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The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy efficiency is crucial to achieve the energy transition and sustainable development goals. The availability of tools that provide clear information on energy consumption plays a key role in this transition, enabling users to monitor, manage, and optimize their energy use. This process, commonly referred to as energy feedback or eco-feedback, involves delivering information regarding energy usage and potentially suggesting more sustainable practices. Within the range of available tools, conversational agents can represent a valuable channel to receive detailed information about energy consumption and tailored advice for improving energy efficiency. The aim of this article is thus to explore the application of conversational agents, focusing on eco-feedback, as these tools are primarily devised to foster user awareness of energy usage and enhance more participatory conservation strategies. To this end, we conducted a keyword-based search of major scientific article databases, applying strict criteria to select relevant studies. The results of the collection showed that there is a very diverse landscape with respect to this topic. The surveyed works exhibit a high versatility in feedback goals. Furthermore, while predominantly applied domestically, they also show potential in commercial and industrial settings. Implementation choices also vary to a great extent, while evaluation practices lack a systematic approach and highlight the need for greater consistency. In light of these remarks, we also outline possible future extensions of this type of application, exploring in particular the emerging challenges associated with the increased use of renewable sources and the rise of local decentralized energy communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across a variety of energy conservation programs and tools, energy data visualizations are common components used to inform and influence behavior. Several studies have explored map-based energy data visualizations and found that they compare favorably to conventional charts and graphs, but all generated more unanswered questions about how, when, and why map-based visualizations work well. This research reviews the current state of knowledge and adds to the limited empirical work on map-based energy displays in order to articulate best practices and support broader use of maps to visualize energy data. Two online experiments were conducted with over 830 participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk to assess and compare the usability of multiple versions of map-based energy displays and bar charts. Results were consistent with past research findings that map-based energy data visualizations are more interesting and enjoyable than more basic displays (bar charts). These findings support a general use case for map-based energy displays when trying to engage a broad audience, including those unfamiliar with energy data, by telling a richer story and elevating the data to be more than a set of metrics. Results also highlight the importance of interactivity for map-based energy displays; participants who used interactive features were more accurate in interpreting energy data than those who did not. Other best practices for map-based energy data visualizations are discussed, including considerations for single-variable heat maps, proportional symbol maps, and dual-encoded proportional symbol maps.

Driver behavior has an immense impact on vehicle fuel economy and emissions, yet it has historically been treated as random error in models of fuel economy and neglected in energy and environmental policy-making regarding fuel efficiency. Recently, concern about fossil fuel depletion and climate change, as well as the critical role of driver behavior in achieving the fuel economy benefits of new hybrid and electric vehicles, has created interest in eco-driving. Eco-driving refers to suites of behavior a driver can engage in to improve fuel economy.The most common strategy used to promote eco-driving is feedback that conveys information about fuel efficiency to the driver. Feedback is typically visual and provided on-board the vehicle via digital screens (dash or instrument cluster displays, after-market devices, or web apps on personal smartphones or tablets). No policies exist requiring manufacturers to provide eco-driving feedback, yet feedback systems of increasing variety are appearing in vehicles, likely due to advances in telematics and decreasing costs of new technologies. The rapidly increasing prevalence and complexity of in-vehicle information systems, along with concern for driver distraction, suggest standardization of eco-driving feedback may be warranted in the near future. Thus, there is a need to understand what types of eco-driving feedback are effective.This white paper presents a statistical meta-analysis of eco-driving feedback studies in order to determine a pooled estimate of the impact on fuel economy and explore how characteristics of feedback interventions influence their impact. It provides the most accurate estimate to-date of the average impact of in-vehicle feedback on fuel economy and summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding characteristics of eco-driving feedback interventions that determine effectiveness.View the NCST Project Webpage

