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Abstract: Research carried out by De Montfort University, UK, has identified a link between user-involvement in design and development of energy-efficiency visualisation tools and their successful adoption. Combining a living lab approach to innovation with social media creates the possibility for user involvement in very large numbers, including city-scale communities. An analysis under the EU project IREEN (ICT Roadmap for Energy Efficiency Neighbourhoods), shows these findings to have significant implications for innovations in ICT for enabling energy-efficiency at the neighbourhood scale. It also contributes evidence in support of using ICT to enable users themselves to increase their energy efficiency rather than automating control away from the user, concluding that the former approach can achieve cost-effective, sustained savings that increased automation is unlikely to do.
Keywords: Living lab; energy-efficiency; visualisation; ICT; user-involvement; neighbourhoods; social media; smartphone; app.
1 Introduction
This paper discusses the findings of research conducted by the Institute for Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD) at De Montfort University (DMU) exploring the impact and opportunities of using graphical visualization techniques to enhance user engagement with energy use. The continuing research is aimed at enabling users both to understand the environmental impact of their activities and to act through the social media applications of the digital technology. A series of studies were carried out on a campus level incorporating a 'neighbourhood' of buildings. This study assesses their knowledge contribution towards the development of an innovation roadmap under the EU-funded Project 'ICT Roadmap for Energy Efficient Neighbourhoods' (IREEN). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 285627. Do not put references in numbers.
The key implications for innovation management (IM) relate to a greater potential impact of ICT on energy efficiency by involving users in a participatory innovation process. This involvement helps develop a sense of ownership and empowerment in the users that results in their commitment to actively using the software tools to generate savings. The engagement of users in a social process to tackle energy efficiency targets, linking all users to decision-makers and management, creates a living lab platform for continuous development of software tools. We discuss the role social media can play expanding this engagement across entire neighbourhoods and communities.