Research presentation on the use of ethnography for understanding energy consumption and demand Presented at IAHS 2016, Algarve, Portugal

1. 14th September 2016
IAHS 2016, Algarve, Portugal
Sarah Pink, Yolande Strengers, Marta Fernandez, Amalia Sabiescu
RMIT University, RMIT Europe
Understanding Energy Futures
through everyday life observation
following an ethnographic approach

2. Invisible energy

3. Image: Jim D, Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

4. Ethnography
In depth insights into
householder experiences underpinning energy
consumption and demand
development and evolution of household routines
around appropriation of new technologies
implications for designing for sustainable forms
of energy consumption and demand

5. What is
ethnography?
Image: Tuomas Al Lehtinen, Flickr. Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

6. Research by means of “direct and sustained
contact with human agents, within the context of
their daily lives (and cultures), watching what
happens, listening to what is said, asking
questions and producing a richly written account
that respects the irreducibility of human
experience.”
– K O’Reilly, Ethnographic methods

7. Sensory ethnography
Video, audio and photo
tours of homes
Video recorded re-
enactments of household
routines
In situ observation of
everyday household life

8. Towards digital design interventions
to reduce energy demand
UK, 2010-2014

9. Low Effort Energy
Demand Reduction (LEEDR)
Cross-disciplinary study of domestic
energy consumption: engineering,
social sciences, design
Examining technological and social
dimensions of everyday household
energy consumption
Understanding how digital media can
be used for energy demand reduction
Assessing energy reduction measures
in the context of family life

10. Methods

11. Sensory
ethnography
for understanding digital
technologies and energy use
in the home
1. Home video tours
2. Video re-enactments
3. Video recording everyday
activity
www.energyanddigitalliving.com

12. Home video tour
Understanding how householders create and
make their home ‘feel right’
Image: Luis Alberto Martinez, Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

13. Image: Jamelah E., Flickr. Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Video re-enactments
Understanding habits, transitions in daily
activities, improvisation

14. Video recording everyday activity
Understanding energy consumption practices,
flows and synchronicities: media use, laundry,
cooking, showering, heating, ..Image: Filippo Baron, Flickr. Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

15. Design
inspirations
for understanding digital
technologies and energy use
in the home
1. Everyday improvisation
2. Flow: making the home
‘feel right’
3. Movement through the
home

16. Design in
practice
to inform concepts for low
effort energy demand
reduction
1. People, objects and
resources through time
and space (PORTS)
2. Personas
3. Design concepts

17. Studying intersections of people,
objects and resources through time
and space
Rather than isolating instances of ‘bad behaviour’,
understanding how energy use is enmeshed in
everyday activities
Examining complex meshes of activities and routines
across people, objects and resources
Applying ‘freeze frames’ at intersection points to
study activities in more detail

18. Charting laundry activities over time

19. Peaks in energy use during the day: matching appliance energy use
to intersections between energy use and home activities elicited
through ethnography

20. Laundry route: showing movements of people and clothing within
the home

21. Design personas: moving from real world data to wider patterns
across households

22. Design concepts
Kairos: allows to
set delayed times &
intelligent profiles
for appliances and
heating system
Anima: Visualise
the heartbeat of
the home, in terms
of health and
fitness
Hinterland: making
the invisible visible.
AR app that
visualises energy
consumed as loud
plumes emanating
from devices

23. Automating the smart home
Australia, 2015-17

24. Objectives
Understand how automated technologies are
incorporated into households and household practices,
and how they associate to changes in practices
Examine intersections between use of automated
technologies and energy consumption
Analyse matches and mismatches between
expectations of policy makers, energy providers and
manufacturers and the lived experiences of
householders

25. Methods
Content analysis of international media
coverage of smart home and automated
technologies
Interviews with Australian industry
professionals selling or installing smart home
products and services
Ethnographic research with Australian
householders living in smart homes

26. Smart home as
“a residence equipped with computing and
information technology which anticipates and
responds to the needs of the occupants, working to
promote their comfort, convenience, security and
entertainment through the management of
technology within the home and connection to the
world beyond .”
–F K Aldrich, Smart homes: past, present and futures

27. Ethnographic research
30 homes targeted (10 in
progress)
Site visits, household
questionnaire, interview,
home tour
Follow up by email, phone
or visit

28. Preliminary findings
Smart homes are a gendered project
Smart homes are fields of possibility,
integrated in but also transformative
for everyday practices
Smart homes demand their own energy

29. Conclusion
Mapping and shaping energy futures requires deep knowledge of how
people’s energy uses are enmeshed in everyday household practices
Qualitative research is fundamental to attempts to reduce energy
consumption and demand & move towards future (more)
environmentally sustainable forms of energy consumption
(Sensory) Ethnography
examining energy consumption practices the way they are
enmeshed in everyday activities and experiences
mapping development and evolution of new practices integrating
digital technologies
informing design of technologies and interventions for
encouraging sustainable forms of energy consumption
Enables understanding of relationships between everyday lived experience
(present) and what is technologically possible (future)

30. Sarah Pink sarah.pink@rmit.edu.au
Yolande Strengers, yolande.strengers@rmit.edu.au
Marta Fernandez, marta fernandz@rmit.edu.au
Amalia Sabiescu, amalia.sabiescu@rmit.edu.au
Thank you!