Project Details
Description
Objective
The objective of this project is to develop, through user-driven innovation, a unifying concept of how different IT solutions can be configured in the home, in such a way that they will become applicable and relevant for users.
The project focuses on IT solutions to make the energy consumption more efficient in the home or reduce it. Hereby, it will also identify users’ demands to control both comfort and energy consumption in the home.
The key issue in this project will be to develop a prototype of a configuration unit that can bridge the gap between various electronic products in the home and give users joint and easy access to the relevant control options, consumption data etc.
The user will have an opportunity to regulate his light, heating and electricity consumption through this configuration unit. At the same time, the configuration unit has to effortlessly become part of the user’s everyday life and offer exactly those functions, the user needs, it must be user-friendly and bring added value and comfort to the individual.
By means of the configuration unit, the user must be able to control the lighting in the home by making it turn off the light when it gets bright enough, turn on the washing machine, the tumble dryer or lower the temperature in the freezer when electricity is inexpensive.
Additionally, the configuration unit can be hooked up to DMI (the Danish Meteorological Institute) and thereby prepare the house for the coming weather (turn the ventilation on or open and close the awnings). A configuration unit can be used favourably both in new housing and in the existing housing stock. Both types of homes are included in this project.
Background
Today, energy consumption in private households make up 22 % of the total consumption in Denmark, and expenses for private energy consumption has nearly doubled since 1990. Thus, there is a great potential in making private users aware of their own consumption habits so in that way, they can take part actively in changing their energy consumption and habits.
Lots of electronic equipment already exists for regulating or reducing energy consumption and improving comfort in private homes. Unfortunately, only few people know how to operate it on a daily basis. Consequently, it means that today there is a huge untapped potential for saving energy and for changing the energy consumer’s conduct and habit in the home without compromising comfort.
Project Procedure
The initial phase of the project is a study of what motivates private users to change their energy consumption. Is it financial, environmental or other incentives that are necessary to make users change their behaviour? Moreover, the initial phase will be a survey of which functions an energy-controlling tool must offer the user on a daily basis. The project will also clarify how you can visualise and present the energy consumption in the house in a clear and motivating fashion.
Through e.g. cultural probes, situated interviews and FutureLabs, the project will clarify such questions as what the users wish to control themselves and what must to be automatic, in which way and how often, the energy consumption should be presented to the individual as motivation for energy savings.
In the succeeding more experimental phases, the project will in close cooperation with users develop and test prototypes of a configuration unit. The project will test and develop a prototype of a configuration unit in cooperation with a family from an existing conventional home in Århus.
VKR Holding will, along with Velfac as the project manager, finance an energy saving ”Vision House” in Århus (”Bolig for Livet” (Homes for Life) which will be completed in the spring of 2009. Afterwards an ordinary family will live in the house for one year. Velfac will make sure they incorporate intelligent control of the house, based on results from the user participation in previous phases.
Both families will be employed for outlining how far they will go with regard to the configuration of their homes. In addition, the project will simultaneously establish and include more reference user groups, through a user participation process, in order to base the user input of the project on a user group representing the general public. The very strength of this project is that the configuration of users’ needs and wishes are actualised in a prototype that is tested and refined in close cooperation with the users.
Besides the aspect of user participation, the technical challenge, which underlies this project, is to make the various electronic products that are part of today’s houses ”communicate”, in order for the user to get a total overview of the installations in the house and a chance to control them.
Results
User participation methods can be applied by companies both within the energy sector and the building industry in the development of new energy-saving products.
User participation methods for participation of users in their homes and private spheres.
Recommendations for which functions the configuration unit must feature to accommodate the users’ needs, wishes and demands. Recommendations for energy-saving behaviour in buildings of the future and the existing housing stock. A specific technically functional prototype that can be used and refined by the industry. Spin-off effect, i.e. behavioural changes that users can utilise outside the home.
Project Duration
The duration of the project is from September 2008 until August 2010.
Organisation
The project manager is Professor Peter Gorm Larsen from the Engineering College of Århus with assistance from Martin Hjorth Stender also from the Engineering College of Århus.
A consortium has been convened with relevant business partners and the Alexandra Institute for this project. The business partners will be an important part of the user-driven development process. They will serve as guarantors of the method applications and their relevance to the industry. The business partners are:
» Velfac A/S
» Develco products A/S
» Seluxit Aps
» Innovus A/S
The objective of this project is to develop, through user-driven innovation, a unifying concept of how different IT solutions can be configured in the home, in such a way that they will become applicable and relevant for users.
