ICT itself now accounts for 10% of global energy demand - and climbing - controlling this impact is not yet a factor in systems design or in most CS curricula. I’m drawn by Computer Science's potential for addressing large scale societal challenges, such as climate change. In this talk I firstly offer a glimpse at the insights for Ubicomp and human-computer system design through the lens of our recent studies of energy use in the home, and of mobile data demand; and secondly, discuss ways in which we might evolve such systems to more profoundly challenge ‘the normal way’ energy is used.

1. The role of Ubicomp
toward Sustainable
Futures
by Adrian Friday
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/sds

2. - Mark Weiser, Chief Scientist, Xerox, 1991
“The most profound technologies are those that
disappear. They weave themselves into the
fabric of everyday life until they are
indistinguishable from it."
Chief scientist
XEROX PARC, 1991

3. “Embedded and ubiquitous computing is an exciting
paradigm that promises to provide computing and
communication services to the end users all the time
and everywhere. Its systems are now invading in
every aspect of our daily life and promise to
revolutionize our life”
euc2015 website :)

4. Premise 1: The systems we put in the world
have impact
Pictures removed of ‘electricity pylon’ (direct energy), carbon intensity of
generating it (indirect), manufacture, supply chain and recycling (embodied),
and social change via technology

5. By 2020, McKinsey predicted IT would
be the cause of 1.54 gigatons of
greenhouse gases, or 3 percent of
global emissions. […] comparable to
that from aviation.
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2684616, March 19, 2014
“IDC forecasts that the worldwide market for IoT
solutions will grow from $1.9 trillion in 2013 to
$7.1 trillion in 2020.”
Picture of data centre glowing lights removed

6. Billion&Tonnes&Carbon&
‘The Burning Question’, Mike
Berners-Lee, and Duncan
Clark, Profile Books 2013.

7. Premise 2: The systems we put in the world can
help us understand our energy and CO2e
impacts

8. – Adrian Friday :)
“Not just IT, but the very design of ‘the stuff’ and
infrastructure in our society, is energy
intense…”
Picture of dyson air blade taps vs. (the old way) a towel removed.

9. Premise 3: The systems we put in the world can
help us be more sustainable

10. 1. Energy
in the
home?
Accounting for energy-
reliant services within
everyday life at home,
Pervasive 2012.
Cartoon removed for copyright reasons

11. Impact of
domestic media &
IT on energy use
• The domestic energy
demand of consumer
electronics, digital home
media and computing
devices is on the rise
worldwide (Chetty, 2008)
• In the UK, these devices
comprise about 25% of
the total domestic
electricity demand
(Powering the Nation,
Defra, 2012)

12. 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 00:00
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Time of day
Power(kW)
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green
Large variation, “same” infrastructure?
4 x 8 person flats. Median whole flat energy (kW), by
time of day - note the baselines (300W-1kW)
Electric
Power
(Kilowatts)

13. How is this variation in
(electricity) demand composed?
And what can we learn from it?

14. DATA DRIVEN METHOD
1. Single-point (whole flat) sensing
(OWL)
2. 200 x Socket-level sensors (Plugwise)
3. Surveys of appliances and devices
4. “Data driven” interviews about use
5. Estimates of embodied emissions due
to manufacturing and transport life-cycle

15. Physical sensing
BedroomBedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
Kitchen Bedroom

16. The “Hobcam”
BedroomBedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
Kitchen Bedroom

17. Whole-house power
BedroomBedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
Kitchen Bedroom

18. BedroomBedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
Kitchen Bedroom
Socket-level power

19. 06:00 12:00 18:00 00:00
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Timestamp
Electricpower(Watts)
Lighting
Refrigeration
Entertainment & IT
Other cooking appliances
Oven
Repeated patterns of use / habits constitute
energy
Not instantaneous load (Strengers, 2011), need ‘area
under the curve’, c.f. Costanza, 2012
A typical day

20. Let’s focus here!

21. Digging into media and IT
• Laptops (32)/desktops (3)/phones(34!) are
commonly used for multiple simultaneous tasks,
often related to different practices
• Activities are often intertwined. For example,
instant messaging, email, social media (both
personal & work)

22. Similar practices, similar
meanings, different impacts!
Media & IT was 3.5% to 34%
of the whole flat energy (low
164 to high 4935 Wh, i.e.
30x!)

