ALIS: An Interactive Ecosystem for Sustainable Living
ALIS: An Interactive Ecosystem for Sustainable Living Johnny Rodgers Simon Fraser University [email protected] ABSTRACT
Engaging occupants in conservation efforts is a key part of reducing our ecological footprint. To this end, we have developed the Aware Living Interface System (ALIS), an integrated in-home system that supports residents in awareness of resource use, facilitates efficient control of house systems, and encourages conservation in daily activities. Initial responses from deployments in two highprofile sustainable homes indicate the potential and challenges involved in supporting sustainable living. Author Keywords Sustainability, occupant engagement,
interactive ecosystem, resource conservation. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2 [Information
Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces. General Terms Design, Human Factors INTRODUCTION
A key challenge of encouraging sustainable living is supporting resource conservation in the home. Research has shown that isolated feedback instances can decrease resource use by 5% to 15% of past usage [6]. However, awareness alone does not lead to lasting behaviour change. Once feedback is removed, usage rates typically return to the baseline rapidly [6]. Moreover, residents will not pursue a conservation action if the perceived benefit of behaviour change is less than the perceived cost (effort/time) of uptake [3,6]. Thus, house systems must combine feedback with opportunities for change in order to help residents “do the right thing.” In this context, the right thing must incorporate numerous goals: resource conservation efforts must balance house performance with personal comfort [4] and reasonable levels of cognitive effort. In contrast to the vision of a smart home populated with intelligent communicating devices [8], we focus on the aware home with support for the smart occupant [5]. We aim to reduce the technological and cognitive effort required to make decisions about resource use by deploying an interactive ecosystem of feedback and control technologies built on a networked infrastructure of computing systems [9]. A TALE OF TWO HOUSES
Our experiences in building house systems for the smart resident are based on our involvement in the design and implementation of two sustainable homes: North House and West House. North House [7] is a high-technology solarpowered home that placed 4th overall in the 2009 Solar Decathlon. With the objective of achieving better than netCopyright is held by the author/owner(s). UbiComp’10, September 26–29, 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark. ACM 978-1-4503- 0283-8/10/09.
Lyn Bartram Simon Fraser University [email protected] zero performance (producing more energy than it consumes) in the challenging Canadian climate, North House incorporates sophisticated custom energy systems, adaptive building envelope technologies, specialized lighting and climate systems, and automated optimization including sun-tracking and climate sensors [9]. West House [10] addresses a different set of goals. Conceived as a sustainable, “near net-zero” home, it is a small footprint, passively efficient house combining grid power and solar energy production. West House is presented as a conventional home, with off-the-shelf components integrated with our digital control and feedback systems. During the 10 days of the Solar Decathlon, North House saw more than 50,000 visitors, giving us the opportunity for a live test of the system that included daily contests and demonstrations of the interactive systems. Likewise, 65,000 people visited West House during its public display at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. During the Games, we logged more than 16,000 control interactions through the software interfaces. This volume was due to enthusiastic visitors who were encouraged to interact with the system, including extensive tire-kicking by large groups of school children! This has resulted in a robust, field-tested system, and significant anecdotal feedback. An Ecosystem Approach
Our initial exploratory user workshops revealed that participants wanted appropriate information and control distributed throughout the home. Centralized systems with a single point of information and control were unpopular. We also noted the tension between the desires of participants to be made aware of the impacts of their energy use decisions, while expressing a preference for straightforward forms of feedback that would not introduce new tasks and information overload into their daily routines. From these findings we derived an interactive ecosystem approach. In practice, this approach leads to the deployment of tools across a variety of platforms and makes them available to residents throughout their day-to-day activities. The aim is to provide feedback and control in contextually appropriate ways: when and where the occupant needs it, rather than asking residents to rely on one centralized tool. ALIS: THE AWARE LIVING INTERFACE SYSTEM
ALIS is composed of three layers: house systems and resource infrastructure, software comprising a custom control system and web server, and user interfaces on several platforms: embedded touch panels, mobile and personal computers, and informative art [Figure 1].