The project focuses on IT solutions to make the energy consumption more efficient in the home or reduce it. Hereby, it will also identify users’ demands to control both comfort and energy consumption in the home.
The key issue in this project will be to develop a prototype of a configuration unit that can bridge the gap between various electronic products in the home and give users joint and easy access to the relevant control options, consumption data etc.
The user will have an opportunity to regulate his light, heating and electricity consumption through this configuration unit. At the same time, the configuration unit has to effortlessly become part of the user’s everyday life and offer exactly those functions, the user needs, it must be user-friendly and bring added value and comfort to the individual.
By means of the configuration unit, the user must be able to control the lighting in the home by making it turn off the light when it gets bright enough, turn on the washing machine, the tumble dryer or lower the temperature in the freezer when electricity is inexpensive.
Additionally, the configuration unit can be hooked up to DMI (the Danish Meteorological Institute) and thereby prepare the house for the coming weather (turn the ventilation on or open and close the awnings). A configuration unit can be used favourably both in new housing and in the existing housing stock. Both types of homes are included in this project.
Background
Today, energy consumption in private households make up 22 % of the total consumption in Denmark, and expenses for private energy consumption has nearly doubled since 1990. Thus, there is a great potential in making private users aware of their own consumption habits so in that way, they can take part actively in changing their energy consumption and habits.
Lots of electronic equipment already exists for regulating or reducing energy consumption and improving comfort in private homes. Unfortunately, only few people know how to operate it on a daily basis. Consequently, it means that today there is a huge untapped potential for saving energy and for changing the energy consumer’s conduct and habit in the home without compromising comfort.
Project Procedure
The initial phase of the project is a study of what motivates private users to change their energy consumption. Is it financial, environmental or other incentives that are necessary to make users change their behaviour? Moreover, the initial phase will be a survey of which functions an energy-controlling tool must offer the user on a daily basis. The project will also clarify how you can visualise and present the energy consumption in the house in a clear and motivating fashion.
Through e.g. cultural probes, situated interviews and FutureLabs, the project will clarify such questions as what the users wish to control themselves and what must to be automatic, in which way and how often, the energy consumption should be presented to the individual as motivation for energy savings.
In the succeeding more experimental phases, the project will in close cooperation with users develop and test prototypes of a configuration unit. The project will test and develop a prototype of a configuration unit in cooperation with a family from an existing conventional home in Århus.
VKR Holding will, along with Velfac as the project manager, finance an energy saving ”Vision House” in Århus (”Bolig for Livet” (Homes for Life) which will be completed in the spring of 2009. Afterwards an ordinary family will live in the house for one year. Velfac will make sure they incorporate intelligent control of the house, based on results from the user participation in previous phases.
Both families will be employed for outlining how far they will go with regard to the configuration of their homes. In addition, the project will simultaneously establish and include more reference user groups, through a user participation process, in order to base the user input of the project on a user group representing the general public. The very strength of this project is that the configuration of users’ needs and wishes are actualised in a prototype that is tested and refined in close cooperation with the users.
Besides the aspect of user participation, the technical challenge, which underlies this project, is to make the various electronic products that are part of today’s houses ”communicate”, in order for the user to get a total overview of the installations in the house and a chance to control them.
Results
User participation methods can be applied by companies both within the energy sector and the building industry in the development of new energy-saving products.
User participation methods for participation of users in their homes and private spheres.
Recommendations for which functions the configuration unit must feature to accommodate the users’ needs, wishes and demands. Recommendations for energy-saving behaviour in buildings of the future and the existing housing stock. A specific technically functional prototype that can be used and refined by the industry. Spin-off effect, i.e. behavioural changes that users can utilise outside the home.
Project Duration
The duration of the project is from September 2008 until August 2010.
Organisation
The project manager is Professor Peter Gorm Larsen from the Engineering College of Århus with assistance from Martin Hjorth Stender also from the Engineering College of Århus.
A consortium has been convened with relevant business partners and the Alexandra Institute for this project. The business partners will be an important part of the user-driven development process. They will serve as guarantors of the method applications and their relevance to the industry. The business partners are:
» Velfac A/S
» Develco products A/S
» Seluxit Aps
» Innovus A/S
| Status | Finished |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 01/08/2008 → 31/12/2010 |
Collaborative partners
- Ingeniørhøjskolen i Aarhus (Project partner)
- Alexandra Instituttet, Århus (Project partner)
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