23. Matt
-
Monitor
TV
Stereo
Speakers
Xbox
Video Receiver
Mac mini
Router
USB Hub
2 x External HDD
Airport Express
Henry
-
Desktop
Audio Receiver
2 x Monitors
2 x Hardrives
Router
4935 Wh
3095 Wh
Callum
-
Monitor,
Valve Amp
505 Wh
Chloe
-
TV, DVD
Player,
Printer
368 Wh
Leah
-
TV, Wii
329 Wh
Ellie
208 Wh
Rachel
-
Printer
241 WhIan
-
50 inch monitor,
Xbox 360,
Speakers
618 Wh Feng
-
TV,
Playstation 3,
Speakers,
467 Wh
Miranda
263 Wh
164 Wh
Jack
-
Speakers

24. Desktop MonitorLaptop (8h)
Desktop PC,
Audio Receiver
(11.9 h) Mac Mini Server, HDD (2), USB Hub,
Router, Airport Express 24(h)
Monitor (10h)
TV (10)
Xbox (4h)
Henry Matt
Monitor (10.2h)
Router, HDD x2 (24h)
Constellations are just “on”
Satellite devices are on ‘just in case’; hub devices on to
enable practices - we’re really bad at creating ‘off’!

25. Incentives and Convenience
• Participants reported watching movies and TV on
their laptops: “We got a free download thing so
now we watch a lot”
Picture of ‘netflix’ advertisement removed for copyright reasons

26. • Miranda’s streams
(video) content whilst
getting ready for a
night out;
• Chloe likes to have her
laptop running whilst
watching video on her
TV so she can see any
new messages on
Facebook
• Connectedness and
the opportunities that it
provides, seems to
increase direct
energy consumption

28. 2. MOBILE
DATA
DEMAND?
Demand in my pocket: mobile
devices and the data connectivity
marshalled in support of everyday
practice, CHI ’15.
Pictures of a phone charging lead and the internet infrastructure (power generation) removed
for copyright reasons

29. But… increasingly connected!
Hidden energy use/impacts from Wi-Fi routers, the
Internet, and the Cloud (always ‘on’)
http://www.vestedway.com/dont-ignore-that-elephant/
‘Elephant in the room’ picture removed for copyright reasons,

30. Typical phone charger = 5W (1.8-4.5Wh/day in our recent study)
The Internet = 200Wh/Gb
[Schien et al., 2013]
Visualisation of GHG footprint of a phone charger from
visualization.geblogs.com/visualization/co2/ removed for copyright
reasons

31. 1
30 exabytes of traffic
Total Global Internet Traffic: 2000
2014: Global Mobile Data Traffic (2G/3G/LTE)
“People are practitioners who indirectly, through
the performance of various practices, draw on
resources.” (Røpke, 2009)

32. Link data demand to
practice
• Mobile device logger: Squirrel iOS App
- Foreground app
- Time and date of use
- Mobile and WiFi data usage (Sent and Received)
- Screen state (on/off)
• Semi structured interviews; using “probing” graphs

33. Sample interview graph

34. Weekly use per app

35. Charge times and durations

36. Battery level

37. WiFi data demand

38. Mobile data sent/ received

39. Demand fills ‘Dead Time’
Mobile devices not only help to create, but also to fill
dead time… relief from boredom & being in touch

40. • …“When I’m out and about I probably use my
social networks more, ‘cause I’m bored”…
(Colin, iPhone 5)
• …“But then sometimes…when I’m waiting for
something to cook, I’ll be constantly refreshing it
because I’m bored”
(Joel, iPhone 4)
Colin’s Social Networks: 113.35 MB
Joel’s Tweetbot: 73.34 MB

41. Streamed video as
background noise
… “I think my use of background noise has kind of
increased since having a tablet, ’cause I realised how easy
it was but ’cause I’ve been on my own a bit more, like in
the house. I just like to have noise behind me and the iPad
allows that”…
(Mandy, iPad 2)
Mandy’s YouTube: 10GB in 5 weeks
Victor @ Realistic Shots

42. Homescreen Demand
• iOS and app updates
• Some managed their devices accordingly
• Peaks after long periods of power off
Homescreen Data Share
Min Jenni 19.2%
Typical Joel 29.5%
Max Ben 58.2%
Photo Credit: "iOS7 Homescreen blurred (DSC_0719)”. © 2013 Jan Persiel, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio
Erica’s Homescreen Demand: 800MB

43. Design opportunities?
• Low-bandwidth options for background noise; observation: these
devices have RF receivers but cannot receive broadcast radio!
• Smaller and time shifting of updates
• Screen off, network off (simpler conceptual model of demand for
users?)
• HCI challenge: filling dead time through undesign?
• counterfunctional (Pierce & Paulos, 2014); meaningful and data-
free time (Leshed & Sengers, 2011); “ludic activities”(Gaver,
Bowers & Boucher, 2004);“slow apps”(Odom, Sellen, Banks et
al., 2014); promote reflection and mental rest (Hallnäs &
Redström, 2001)

44. App Design encourages data
growth!
"Visual Networking Index", Cisco Systems (2015)
petabytes/permonth
0
1250
2500
3750
5000
Year
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0.9 4 15 38 92
256
597
885
1500
2500
4200
YouTube
facebook
iPhone
iPad
Autoplay