Emissions from road traffic contribute to climate change. One approach to reducing the carbon footprint is providing eco-driving feedback so that drivers adapt their driving style. Research about the impact of eco-feedback on energy consumption is the basis for designing a mobile eco-driving feedback information system that supports drivers in reducing fuel consumption. This work develops design knowledge from existing knowledge. Subsequently, we implement a prototypical instantiation based on the derived knowledge. Insights from a field study suggest that our design artifact allows most drivers to decrease fuel consumption by 4% on average. The paper's theoretical contribution is a set of design principles and an architecture of the proposed mobile eco-driving feedback information system. One recommendation is to provide normative feedback that compares drivers with each other. This feedback appears to encourage drivers to decrease their fuel consumption additionally. The design knowledge may support researchers and practitioners in implementing efficient eco-driving feedback information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing consumers with feedback about their energy consumption is a common strategy in the residential sector, but less common in the commercial sector. Feedback is more complicated in the commercial sector because there are typically many more building occupants to reach, most of whom have no financial incentive to use energy efficiently. Utility energy feedback programs, such as the green button initiative and energy reports, are accessed by a single proprietor or building manager as a paper- or web-based display that is not conducive to widespread dissemination to all relevant occupants. The format is also data-heavy, which many targeted consumers may not find engaging, especially when they have no financial stake in understanding the information. The present research explored the potential role of creative energy feedback displays in workplaces. We implemented a program of extremely low fidelity, ambient feedback: a ceremonial display of flags and music three times per day. Occupants participated in focus groups and surveys before and after the intervention. Results suggest that emotive, low fidelity feedback complements objective, granular feedback by capturing attention and creating motivation to learn how to reduce energy consumption. Furthermore, public feedback on collective behavior leverages social influence, creating a sense of community, group identity, norms for responsible energy consumption, and accountability. Practical implications for building these features into more conventional energy feedback programs will be discussed.

Virtual assistants powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and integrated into the smart home ecosystems facilitate human–building interactions. We have envisioned that the proactive virtual assistant capabilities could be designed to encourage energy conservation behaviours by relying on their nudging effect through conversational interactions, autonomous actuation and guiding users' decision-making. To this end, we investigated how proactive virtual assistants, in a simulated smart home ecosystem, influence occupants to take energy-saving, adaptive actions for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) operations and how participants' personal characteristics affect their responses. Through an interactive online experiment, we collected data from 307 participants from diverse backgrounds across the United States. It was found that proactive communications with follow-up conversations can significantly increase the likelihood of accepting virtual assistance recommendations. This improvement was reflected in an increased number of participants (by 16%) who accepted energy-saving suggestions by comparing initial versus final responses during proactive conversations. Characterizing groups of participants based on their personal features and individual differences showed that user experience (with ∼30% increase), pro-environmental values/beliefs (with ∼24% to 35% increase) and forgiving thermal preferences (with ∼12% increase) had a significant influence on participants' stated likelihood to accept virtual assistants' recommendations and their evaluation of the general concept of proactive communication from virtual assistants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a three-week field study in which participants from nine households were asked to annotate their domestic electricity consumption data using a prototype interactive visualisation. Through an analysis of the annotations and semi-structured interviews, our findings suggest that the intervention helped participants to develop a detailed and accurate understanding of their electricity consumption data. Our results suggest that energy data visualisations can be improved by having users actively manipulate and annotate their