile’ (Accenture 2010: 4).

22

The active consumer


Getting energy fit: Tools of the trade

23RMIT University © 2013 School of Global, Urban and Social Studies

2. Assigning control to technology: ‘cruise control’ and ‘set and forget'

24

The passive consumer

School of Global, Urban and Social StudiesRMIT University © 2013

Image sources: http://news.techworld.com/personal-tech/3377043/panasonic-air-conditioners-and-washing-machines-controlled-by-android-app http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/nest-labs-reaches-for-a-new-market/?_r=0

Performing a smart reality

• All human action and social change mediated by data and technology (ICT)


A self-reproducing smart reality

26

‘67% of consumers definitely (28%) or probably (39%) would participate in a Smart Energy Data Management program’ (Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative 2012: 16)

Over 90% of 5000 respondents surveyed for IBM’s 2008 Global Utility Consumer Survey indicated they would like a smart meter and associated tools to manage their usage (Valocchi et al. 2009).Almost half of Americas

(48%) would like to install a ‘dashboard’ in their home in order to ‘proactively manage their energy use’ (Harris 2012).


Smart energy

• Energy defined as a commodity ($), resource (kWh) or impact (CO2).


28

tweet-a-watta twittering power meter

http://www.1010global.org/uk/2013/01/what-does-eco-button-do

Ecometer in-home energy monitor (Landis & Gyr)

http://www.econtrols.co.uk/products/smart-meters-in-home-energy-monitor/

PowerHog Energy Meterhttp://www.bresslergroup.com/work/details/145/powerhog-

energy-meter

Energy-saving washing machine

http://www.1010global.org/uk/2013/01/what-does-eco-button-do

Smart phone energy apshttps://www.sticknfind.com/MeterPlug/

Kill A Watt Meter Clockhttp://www.p3international.com/

products/p4400.html

Ambient Energy Orbhttp://www.ambientdevices.com/

about/energy-devices


An unfulfilled reality

29

‘67% of consumers definitely (28%) or probably (39%) would participate in a Smart Energy Data Management program’ (Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative 2012: 16)

Over 90% of 5000 respondents surveyed for IBM’s 2008 Global Utility Consumer Survey indicated they would like a smart meter and associated tools to manage their usage (Valocchi et al. 2009).

Almost half of Americas (48%) would like to install a ‘dashboard’ in their home in order to ‘proactively manage their energy use’ (Harris 2012).

‘Many consumers around the globe do not understand the basic unit of electricity pricing and other concepts used by energy providers’ (IBM 2011: 1)

‘Over 30% of consumers have not even heard the term ‘dollar per kwh’ (or the equivalent currency), and over 60% did not know what the terms ‘smart meter’ or ‘smart grid’ mean’ (Valocchi & Juliano 2012: 6)

Consumers have been ‘less enthusiastic about smart meters than utilities originally anticipated’ (Vyas & Gohn 2012: 1)


WHAT’S MISSING?


Laundry


32

Why should we care about laundry (and other practices)?

• Clothes washing has become more frequent over last 50-100 years (Slob & Verbeek 2006)

• Showering once a day only became common in last 50-80 years (Davidson 2008). Now more frequent?

• Air-con penetration has almost doubled since 1990s. Now almost 75% of Australian households have some form of mechanical cooling (ABS 2013).


33

Practices are always changing…


Who’s missing?


Image source: http://www.control4.com/info/main-street-america

Who’s missing?

• Women (domestic activity)

• Teenagers

• Children

• Babies

• Guests

• Plants

• Sick people

• Elderly people

• Low-income households

• More than half the world’s population

• Pets and pests


Image source: http://health.ninemsn.com.au/pregnancy/exerciseandnutrition/700779/top-workouts-for-busy-mums

Who is missing?

• Women

• Teenagers

• Children

• Babies

• Guests

• Plants

• Sick people

• Elderly people



• Pets and pests


Image source: www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/engage-blogs/engage-blogs/Cybersmart/Do-school-holidays-mean-more-internet-use

Who is missing?