45. 3. FOOD &
ENERGY? Domestic Food and
Sustainable Design: A Study
of University Student
Cooking and its Impacts, CHI
2013.
The doctor wants me to measure my food cartoon removed

46. READY?

47. Cooking session
annotation

48. Cooking session
annotation
One cook, single portion

49. Cooking session
annotation
Components used
Back-right
Back-left

50. Cooking session
annotation
Foods observed
Jarred sauce
Pasta

51. Cooking session
annotation
... and quantities
(160g)
(100g)
Foods observed
Jarred sauce
Pasta

52. Cooking session
annotation
Cooking method
Boiling
Heating

53. Cooking session
annotation
Cooking method
Heating
Boiling
(no lid)
(no lid)
Use of lid?

54. Cooking session
annotation
Changes in
control position

55. Pasta vs. Pasta
41 mins16 mins7 mins

56. Pizza vs. Pizza
27 minutes
...53
minutes
before
cooking
Oven switched on
85 minutes
36 minutes later...
...oven switched off
Pizza ready
55 minutes

57. 0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500
(2) BEER AND CIDER
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Onions, root crops, cabbages,
herbs&spcices, other veg,
Green salads
Prepared Veg., fruit & salad
Exotic veg and mushrooms
Apples & Pears
Bananas
Citrus and melons
Exotic fruit and berries
(including soft, stone, grapes)
(67) FLORISTRY
(84) CABINETS COOKED MEATS
Cabinets Milk
Ready meals, pizza & pasta
Sandwiches
(52) BREAD
(70) FROZEN FOODS
kgCO2e
GHG emissions per £ of product at the checkout
Source ingredients to
farm / factory gate
Food processing
Total consumer
packaging footprint
Transit packaging
Transport Emissions to
DC
Transport emissions
from all DCs to Stores
Storage and
processing at DC
Overhead (exc.
refrigeration)
Refrigeration
Where is the CO2?
Source: Mike Berners-Lee, Small World Consulting

58. Other food
Cooking Energy Emissions (22%)
Waste
Other
devices
Indirect Emissions (78%)
Relative Impacts

59. “typical student
food”
“all those kind of
really easy things”
0
20
40
60
80
jarred
sauce
chicken
pastavegetables
sausages
chipspizzabreadbaked
beans
ricepotatoes
tortellini
baconfrozen
veg.
tinned
tom
atoes
eggnoodles
m
ince
beef
steakreadym
eal
fishsoup
61
70
87
88
41
43
21
9217
33
8
15
40
22
8 29
27
10
9
8 10
7
EmbodiedGhgemissions(kgCO
2
e)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
jarred
sauce
chicken
pastavegetables
sausages
chipspizzabreadbaked
beans
ricepotatoes
tortellini
baconfrozen
veg.
tinned
tom
atoes
eggnoodles
m
ince
beef
steakreadym
eal
fish
61
69
87
66
41
43
20
8817
32
8
15
41
21
8 29
27
10
9
8 10
EmbodiedGhGemissions(kgCO2
e)
Repeated moderate- to high-impact foods
A convenient diet

60. Encourage more efficient
methods & techniques
Scope: 10-20% cooking
energy; 2-4% overall GHG
Fewer timing errors
Make indirect emissions more
explicit to “cooks”
Scope: 20-30% indirect
emissions; 17-24% overall
GHG
Encourage more shared
cooking; change what’s in the
cupboard
Scope: less clear, some
direct & indirect emissions

61. 4. Transforming
Thermal
Comfort
Catch my drift?: achieving
comfort more sustainably in
conventionally heated
buildings. In DIS ’14.
Cosy looking cat sleeping on a hammock attached to a radiator picture removed (from http://
www.millbryhill.co.uk/)

62. Heating is about 25% domestic energy
demand in the UK; 20% in the US
Preheat predicts arrival, but does not necessarily use less energy [Scott
et al., 2011]; Call for mixed-initiative algorithms [Yang & Newman, 2013]
Google closes $3.2 billion
purchase of Nest
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/google-closes-3-2-billion-
purchase-of-nest/
Google NEST ‘smart thermostat’ picture removed

63. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547754/Its-cold-outside-hotter-summer-homes-Average-thermostat-set-toasty-23C-cranking-bills.html#i-60ce0d5e
Maintaining indoor temperatures is
energy intensive. The ‘way it’s
done’ is self-reinforcing: Static
temperature assumptions in BS EN
ISO 7730 and ASHRAE comfort
standard 55-92
Elizabeth Shove, 2003, Comfort,
Cleanliness and Convenience,
Oxford: Berg.