data, as doing so encourages reflection on how energy is being used, facilitating insights on how consumption can be reduced. One of the key findings from our thematic analysis was that participants went beyond the data in their reflections, talking about generational issues, upbringing, financial matters, socio-economic comparisons, environmental concern, mistrust towards utilities, convenience, comfort and self-reported waste. Reading beyond the data illustrates the importance of social practices in the context of energy feedback, embedding eco-feedback research into the relevant context of sociology and psychology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-feedback aims at increasing awareness of resource use to encourage conservation. A growing area of concern in sustainable living is food waste, and many new institutional waste receptacles incorporate waste sorting and recycling instructions for waste management. However, little attention has been paid to the design of encouraging awareness of waste in the home, particularly at the point of food waste. We explored the design challenges and effectiveness of novel eco-feedback techniques at the point of food waste through an in-situ study in a university residence. Our E-COmate system captures and visualizes domestic food waste data for more readily comprehensible and accessible information within a home environment embedded in an existing waste bin. Four E-COmate smart bins were introduced, deployed and evaluated for 8 weeks at a student residence in Canada. The aim of the study was to see whether a system like E-COmate could impact food waste patterns and awareness, and if so, to what extent it engages consumers. To explore its impact, a mix of methods was adopted. Waste audits were conducted to explore waste changes. Retrospective interviews were carried out to gain insights in residences' reflections and motivations. We show that E-COmate had a positive impact on participants' awareness of and behavior toward their food waste. Participants who had E-COmate installed in their kitchens showed overall a significant decrease in food waste and in particular a decrease of almost 32% in edible or once edible food waste, and a 69% decrease in generated compost waste during the last 2 weeks compared to the first 2 baseline weeks. Furthermore, while our control group showed an increase of 244% of waste of starches and grains toward the last 2 weeks (i.e., the end of term) compared to the 2 baseline weeks, the intervention group only showed an increase of 4.5% in waste of grains and starches. Eco-feedback further engaged residences in reducing food waste practices starting at the grocery store (e.g., by buying in smaller portions). In sum, eco-feedback as provided by E-COmate had positive impacts on reducing food waste. These findings are a result of increased awareness, the constant presence and immediacy of E-COmate served as a reminder, and their understanding of how much they actually waste as a group. Their awareness was reflected in how they adapted their shopping behavior as one way to reduce waste at home.

In this paper, we introduce a real-time modelling approach to predict the heating and cooling energy consumption of each housing unit in multi-family residential buildings. We first present measured yearly heating and cooling energy use data from an actual building and introduce the eco-feedback design and associated modelling challenges. Subsequently, we present a real-time parameter learning-based modelling approach. The model has a state-space structure while state filtering and parameter estimation are simultaneously executed through particle filter with sequential Bayesian update. The housing unit-level model is coupled with a probabilistic model of the heating and cooling system by using thermostat, power metre, and mechanical system catalogue data through a Bayesian approach. The results show that the median power prediction of the model deviates less than 3.1% from measurements while the model learns seasonal parameters such as the cooling efficiency coefficient through sequential Bayesian update. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a new unit-level data-driven modelling approach to normalize heating and cooling (HC) energy usage in multi-family residential buildings based on easily accessible data from smart thermostats and WiFi-enabled power metres. Our physics-informed approach starts from a heat balance equation to derive a linear regression model and uses a Bayesian mixture model to identify groups of units that have similar regression coefficients. Our model captures the effect of behaviour on HC energy consumption by normalizing the effect of building characteristics and accounting for the inter-unit heat transfer and unobserved variables. Our probabilistic approach incorporates unit- and season-specific prior information and sequential Bayesian updating of model parameters when new data become available. Using yearly data collected in a multi-family building, our model identifies distinct normalized HC energy use groups in different seasons and provides more accurate rankings compared to the case without normalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper develops decision-making criteria through literature research to assess the social opinion on green life style and eco-friendly buildings. Validity of criteria was ensured among company executives and academic staff, based on elaborated criteria small pilot survey was performed and analysed. Current research focuses on the influence of demographic variables (e.g., age, gender) and individual subjective characteristic factors; external influencing factors (e.g., social norms, policies) are not used. According to the research results, our concept helps to outline the most crucial factors in industry regarding customer subjective requirements on eco-friendly building and innovative building materials. Nowadays companies need to meet customer requirements in order to adjust them in terms of eco-innovation approach and industry's green ecosystem development and remove the gaps in value preposition. This paper helps to investigate respondents' awareness, requirements, and willingness-to-pay for the eco-friendly houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Onboard eco-driving feedback improves fuel economy by 6.6% on average. • The impact of most onboard feedback tested to-date deteriorates over time. • Eco-driving feedback should include both fine- and course-grained information. • Eco-driving feedback should include performance standards. • Multimodal eco-driving feedback may be more effective than visual only. • Gamification may enhance eco-driving feedback effectiveness. • Interventions should combine eco-driving feedback with education and rewards. Eco-driving refers to suites of behavior a driver can engage in to improve fuel economy. The most common strategy used to promote eco-driving is onboard feedback that conveys information about fuel efficiency to the driver. This paper presents a statistical meta-analysis of eco-driving feedback studies in order to determine a weighted estimate of the average impact of feedback on fuel economy and explore potential moderators of its effectiveness, particularly regarding features of the feedback interface design. The main effect of onboard feedback on fuel economy across the final sample of 17 studies and 23 effect sizes was 6.6% improvement. Feedback that included information about both instantaneous and accumulated performance predicted larger effects. Though not statistically significant, trends in relationships between other feedback design features and fuel economy outcomes aligned with study hypotheses. Length of feedback intervention negatively related to effects, and pairing feedback with instructions or rewards predicted larger effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A review was conducted on the use of persuasive technologies for sustainable living. • Sixty one percentage of the articles focused on electricity consumption issues. • Forty eight percentage of the studies reported a behavioral change. • A few studies were conducted with comparatively smaller sample size for less than a month. • New approaches are required for framing the issues related to sustainability. Abstract Persuasive technology is the application of technology to change human behavior or attitude or both. As applied to sustainable Human Computer Interaction (HCI), it has been the focus of much recent research. To provide an understanding of scope of these studies, this article reviews the literature on this topic published between 2000 and 2016. It is limited to research articles providing an evaluation of persuasive technologies published in peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings in environmental sustainability. Appropriate articles were found using the Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, ASCE digital library and the ACM digital library, using combinations of keywords. Also included were articles meeting the inclusion criteria cited in the ones resulting from the initial search. In total, 38 articles were reviewed, of which 61% focused on electricity consumption issues, with the remaining investigating a variety of other sustainability issues. Further, the results from the analysis of these articles found that the duration of the studies was under one month for approximately half of them. The sample size of the 14 field tests involving families ranged from 1 households to 30, with 12 studies involving a sample size of less than or equal to 10. The sample size of the field studies involving individuals ranged from 4 to 651. Both field and lab studies collected quantitative (consumption and interaction data) and qualitative data (surveys, focus groups, interviews and observations). The results from these 38 articles found that behavioral changes were observed in 42% of the studies. In addition, of the 19 studies reporting an increase in awareness, 8 also reported a behavior change, suggesting a relationship between awareness and behavioral change. This review concludes that more research is needed, specifically, there is a need to design interventions using a socio-technical approach rather than focusing on individuals as the unit of analysis for design and evaluation. In addition, there