Impact of Emerging Interaction Techniques on Energy Use in the UK Social Housing

Concerns about climate change associated with the combustion of fossil fuels urge a call for widespread reductions in household energy use. Determining means of achieving this is a key challenge faced by environmental scientists. The current research presents insights gained from a 12-month empirical trial of new serious game for energy, ‘EnergyCat’; which was designed to encourage household energy reductions in the UK social housing sector. Effects of gameplay on consumption behaviours and energy awareness were explored using 82 UK social housing households (versus a no-game control). Results indicated the intervention did not lead to any substantive changes in awareness or consumption practices. However, post-intervention feedback highlighted several issues in terms of game design and usability that may explain why the game failed to change behaviour in this instance. We provide a framework of suggestions as to how the game design process could be improved in order to engage residents in future, including use of adaptive fonts for older residents, and provision of clearer instructions on gameplay objectives at the outset. In addition, researchers should ensure close collaboration is maintained with residents throughout the design process in future efforts, in order to maximise likelihood of ongoing engagement from this population.

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Supermarket Energy Use in the UK

Energy Procedia ◽

10.1016/j.egypro.2019.02.108 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 161 ◽

pp. 325-332 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Maria Kolokotroni ◽

Zoi Mylona ◽

Judith Evans ◽

Alan Foster ◽

Rob Liddiard

Keyword(s):

Energy Use ◽

The Uk

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Analysis of the quality attributes used in establishing best value tenders in the UK social housing sector

Engineering Construction & Architectural Management ◽

10.1108/09699980810886829 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 307-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Steve Phillips ◽

Jim Martin ◽

Andrew Dainty ◽

Andrew Price

Keyword(s):

Social Housing ◽

Quality Attributes ◽

Housing Sector ◽

Best Value ◽

The Uk

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Balancing the competing needs of climate change, biodiversity and rural communities

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s175275620003088x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2009 ◽

pp. 249-249

Author(s):

H Prosser

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Land Use ◽

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Anaerobic Digestion ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Energy Use ◽

New Technology ◽

The Uk

The work of the UK Climate Change Commission (UKCCC) in recommending targets and options for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases is focusing attention on what agriculture and land use can contribute to deliver these targets. Although overall the major issue is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from energy use, agriculture and land use are significant emitters of methane and nitrous oxide. UKCCC has identified three main routes by which emissions can be reduced• Lifestyle change with less reliance on carbon intensive produce -eg switching from sheep, and beef to pig, poultry and vegetables.• Changing farm practices – eg to improve use of fertilisers and manures• Using new technology on farms – eg modifying rumen processes, anaerobic digestion.

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A Decade On, How Has the Visibility of Energy Changed? Energy Feedback Perceptions from UK Focus Groups

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13102566 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 2566 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

David Fredericks ◽

Zhong Fan ◽

Sandra Woolley ◽

Ed de Quincey ◽

Mike Streeton

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Energy Use ◽

Environmental Concern ◽

Energy Reduction ◽

Smart Meters ◽

Central System ◽

Energy Feedback ◽

The Uk ◽

Feedback Perceptions

The Smart Meter Rollout Programme in the UK has required energy suppliers to offer new smart meters to customers to provide near real-time energy use information and enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. The provision was expected to result in meaningful energy reductions, but recent estimates suggest that these reductions may be as low as 2%. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of smart meters and in-home energy displays by providing insights on energy feedback perceptions from a series of focus groups with postgraduate consumers. In addition to domestic energy use, the study investigated how participants perceived their energy use at work and how they perceived the energy reduction efforts of their institutions and employers. A laddered and projective methodology was used to more deeply question participant perceptions and reveal their attitudes. The analysis of responses revealed a limited awareness around energy efficiency strategies and opportunities for more visual, mobile, engaging and target-driven interfaces for energy data. The findings also agree with previous observations that environmental concerns are not a key driver of energy reduction behaviours. This was shown by laddered questioning, not to be due to a lack of environmental concern, but rather the perception that reducing energy consumption would have negligible impact. A decade after in-home energy displays enabled a means of providing ‘visibility’ to ‘invisible’ energy consumption, little appears to have changed in the perception and experience of energy feedback.

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An extensive study on the relationship between energy use, indoor thermal comfort, and health in social housing: the case of the New South Wales, Australia

IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering ◽

10.1088/1757-899x/609/4/042067 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 609 ◽

pp. 042067 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S Haddad ◽

G Pignatta ◽

R Paolini ◽

A Synnefa ◽

M Santamouris

Keyword(s):

Thermal Comfort ◽

Social Housing ◽

Energy Use ◽

New South ◽

New South Wales ◽

Extensive Study ◽

Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽

South Wales ◽

The Relationship

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Community development in the UK: whatever happened to class? A historical analysis

Class, Inequality and Community Development ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447322450.003.0003 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Gary Craig

Keyword(s):

Community Development ◽

Social Housing ◽

Historical Analysis ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Development Theory ◽

Political Struggle ◽

Unequal Distribution ◽

The World ◽

The Uk ◽

Distribution Of Income

Prior to the 1950s, differing strands of what might be seen as community development can be perceived in work by extension officers in colonial settings, as an extension of trades union activism, or ‘community-building’ with a social focus, usually in social housing areas. Yet, despite a common emphasis on poverty and disadvantage, attempts to locate community development within a class-based understanding of, for example, the unequal distribution of income, wealth and power within most societies have been limited. This chapter will trace ways in which the issue of class has or has not been addressed within community development theory and practice, drawing on key texts and experiences from across the world. It will seek to identify the extent to which the mainstream practice of community development, as it has developed, has been able to locate itself solidly within and build alliances with more explicitly class-based forms of political struggle.

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Networking Historic Environmental Standards to Address Modern Challenges for Sustainable Conservation in HBIM

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10041283 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 1283 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Oriel Prizeman ◽

Camilla Pezzica ◽

Ahmed Taher ◽

Mahdi Boughanmi

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Sharing ◽

Energy Use ◽

Public Library ◽

Energy Retrofit ◽

Building Information ◽

Building Components ◽

Cost Efficient ◽

Sustainable Conservation ◽

The Uk ◽

Library Buildings

Awareness of the logic and context of original (and subsequent) design priorities is critical to informing decisions relating to valorisation, repair, refurbishment, energy retrofit or re-use of built heritage. A key benefit of collating data through Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) should be to assist others facing similar challenges. Here, examples for sharing understanding of how components belong to a system are outlined in the context of a newly completed dataset of public library buildings in the UK funded by Andrew Carnegie, predominantly built between 1900 and 1914. Demands for the functionality and economy of public library buildings, coupled with the emergent standardisation of building components at the time, provide a specific condition with potential for further iteration to other buildings of the period or related typologies. The work highlights the urgency of providing cost-efficient knowledge sharing structures in an era of altered priorities with respect to energy use for modern heritage. We propose the means for mapping common features to network knowledge amongst stakeholders through relevant open source pathways. The results demonstrate that integrating geographic approaches to knowledge sharing in HBIM with environmental considerations also supports wider questions of risk management related to the stewardship of historic buildings in the context of climate change.

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