64. G.M. Huebner et al. / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 688–696
Fig. 2. The individual lines correspond to average weekday winter temperature data for the N = 248 individual homes.
Huebner,McMichael,Shipworthetal.(2013)
N=248
Time of day
IndoorTemperature
Winter setpoints?

65. In 1895, “Staying comfy”
was more local and
personal
Picture from 1895 trade catalogue
reproduced from Humphreys, Nicol
and Roaf, 2012 removed

66. Adaptive thermal comfort
• allow indoor conditions to vary
more (typically with the seasons)
• explicitly acknowledge the active
role that people take in pursuing
comfort
Adaptive Thermal Comfort:
Principles and Practice,
Fergus Nicol, Michael
Humphreys and Susan
Roaf, Earthscan, 2012

67. Baseline (~2-3 weeks) Intervention (~1.5-2 months)
Thermostatic radiator valve
(TRV)
Wireless motorised
valve
Physical sensing
Study phases

68. mimic free running buildings by
slowly drifting indoor temperatures
towards outside temperatures
2 of 5 proposals from:
“Understanding Adaptive
Thermal Comfort”, UbiComp
2013

69. Drifting Algorithm
• During winter, median outdoor temperature: 5.5℃
1. A base ‘driftpoint’ was initially calibrated
according to median indoor temperatures during
baseline phase
2. Decreased by 0.2ºC each day, thereafter

70. Local adjustment

71. Temperature
Valve state
System architecture
-0.2ºC each day
+3ºC target boost for 90 mins

72. Reductions
• we saw a small reduction
and more consistency in
median indoor temperature;
• the time that the radiator
was on reduced
significantly: potential
energy savings of between
19-76%(!);
• windows used less to
regulate heat
Internal analysis plot for one participant,
full summary stats are in the paper.
Ukulele
temp
hour 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
phase
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
phase

73. adaptive measures
observed
• refrigerated water
• cold showers
• electric fans
• opening windows
• hot tea, hot chocolate
• adding a layer
• warm showers
• closing curtains
• blankets
• hot water bottle
• staying in bed
getting warm getting cool
moving to another room

74. A range of approaches
Comfort
in control
Chloe happy for comfort to be unplanned or
spontaneous - extra clothing layers and
“make it warmer”Kate
Automatic
comfort
James Previously: radiators on full, window
used. Wanted ‘automatic’; wore light
indoor clothes. Had to work to
maximise heat.
Luke
Stephanie
Thermally
reflective
Jill Window open less, warm layers used a
bit more, more comfortable. Strategic
and planned ahead (even remotely via
web interface).
Nathan
Darren

75. – Stephanie
…“Sometimes you just want to come home and
sort of be warm, and sort of be like in a cosy
home. If I've been in the library for quite a few
hours it can be a bit of a pain in the butt if it's
not warm warm... coming home and feeling
warm and snug is really nice for me.”
Expectations and predicting
‘cosy’

76. – Chloe
…“If I did feel a little cold, I may just put another
layer on and then, you know, sort of see how I
feel later... I think [the intervention] has sort of
made me realise how it doesn't actually bother
me as much when it's colder. Whereas before
I'd have it, you know, a lot warmer and sort of
be wasting that energy. Whereas, you know, I
don't need to have it that warm.”
Transition in practice?

77. Take home messages

78. Sustainability by design
• Ubicomp can help us understand the energy and
indirect impacts (of technology) in everyday life
• We can (and must) design systems that promote
sustainability - care: demand we make convenient
• ‘Big wins’ by reconfiguring what we consider
normal (c.f. how heating is done, and beyond…)

79. The cloud begins with coal, digital power group, August 2013. http://bit.ly/17xDQqD
“The cloud” begins with coal
Global ICT uses about 1,500 TWh, 10% of global energy demand

80. Within 2℃?
Year
2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100
Emissionsofgreenhousegases(GtCO2e)
0
20
40
60
80
2020 peak
Year
2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100
Emissionsofgreenhousegases(GtCO2e)
0
20
40
60
80
2025 peak
Year
2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100
Emissionsofgreenhousegases(GtCO2e)
0
20
40
60
80
2015 peak
Reframing the climate change challenge in light of post-2000 emission trends, Anderson & Bows. 2008 Philosophical
Transactions A of the Royal Society. 366. pp. 3863-3882

81. Picture of man sticking head in the sand (like an Ostrich) removed

82. We can help create future ‘smart
environments’ with sustainability in mind
Picture of a placard ‘make a difference (to the planet) removed

83. a.friday@lancaster.ac.uk
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/sds
This work was funded by the UK Research Councils (EPSRC grants EP/G008523/1, EP/I00033X/1 and EP/
I033017/1), and the Facilities Division and Faculty of Science andTechnology at Lancaster University. Thanks to:
Green Lancaster and the student residences officer at Lancaster University for their cooperation.