Mechatronics to drive environmental sustainability: Measuring, visualizing and transforming consumer patterns on a large scale

摘要

In order to reduce our society's dependence on fossil fuels, the energy sector has started to undergo massive changes. Information and communications technology (ICT) increasingly plays a key role in this transformation, both on the supply and demand side. While 85% of the residential energy in the DACH region is consumed by space and water heating, the vast majority of work in the energy informatics field does not focus on these two critical end uses. And yet, the discipline could contribute greatly to reducing consumption and emissions in this area - often with a close nexus to electricity. Besides, direct, real-time feedback on hot water consumption has a particularly high savings potential and can further broaden the sphere of impact of the energy informatics discipline. This paper describes a self-powered energy and water meter that provides users with such feedback in the shower. After an earlier proof of concept study with 60 households together with the Swiss Federal Office of Energy that yielded average energy and water savings of 22%, the smart shower meter has been developed into a mass-market compatible application that has been installed in 8,000 households. This was accompanied by a study with 700 households to verify its practical viability, consumer engagement, and effectiveness in the field. The device showcases a practical example of how ICT applications can be successfully implemented at scale to transform consumption patterns in emission-intense domains, also beyond electricity.