Control and Optimization
Automation of house systems is simplified as much as possible, enabling users to enter an optimized energy use state (based on input from environmental sensors) with one touch, and then overriding individual controls as desired. The resident can also configure custom energy-optimizing modes. For example, turning off most lights and lowering the thermostat in Sleep mode, or eliminating standby power draws in Away mode. Master controls available from the mobile application allow the resident to remotely adjust the lights for a whole room or the entire house, or shades for a whole house façade, with a single control. This emphasizes the goal of making energy-saving behaviours easy to enact. Rich Feedback
ALIS provides a variety of feedback displays and analytical tools. Historical, real-time, and predicted (typical) information on resource production and consumption is available, categorized by device, by room, and by time of use. It is also available in different units ($, kWh) and equivalent terms (“two bathtubs full”) [3,11] in order to foster understanding and cater to diverse mental models. This feedback is tailored to and available from several platforms: localized views on the touch panels (for example, electric car performance information on the garage panel in West House), a house dashboard and analytical views from any internet-connected PC, and simplified metrics and monitoring on the mobile. Ambient and Artistic Displays
We have also explored ambient “informative art” as a subtle means of conveying resource use feedback. The Ambient Canvas, embedded in the kitchen backsplash, conveys relative levels of resource use and progress toward conservation goals. In contrast to typical displays, the Ambient Canvas filters LED strings to create meaningful patterns of light on the surface of the kitchen backsplash. This subtle feedback does not require active attention from the resident, and integrates into the home cohesively, evoking curiosity and promoting awareness. LESSONS LEARNED
We have not yet had the opportunity to fully evaluate the components of our approach, but we have learned several important lessons from our development and demonstrations. First, aesthetics are critical, both for those who build the environments (architects and interior designers) and those who live in them. We underestimated the challenge of discovering an “aesthetic” display that would please all stakeholders. Interaction designers must work closely with home designers and residents in this regard, as there are many distinct visions of where specific interfaces and displays actually fit in the home [1,2]. Second, automation is problematic: even the suggestion of introducing it makes people worry about complexity and loss of control. Designing systems that balance occupant control and comfort with optimal efficiency is critical if we expect residents to adopt them [4]. Finally, we have received strong responses to the “non-screen” ambient
Figure 1: ALIS is built on a custom control system that interfaces with the house systems and resource infrastructure and is accessible from a variety of distributed user interfaces.
displays. Visitors from diverse demographics, including children and seniors, have been particularly enthusiastic and curious about the Ambient Canvas. FUTURE WORK
Our primary focus is now on systematic evaluation. We are currently exploring the expressive potential of ambient and artistic feedback approaches via an experimental user study. Starting this fall, West House will serve as both a technology research space and an occupied living lab. Studying residents in this fully functional home will enable us to evaluate a variety of approaches, and engage with occupants and community members to further develop our understanding of systems to support sustainable living. REFERENCES 1. Aipperspach, R., Hooker, B., Woodruff, A. (2008) The Heterogeneous Home. Proceedings of UbiComp ‘08, pp. 222-231. 2. Bartram, L., Rodgers, J. and Muise, K. (2010) Chasing the Negawatt: Visualization for Sustainable Living. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 30 (3), pp. 8-12. 3. Chetty, M., Tran, D., Grinter, R.E. (2008) Getting to Green: Understanding Resource Consumption in the Home. Proceedings of UbiComp ‘08, pp. 242-251. 4. Cole, R.J., Brown, Z. (2009) Reconciling human and automated intelligence in the provision of occupant comfort. Intelligent Buildings International, 1 (1), pp. 39-55. 5. Intille, S.S. (2006) The goal: smart people, not smart homes. Proc. of the International Conference on Smart Homes and Health Telematics ‘06. 6. Katzev, R.D., Johnson, T.R. (1987) Promoting energy conservation: An analysis of behavioral research. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 7. North House. (2009) http://www.team-north.com. 8. Tompros, S. et. al. (2008) A pervasive network architecture featuring intelligent energy management of households. Proceedings of Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments ‘08. 9. Velikov, K., Bartram, L. (2009) North House: Developing Intelligent Building Technology and User Interfaces in Energy Independent Domestic Environments. Proceedings of Passive and Low Energy Architecture ‘09. 10. West House. (2010) http://westhouse.sfu.ca. 11. Wood, G. and Newborough, M. (2007) Energy-use information transfer for intelligent homes: Enabling energy conservation with central and local displays. Energy and Buildings, 39, 495-503.
Engaging occupants in conservation efforts is a key part of reducing our ecological footprint. To this end, we have developed the Aware Living Interface System (ALIS), an integrated in-home system that supports residents in awareness of resource use, facilitates efficient control of house systems, and encourages conservation in daily activities. Initial responses from deployments in two highprofile sustainable homes indicate the potential and challenges involved in supporting sustainable living. Author Keywords Sustainability, occupant engagement,
interactive ecosystem, resource conservation. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2 [Information
Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces. General Terms Design, Human Factors INTRODUCTION
A key challenge of encouraging sustainable living is supporting resource conservation in the home. Research has shown that isolated feedback instances can decrease resource use by 5% to 15% of past usage [6]. However, awareness alone does not lead to lasting behaviour change. Once feedback is removed, usage rates typically return to the baseline rapidly [6]. Moreover, residents will not pursue a conservation action if the perceived benefit of behaviour change is less than the perceived cost (effort/time) of uptake [3,6]. Thus, house systems must combine feedback with opportunities for change in order to help residents “do the right thing.” In this context, the right thing must incorporate numerous goals: resource conservation efforts must balance house performance with personal comfort [4] and reasonable levels of cognitive effort. In contrast to the vision of a smart home populated with intelligent communicating devices [8], we focus on the aware home with support for the smart occupant [5]. We aim to reduce the technological and cognitive effort required to make decisions about resource use by deploying an interactive ecosystem of feedback and control technologies built on a networked infrastructure of computing systems [9]. A TALE OF TWO HOUSES
Our experiences in building house systems for the smart resident are based on our involvement in the design and implementation of two sustainable homes: North House and West House. North House [7] is a high-technology solarpowered home that placed 4th overall in the 2009 Solar Decathlon. With the objective of achieving better than netCopyright is held by the author/owner(s). UbiComp’10, September 26–29, 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark. ACM 978-1-4503- 0283-8/10/09.