• Women

• Teenagers

• Children

• Babies

• Guests

• Plants

• Sick people

• Elderly people



• Pets and pests


Image source: http://metro.co.uk/2009/03/25/baby-bath-tots-in-seventh-heaven-572909/

Who is missing?

• Women

• Teenagers

• Children

• Babies

• Plants

• Guests

• Sick people

• Elderly people



• Pets and pests


Image source: http://www.ece.rochester.edu/~wheinzel/TripAroundTheWorld/india.html

Who is missing?

• Women

• Teenagers

• Children

• Babies

• Plants

• Sick people

• Guests

• Elderly people



• Pets and pests


Image source: http://www.zagg.com/community/blog/these-apps-turn-your-ipad-into-a-toy-for-your-cat/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=gplus&utm_campaign=These%20Apps%20Turn%20Your%20iPad%20Into%20A%20Toy%20For%20Your%20Cat

Taking people out of everyday life

Everyday life (and everyday practices)

Resource management Everyday life

Laundry, bathing, comfort, toilet flushing, house cleaning, cooking, entertaining

Site of consumptionMicro-resource managers


Part II: Technologies in everyday life

Everyday life (and everyday practices)

Resource management Everyday life

Laundry, bathing, comfort, toilet flushing, house cleaning, cooking, entertaining

Site of consumptionMicro-resource managers


Four ‘smart energy’ strategies

• Energy consumption feedback

• Dynamic pricing

• Home automation technologies

• Micro-generation


Reimagining the Smart Utopia


Beyond the smart containment lines


Why should we care?


Westinghouse’s ‘Total Electric Home’

“First impression? Warm and friendly. When guests approach your Total Electric Home, a soft glow of Rayescent (TM) lamps along the entrance path guides them up to the entrance. Additional lights go on automatically as they come near. Bright, cheerful entrance lighting and dramatic interior illumination extend a gracious invitation to your Total Electric Home.”

"When guests arrive at the door, a television camera takes their picture and transmits it automatically to closed-circuit monitors located throughout the house. As you view your guests, you'll be able to welcome them over the voice intercom.“

Source: http://thriftshopromantic.blogspot.com.au/2008/06/futures-so-bright-inside-1950s-total.html


Control4 home automation

“Once you have smart lighting in your home, it is hard to imagine living without it. Lighting is an integral part of our daily lives and a fun part of our entertainment experience. … My wife, Laura, likes the Christmas tree to be lit when she wakes up in the morning, and I like it off when everyone goes to bed.”

“Entertaining in a home with Control4 is fun and easy. It’s not an engineering project for our relatives or friends to use. The festive atmosphere abounds, everyone is having fun and the technology works in the background to enhance our holiday experience.“

Source: http://www.control4.com/blog/2013/12/smart-lighting-for-the-holidays


Smart lifestyle

• Sony automation

– ‘elevating your standards’

– ‘Warm up your Jacuzzi for the arrival home’

• Lutron home automation

– ‘Your home is a place where you experience comfort, romance, and peace of mind—a place where you experience pleasance’

Sources: http://discover.store.sony.com/ES/home-automation.html, www.lutron.com


Thank you


Yolande StrengersVice Chancellor’s Research Fellow

Beyond Behaviour Change Research ProgramCentre for Urban Research

[email protected]

@yolandestreng #smartutopia #resourceman

The secret life of electricity in the home

Rose ReadProject ManagerNorthern Alliance for Greenhouse Action

Energy in everyday life

Sarah PinkProfessor of Design & Media Ethnography RMIT University

Beyond smart utopian energy – observations from the battlefield

Alan Pears, AMPart time Senior LecturerSchool of Global Urban and Social StudiesRMIT University

DirectorSustainable Solutions

Questions/ discussion

smart utopia? book launch presentation

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