ABSTRACT
Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field and capital, this paper outlines how smart metering demand management programs could be redesigned to bring together the competing fields of resource management and domestic life. Comfort and cleanliness expectations, which are ingrained in the habitus of householders and the field of domestic life, are often overlooked in demand management programs, which focus instead on making existing and evolving expectations more efficient. This paper draws on preliminary findings from qualitative research activities with householders who received consumption feedback through an in-home display, and/or variable price signals --- both enabled by smart meters. The paper offers insights for designers of interactive demand management strategies about how to go beyond achieving efficiency benefits in the home in order to fundamentally change expectations and norms ingrained in the habitus.
- Ackermann, M. (2002) Cool comfort: America's romance with air-conditioning, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington {USA}.Google Scholar
- Agbemabiese, L., Berko, K Jr. & du Pont, P. (1996) 'Air conditioning in the tropics: cool comfort of cultural conditioning?' Paper presented to 1996 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Human Dimensions of Energy Consumption, Washington {USA}.Google Scholar
- Akrich, M. (1992) 'The de-scription of technical objects', in WE Bijker & J Law (eds), Shaping Technology/Building Society, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA {US}.Google Scholar
- Arroyo, E., Bonanni, L. & Selker, T. (2005) 'Waterbot: exploring feedback and persuasive techniques at the sink', paper presented to CHI 2005, Portland, Oregon {USA}. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Bourdieu, P. (2005) 'Habitus', in J Hillier & E Rooksby (eds), Habitus: a sense of place, 2nd edn, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, Hants {England}, pp. 43--9.Google Scholar
- Bourdieu, P. & Wacquant, L. (1992) An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, Polity Press, Cambridge {UK}.Google Scholar
- Chappells, H. & Shove, E. (2005) 'Debating the future of comfort: environmental sustainability, energy consumption and the indoor environment', Building Research and Information, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 32--40.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Chetty, M., Tran, D. & Grinter, R. E. (2008) 'Getting to green: understanding resource consumption in the home', paper presented to UbiComp'08, Seoul {Korea}, September 21--24. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Cialdini, R. (2003) 'Crafting normative messages to protect the environment', Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 105--9.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Darby, S. (2006) The effectiveness of feedback on energy consumption: A review for DEFRA of the literature on metering, billing and direct displays, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford {England}.Google Scholar
- EES (2006) Status of air conditioners in Australia - updated with 2005 data, Energy Efficient Strategies prepared for the National Appliance and Equipment Energy Efficiency Committee (NAEEEC), Canberra, ACT {Australia}.Google Scholar
- Goldstein, N. & Cialdini, R. (2007) 'Using social norms as a lever of social influence', in AR Pratkanis (ed.), The science of social influence: advances and future progress, Psychology Press, New York {US}, pp. 167--91.Google Scholar
- Gram-Hanssen, K. (2007) 'Teenage consumption of cleanliness: how to make it sustainable?' Sustainability: science, practice & policy, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 1--9.Google Scholar
- Harper, P. (2006) Australia's environment issues and trends 2006, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, ACT {Australia}.Google Scholar
- Integral (2007) Dynamic and Seasonal Peak Pricing Trial, Integral Energy, Western Sydney, 4 June.Google Scholar
- Intille, S. S. (2002) 'Designing a home of the future', Pervasive Computing, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 76--82. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Jelsma, J. (2006) 'Designing 'moralized' products: theory and practice', in P-P Verbeek & A Slob (eds), User behavior and technology development: shaping sustainable relations between consumers and technologies, Springer, The Netherlands, pp. 221--31.Google Scholar
- Kaufmann, C. (1998) Dirty Linen: couples and their laundry, Middlesex University Press, London {UK}.Google Scholar
- Lockwood, M. & Murray, R. (2005) RED Future Currents: Designing for a changing climate (work in progress), Design Council, UK.Google Scholar
- Marvin, S., Chappells, H. & Guy, S. (1999) 'Pathways of smart metering development: shaping environmental innovation', Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, vol. 23, pp. 109--26.Google ScholarCross Ref
- MCE (2008) Cost-Benefit Analysis Options for a National Smart Meter Roll-Out (Phase Two - Regional and Detailed Analyses), Standing Committee of Officials of the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE), Canberra {ACT}, Regulatory Impact Statement, available from: www.mce.gov.au.Google Scholar
- Mozer, MC (1998) 'The neural network house: an environment that adapts to its inhabitants', in M Coen (ed.), Proceedings of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence Spring Symposium on Intelligent Environments, AAAI Press, Menlo Park, CA, pp. 110--4.Google Scholar
