Digitally Engaging and Empowering Employees for Energy Demand Reduction: A New Approach for the Next Generation?
1. Dr Richard Bull
Dr. Graeme Stuart
Dave Everitt + M
Lemon & P Fleming
Digitally Engaging and Empowering
Employees for Energy Demand
Reduction: A New Approach for the
Next Generation?
2. The challenge of energy in non-domestic
buildings
⢠Approx 40% energy consumption/35% CO2
⢠More complex â in terms of building
type/agency/control/ethics/organizational culture
⢠UK and EU Policy context â Energy and
Performance Buildings Directive (2008) putting faith in
Building Performance Certificates (EPCs & DECs)
⢠Increasing research and interest in digital economy
and ICT based solutions, e.g visualisation of data and
SMART/Intelligent Buildings
3. Digital economy is more than just controls &
dashboards . . .
âOur electronic
networks are enabling
novel forms of collective
action, enabling the
creation of collaborative
groups that are larger
and more distributed
than any other timeâ
Clay Shirky
4. âWhen citizens become
involved in working out
a mutually acceptable
solution to a project or
problem that affects
their community and
their personal lives, they
mature into responsible
democratic citizens and
reaffirm democracyâ
Tom Webler et al
. . . & behaviour change is more
than information provision . . .
5. Gooddee2ds: Research context and
methodology
⢠18 months funding from the UK Engineering and Physical
Science Research Council - Digital Economy âResearch in the
Wildâ (The âwildâ was Leicester City Council)
⢠Aim of Gooddee2ds: to explore a participatory approach to the
development of a web-application to help building-users reduce
energy consumption in non-domestic buildings.
⢠Approach:
⢠5 meetings with a user-group of âlay & expertâ building users
⢠Issued with iPhones
⢠Development of an ICT-based âreporting toolâ based on user-input to
encourage participation.
⢠Ongoing monthly meetings with users.
⢠Findings from this paper are based on a focus-group with the
user-group (with insights from recent interviews)
6. The
user-group.
Note to self. The
formation of this group
was not easy!
Note to self. E.g. The formation
of this group was not easy!
10. Research findings (1): user-group
approach
⢠Putting faces to names
⢠We donât have a lot of contact with other city council departments
about this kind of thing. What I actually find quite useful here is the
fact that if we can report something we get a named person who will
become responsible for it, and also as part of this user group . . . Iâve
met them now. (M4)
⢠Knowledge sharing
⢠The library assistant (F1) for example said she hoped to âfind out more
about how this energy, power and everything is worked out . . . and to
look at how we can reduce wastageâ.
⢠This was echoed by the energy services team leader (M5): Having a
group that shares knowledge is always important . . . there isnât one
good way of doing a particular thing, and therefore sharing whatâs
around the table is the whole idea.
⢠âBut with the user group as a whole I think there wasnât a problem
having the different age groups because I think that helped us get the
understanding of different peopleâs views, so that was a good thing I
supposeâ (R003)
11. Research findings (2a): social media &
smart-phone use
⢠User-group had limited knowledge of social media
⢠Usage affected by roles, and the type and size of
buildings in which they work, some felt that whilst they
may engage with the forthcoming Gooddeeds app they
would not use their smartphones to do so. For example:
⢠I probably wonât use the phone. If Iâve got the website up, then I
might well use it, but itâs not that big a building. I donât carry my
phone around with me when Iâm in the building. If I have something
I want to report on it . . . Iâll go and use the computer. (M4)
⢠Iâve never been very active on the phone for using these things. I
would say I was more active on the computer. Most probably itâs
the nature of my work. Iâm mainly around the desk, therefore more
likely to use that. (M5)
12. ⢠Many participants were desk-bound with access to a
computer and less need of smart phone technology.
⢠Some did however appreciate the ability to take
photographs and then send and receive via email or
social media. For example,
⢠âI must admit I have sent some photographs through
Gmail and things like that to contractorsâ. (M2)
⢠âI take a photo on my phone and Iâll send it by email to
people. The good thing for me with this is that I donât
have to go to the site nowâ. (M3)
Research findings (2b): social media &
smart-phone use
13. Conclusions: implications for energy
and non-domestic buildings
⢠The user-group all expressed benefits of meeting people - âputting
faces to namesâ.