is a need to expand the research beyond user considerations to include societal and political ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City residence development in China is increasing at an annual rate of 0.5–0.6 billion m 2 , causing vast increases in energy consumption by HVAC facilities and other appliances. Thus, governments and researchers are encouraging the use of renewable energy sources such as solar and geothermal energy in residential areas. However, high equipment costs and low energy conversion efficiency have reduced their acceptability to residents. Thus, researchers must determine the eco-feedback equilibrium point that achieves both economic benefit and thermal comfort. The objective of this study is to design and build a nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) with an HVAC system and an onsite solar photovoltaic system. Because HVAC systems typically account for more than 40% of total energy consumption in residences, a 24 h monitoring system was installed in the considered residential setting to measure the temperature, wind velocity, and energy in-out value with/without the HVAC system for several days in summer and winter. The thermal comfort period was analyzed and confirmed, and the air conditioner was switched on during thermal discomfort periods in one summer and one winter month. Temperature, humidity, wind, and energy data was recorded to calculate the average monthly energy consumption that provides all-day thermal comfort. Finally, two analyses were conducted; first, the real measured temperature after construction was recorded for thermal comfort analysis; second, the cost of renewable energy facilities and power consumption was converted to cost efficient rates to assess the feasibility of renewable energy input for the residence. The results of the experiment showed that the house could achieve better thermal comfort in summer than in winter. Contrary to our assumptions, energy consumption was highest in September and October rather than in July and August. Moreover, with a payback period of approximately 11 year, the cost-effectiveness is high for a house in the city of Guilin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While technology advancements are improving the energy efficiency of buildings, occupant behavior remains a critical factor in ensuring the effectiveness of such enhancements. To this end, numerous eco-feedback systems have been developed to reduce building energy use through influencing occupants' behaviors during building operations. Information representation is a critical component in eco-feedback systems, affecting the users' interpretation, engagement, and motivation to reduce energy consumption. Many studies have focused on using different charts and technical units or abstract and artistic visualizations to represent energy consumption. However, the effectiveness of such techniques varies across studies. Recent research emphasizes the need to integrate information representation strategies that balance numeric and aesthetic appeal. Concurrently, studies have called for increased adoption of a Building Information Model (BIM) during a building's operations phase to improve facility management. In this paper, we introduce a new eco-feedback information representation method that combines numeric and aesthetic appeal through leveraging spatial and color-coding techniques in BIM. The BIM-integrated energy visualization approach developed in this paper uses the Revit Application Program Interface (API) and allows users to visualize and compare energy consumption values in 2D and 3D views of a multi-family building through a color-coding scheme in an as-built BIM. The method is validated through a user survey that quantitatively and qualitatively assesses the proposed 2D and 3D BIM eco-feedback compared to more traditional bar chart based eco-feedback. Our findings suggest that 2D spatial, color-coded eco-feedback provides the optimal information representation, as it is easy to understand, while evoking engaging and motivating responses from users. This study advances our understanding of eco-feedback information representation while expanding BIM applications during building operations. These are important steps to address the human dimension of energy efficiency in the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Este artigo reporta pesquisa que teve como objetivo identificar meta-requisitos para o projeto de eco-feedback em lavadoras de roupas voltadas ao morador de habitação de interesse social (HIS). A suposição é que através da aplicação desta estratégia de design na interface da lavadora ocorra o início de um processo de mudança comportamental. O método de pesquisa consistiu de Pesquisa-ação fundamentada pelo Método RITE (Medlock et al., 2002), que permitiu um processo cíclico de desenvolvimento e avaliação de eco-feedbacks para lavadoras automáticas, envolvendo usuários, pesquisadores e fabricante. Neste artigo será reportado apenas o último Ciclo de Ação, o qual aborda um pré-teste de interação. Os resultados da pesquisa incluem uma lista de meta-requisitos para o projeto de eco-feedback para máquinas de lavar roupa.