- NEMMCO (2007) Australia's national electricity market: statement of opportunities 2007, National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO), available from: www.nemmco.com.au.Google Scholar
- NERA (2007) Cost benefit analysis of smart metering and direct load control: Phase 1 overview report, NERA Economic Consulting for the Ministerial Council on Energy Smart Meter Working Group, Sydney {Australia}, September.Google Scholar
- NERA (2008a) Cost benefit analysis of smart metering and direct load control. Work stream 4: consumer impacts. Phase 2 consultation report, NERA Economic Consulting for the Ministerial Council on Energy Smart Meter Working Group, Sydney {Australia}.Google Scholar
- NERA (2008b) Cost benefit analysis of smart metering and direct load control: overview report for consultation, NERA Economic Consulting for the Ministerial Council on Energy Smart Meter Working Group, Sydney {Australia}.Google Scholar
- OECD (2002) Towards sustainable household consumption? Trends and policies in OECD countries, Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, France.Google Scholar
- Pears, A. (2007) 'Imagining Australia's energy services futures', Futures, vol. 39, pp. 253--71.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Randolph, B. & Troy, P. (2008) 'Attitudes to conservation and water consumption', Environmental Science & Policy, vol. 11, pp. 441--55.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Robinson, L. & Glanznig, A. (2003) Enabling EcoAction: a handbook for anyone working with the public on conservation, Human Society International, WWF Australia, World Conservation Union, Sydney.Google Scholar
- Schultz, W., Nolan, J., Cialdini, R., Goldstein, N. & Griskevicius, V. (2007) 'The constructive, destructive, and reconstructive power of social norms', Psychological Science, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 429--34.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Schwartz Cowan, R. (1989) More work for mother: the ironies of household technology from the open hearth to the microwave, Free Association Books, London {England}.Google Scholar
- Shipworth, M. (2000) Motivating home energy action: a handbook of what works, Australian Greenhouse Office.Google Scholar
- Shove, E. (2003) Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the social organisation of normality, Berg Publishers, Oxford {UK}.Google Scholar
- Shove, E. (2004) 'Efficiency and consumption: technology and practice', Energy & Environment, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 1053--65.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Sofoulis, Z. (2005) 'Big water, everyday water: a sociotechnical perspective', Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 445--63.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Sofoulis, Z., Allon, F., Campbell, M., Attwater, R. & Velayutham, S. (2005) Everyday water: values, practices, interactions: a UWS research partnerships project: final report, University of Western Sydney presented to Delfin Lend Lease, Sydney {Australia}.Google Scholar
- Sterne, J 2003, 'Bourdieu, technique and technology', Cultural Studies, vol. 17, no. 3/4, pp. 367--89.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Strain, J. (2003) 'Households as morally ordered communities: explorations in the dynamics of domestic life', in R Harper (ed.), Inside the smart home, Springer-Verlag London Limited, London, pp. 41--62.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Strang, V. (2004) The meaning of water, Berg, Oxford {UK}.Google Scholar
- Takayama, C. & Lehdonvirta, V. (2008) 'Ecoisland: a system for persuading users to reduce CO2 emissions', paper presented to Green Pervasive Workshop at Pervasive Persuasive 2008, Sydney, NSW, 19 May.Google Scholar
- Wilhite, H. & Lutzenhiser, L. (1999) 'Social loading and sustainable consumption', Advances in consumer research, vol. 26, pp. 281--7.Google Scholar
- Wilhite, H., Nakagami, H., Masuda, T., Yamaga, Y. & Haneda, H. (1996a) 'A cross-cultural analysis of household energy use behaviour in Japan and Norway', Energy Policy, vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 795--803.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Wilhite, H., Nakagami, H. & Murakoshi, C. (1996b) 'The dynamics of changing Japanese energy consumption patterns and their implications for sustainable consumption', paper presented to 1996 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Human Dimensions of Energy Consumption, Washington {USA}.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Smart metering demand management programs: challenging the comfort and cleanliness habitus of households
Recommendations
Designing eco-feedback systems for everyday life
CHI '11: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsEco-feedback systems currently frame householders as micro-resource managers, who weigh up the costs and benefits of their consumption, and make autonomous, rational and efficient decisions. Reporting on findings from a qualitative study of three ...
Affordances for practice
This paper argues that Gibson's concept of affordance inserts a powerful conceptual lens for the study of sociomateriality as enacted in contemporary organizational practices. Our objective in this paper is to develop a comprehensive view of affordances ...
Smart homes and their users: a systematic analysis and key challenges
Published research on smart homes and their users is growing exponentially, yet a clear understanding of who these users are and how they might use smart home technologies is missing from a field being overwhelmingly pushed by technology developers. ...
Comments