Living the low life

Coventry University is researching practical ways to encourage low-carbon lifestyles. Shuli Liu explains

How can we best make it easy for householders to see, understand and regulate energy consumption? Under a new £1.2 million research programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Coventry University is investigating just these questions. The aim is to come up with practical ways of encouraging low-carbon lifestyles, particularly in terms of community life, cultural experiences, future society and the economy.

The EPSRC has conducted significant research into low-carbon technologies, intelligent monitoring and human behaviour to reduce energy consumption. However, the practical application of low-carbon technology is rare and householders lack a clear basis for directly relating their lifestyle choices to their

energy bills.

There are a range of reasons for this, including elements of human behaviour. Meters tend to be installed in inconvenient places, which discourages people from looking at them. Consumption is measured and displayed in units that are unfamiliar to most people. And households have no or limited access to real-time or personalised energy cost information.

On average, UK householders spend between 2.7 and 8.4 per cent of their income on gas and electricity, and 0.5 to 3 per cent on water. But unlike other items of significant expenditure, all of these bills are received retrospectively, long after the household members could have had an impact on controlling or managing them by modifying their behaviour. In this way, a disconnect has been established in the minds of many consumers between action and cost.

A further issue that is often overlooked is that non-bill payers such as children can play a large part in influencing energy consumption. In general, the awareness of digital energy management tools such as wireless monitors is low; and education on sustainable low-carbon choices that can fit with personal lifestyle preferences is limited.

The Coventry University project will address these issues by creating a platform for transforming how people see and manage their home energy use. It employs a device that integrates a smart meter with internet-enabled sensors, providing users with a simple dashboard on their PC, tablet or smart phone containing real-time information on energy consumption. This can be used to create forecasts and see the impact of changes in activity.

This is provided alongside a “virtual energy world game” to link each user’s data with broader ideas and advice. The user will be able to store, analyse and communicate via different social networking platforms and subsequently monitor the implications of their home-running preferences. This is designed to attract interest from teenagers and younger children – those for whom a low-carbon lifestyle could become the norm.

It is hoped that if more people see and understand the difference between old and new technologies and old and new behaviours, shifting to a low-carbon future will become more possible. At its highest level, the work could be fundamental to the government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan, creating the basis for a new culture of householder attitudes to energy use and management.

The success of the project in delivering genuine change will depend on action and support from industry in developing good, low-carbon technologies for domestic use – for example, reliable and cheap smart meters and enabled sensors. Related to this, the information technology industry needs to be involved in developing serious games and social media platforms to support personal commitments to low-carbon living.

That customers will become utility cost-aware is inevitable. Suppliers have the opportunity to be seen as part of the culture change, supporting their customers and demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and the communities they work with.

Shuli Liu, senior lecturer, Low Impact Building Centre, Coventry University

This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 2nd November 2012.

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