Eco-feedback as an approach to intervene in energy consumption behavior and encourage energy conservation has achieved considerable success in recent decades. Conclusions about the performance of eco-feedback systems in the literature were mostly drawn based on their short-term performance, during which eco-feedback information was continuously provided. This study, by gradually removing eco-feedback system functions in different phases of an experiment, examines the durability of the behavior-changing effect of eco-feedback under different conditions. The eco-feedback information is delivered using mobile app, which provides a higher level of accessibility than other eco-feedback technologies. A prototype app-based eco-feedback system was developed in this study, and used in an experiment that was carried out in student dormitories. The experiment lasted for fifty-three weeks, and it included four phases, during which the level of functionality of the eco-feedback system varied. The experiment results demonstrated the effectiveness of using mobile app for delivering eco-feedback information. Longitudinal analysis of the results found that the behavior-changing effect of eco-feedback changed over time. The effect was significantly positive in the short term, then became slightly positive in the medium term, and further faded to an insignificant level in the long term. Moreover, analysis of individual participants’ energy consumption profiles revealed that their behavior changes were highly sensitive and responsive to whether and how eco-feedback information was delivered. This study advances the knowledge about app-based eco-feedback and its effect in reshaping the energy consumption behaviors of occupants in dormitory buildings over time. Future research can be done to further validate the generalizability of the findings to other types of residential buildings or eco-feedback systems using different technologies, so as to provide important implication and guidance for implementing eco-feedback in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While technology advancements are increasingly improving the energy efficiency of buildings, occupant behavior remains a critical factor in ensuring the effectiveness of such enhancements. To this end, numerous eco-feedback systems have been developed to reduce building energy use through adjusting occupants’ behaviors. The information represented in an eco-feedback system affects the users’ engagement, motivation, and interpretation. In this paper, we introduce a new information representation method in which a building information model (BIM) is integrated with energy use information to enhance visual representation of energy use. The BIM-integrated energy visualization approach developed in this paper allows users to visualize energy consumption values of each building room through a color-coding scheme in an as-built BIM. Colors correspond to the levels of energy consumption in individual rooms compared to other rooms in a building, which enables a visually intuitive normative comparison for building eco-feedback systems. This representation may lead to increased user engagement in and improved interpretation of eco-feedback systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and industry practice in eco-feedback technologies has been overwhelmingly focused on behaviour management to reduce energy consumption: building occupants are energy consumers whose behaviour must be modified through the provision of real time data. The transition to a decarbonised economy has resulted in solar households that are now both energy producers and consumers (i.e. prosumers). No research has been conducted on the real time feedback needs of prosumers to inform their decisions to balance their energy consumption, rooftop photovoltaic (PV) generation and electricity grid interaction within a net zero energy (NZE) context. The purpose of this study was to use case studies to examine eco-feedback data from the perspective of prosumers to determine to what extent these technologies are and are not meeting prosumer needs and to evaluate what these findings mean in terms of extended functionality and better design of eco-feedback technologies. The study highlights that existing eco-feedback data is under-utilised in its analysis and visualisation to meet prosumers’ needs for management of consumption, generation and grid interaction. The paper proposes new goals, purposes and mechanisms for eco-feedback technologies to contribute to the social and technological transition to a low carbon society that includes prosumers, however further research is required to test these proposals with prosumers and technology developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raising awareness of the environmental impact of energy generation and consumption has been a recent concern of contemporary society worldwide. Underlying the awareness of energy consumption is an intricate network of perception and social interaction that can be mediated by technology. In this paper we argue that issues regarding energy, environment and technology are very much situated and involve tensions of sociocultural nature. This exploratory investigation addresses the subject by introducing the design of a Socially-inspired Energy Eco-Feedback Technology (SEET), which is composed of an interactive system to trigger and mediate collective savings and a tangible device as a public feedback. Results of an evaluation situated in the context of a school in a socially disadvantaged area in Brazil are discussed, shedding light on the sociocultural aspects related to the subject. The role of the SEET to motivate energy awareness collectively among the social group is assessed, as well as the design characteristics that contributed to that. Outcomes bring to light social aspects and dynamics that would hardly have been predicted, evidencing critical factors related to a socially inspired design approach in the energy awareness domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose to make use of an auditory fuel efficiency display as means to support car drivers in adopting an energy-efficient driving style. We report on the development of the EcoSonic system as a platform for evaluating such displays and present five design approaches to guide their realization. In a study with 30 participants, we evaluated two prototype auditory displays against the baseline of visual-only eco-driving feedback in a within-subject study. Our selected designs are described in full detail. Key findings include a significantly reduced fuel consumption as well as lower engine speeds compared to the visual display. Furthermore, questionnaire analysis results confirm that the auditory conditions are less obtrusive and also seem to allow a more subconscious processing and comprehension of the provided information. Finally, we have found that the affectiveness of the display design seems to have a positive impact on its perceived helpfulness and the ability to absorb its information subconsciously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]