⢠But divided over the benefits and opportunities of smartphones &
social mediaâ variations due to job role and background.
⢠All seemed cautious about the public nature of social media and the
potential for complaints and abuse.
⢠âNo- one size fits allâ solution within a diverse portfolio of building
types, functions and sizes.
⢠Organisational and cultural barriers â especially in local authorities.
⢠Cost cutting/redundancies
⢠A focus on delivering core services and value for money
⢠Increased sub-contracting of facilities management and separating energy services &
property managament.
14. Recommendations
1. Conducting monthly user-groups can play a key role in engaging employees
and connecting them to the environmental aspects of their workspaces and
other users.
2. Membership should include all parties involved in the building (that is, those
with formal responsibilities and those without) and be conducted at a time and
place convenient to all.
3. Building users are more concerned with comfort, rather than âenergyâ â
users experience comfort (and discomfort) in multiple ways within a single
building. Solutions and applications must factor in these variations and be âfit
for purposeâ.
4. Applications and solutions should be available on both personal computer
and mobile devices to accommodate different patterns.
5. Trust and security issues are a concern for organisations. Bespoke social
media applications may be preferable to Twitter and Facebook in order to
ensure security.
15. Questions . . .(& further reading)
⢠Bull, R., Irvine, K., Rieser, M., Fleming, P (2013). Are people the problem or the
solution? A critical look at the rise of the smart/intelligent building and the role of
ICT enabled engagement. ECEEE Summer Study Conference Proceedings
2013, pp. 1135-1145; 5A-079-13
⢠Stuart, G., Wilson, C., Bull, R. and Irvine, K. (2013) Designing live energy
performance feedback for public buildings in Leicester. ECEEE Summer Study
Proceedings, 3-257-13
⢠Bull, R., Brown N., & Faruk, F. (2011) Findings from the DUALL Project: lessons
in engaging building users in energy reduction in a UK University. ECEEE 2011
Summer Study: Energy efficiency first: The foundation of a low-carbon society.
⢠Bull, R., J. Petts, et al. (2008). "Social Learning from Public Engagement:
Dreaming the impossible?" Journal of Environmental Management and Planning
51(5): 703-718.
⢠Contact: rbull@dmu.ac.uk
⢠Twitter: @richbull
⢠http://greenview.dmu.ac.uk/good-deeds
Hinweis der Redaktion
Introduce team
DMU & IESD
Project funded by UK research council
More complex than residential
Many of these approaches still rely on a âinformation deficitâ model whereby the building users are a hurdle to be overcome rather than a resource to be utilised â
Proponents of both social media and public participation theory
Social media has emerged as a worldwide phenomenon with applications like Facebook and Twitter credited with everything from Obamaâs 2008 election victory (Zhang, Johnson et al. 2009), to the Arab Spring (Ghonin, 2012).
Devised on the principles of Web 2.0 â user-generated content and collaboration âsites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have witnessed incredible success and popularity.
At its core, Web 2.0 and social media is about participation and it is here that the link between social media and theories of public engagement emerge. These twin attributes of the digital economy find their home in the public engagement literature which in-turn has evolved out of risk communication (Fischoff 1995), theories of deliberative democracy (Habermas 1979; Dryzek 2000) and citizen science (Irwin 1995).
Increasingly, links are made between public engagement and behaviour change (Webler et al. 1995, Bull, Petts et al. 2008).
The parallels are clear then between the risk communication/public engagement schools of thought and the social media gurus: people (lay and expert) talking and working together can generate new forms of knowledge and contribute to more effective governance. But can this approach work in non-domestic buildings?
A mix of expert and lay
But â not the mix we hoped for â as shall be explained later . . .
Frustration over the membership of the group
No-one from Engineering, the Help Desk or contracted out âFMâ
Redundancies were announced as the project began
The second half of the focus group was directed at exploring user-experiences and perceptions around the potential for smartphones and social media in energy and non-domestic buildings.
The membership of the user-group was not pre-selected with any prior aptitude for technology and it was clear that for the majority of participants social media and smartphones were quite novel; only two out of the six members of the focus group owned or had used a smartphone prior to the project.
Social media also seemed to be something had people had limited experience or understanding with Facebook or Twitter being used for social reasons.