Lyn Bartram Simon Fraser University [email protected] zero performance (producing more energy than it consumes) in the challenging Canadian climate, North House incorporates sophisticated custom energy systems, adaptive building envelope technologies, specialized lighting and climate systems, and automated optimization including sun-tracking and climate sensors [9]. West House [10] addresses a different set of goals. Conceived as a sustainable, “near net-zero” home, it is a small footprint, passively efficient house combining grid power and solar energy production. West House is presented as a conventional home, with off-the-shelf components integrated with our digital control and feedback systems. During the 10 days of the Solar Decathlon, North House saw more than 50,000 visitors, giving us the opportunity for a live test of the system that included daily contests and demonstrations of the interactive systems. Likewise, 65,000 people visited West House during its public display at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. During the Games, we logged more than 16,000 control interactions through the software interfaces. This volume was due to enthusiastic visitors who were encouraged to interact with the system, including extensive tire-kicking by large groups of school children! This has resulted in a robust, field-tested system, and significant anecdotal feedback. An Ecosystem Approach
Our initial exploratory user workshops revealed that participants wanted appropriate information and control distributed throughout the home. Centralized systems with a single point of information and control were unpopular. We also noted the tension between the desires of participants to be made aware of the impacts of their energy use decisions, while expressing a preference for straightforward forms of feedback that would not introduce new tasks and information overload into their daily routines. From these findings we derived an interactive ecosystem approach. In practice, this approach leads to the deployment of tools across a variety of platforms and makes them available to residents throughout their day-to-day activities. The aim is to provide feedback and control in contextually appropriate ways: when and where the occupant needs it, rather than asking residents to rely on one centralized tool. ALIS: THE AWARE LIVING INTERFACE SYSTEM
ALIS is composed of three layers: house systems and resource infrastructure, software comprising a custom control system and web server, and user interfaces on several platforms: embedded touch panels, mobile and personal computers, and informative art [Figure 1].
Control and Optimization
Automation of house systems is simplified as much as possible, enabling users to enter an optimized energy use state (based on input from environmental sensors) with one touch, and then overriding individual controls as desired. The resident can also configure custom energy-optimizing modes. For example, turning off most lights and lowering the thermostat in Sleep mode, or eliminating standby power draws in Away mode. Master controls available from the mobile application allow the resident to remotely adjust the lights for a whole room or the entire house, or shades for a whole house façade, with a single control. This emphasizes the goal of making energy-saving behaviours easy to enact. Rich Feedback
ALIS provides a variety of feedback displays and analytical tools. Historical, real-time, and predicted (typical) information on resource production and consumption is available, categorized by device, by room, and by time of use. It is also available in different units ($, kWh) and equivalent terms (“two bathtubs full”) [3,11] in order to foster understanding and cater to diverse mental models. This feedback is tailored to and available from several platforms: localized views on the touch panels (for example, electric car performance information on the garage panel in West House), a house dashboard and analytical views from any internet-connected PC, and simplified metrics and monitoring on the mobile. Ambient and Artistic Displays
We have also explored ambient “informative art” as a subtle means of conveying resource use feedback. The Ambient Canvas, embedded in the kitchen backsplash, conveys relative levels of resource use and progress toward conservation goals. In contrast to typical displays, the Ambient Canvas filters LED strings to create meaningful patterns of light on the surface of the kitchen backsplash. This subtle feedback does not require active attention from the resident, and integrates into the home cohesively, evoking curiosity and promoting awareness. LESSONS LEARNED
We have not yet had the opportunity to fully evaluate the components of our approach, but we have learned several important lessons from our development and demonstrations. First, aesthetics are critical, both for those who build the environments (architects and interior designers) and those who live in them. We underestimated the challenge of discovering an “aesthetic” display that would please all stakeholders. Interaction designers must work closely with home designers and residents in this regard, as there are many distinct visions of where specific interfaces and displays actually fit in the home [1,2]. Second, automation is problematic: even the suggestion of introducing it makes people worry about complexity and loss of control. Designing systems that balance occupant control and comfort with optimal efficiency is critical if we expect residents to adopt them [4]. Finally, we have received strong responses to the “non-screen” ambient
Figure 1: ALIS is built on a custom control system that interfaces with the house systems and resource infrastructure and is accessible from a variety of distributed user interfaces.
displays. Visitors from diverse demographics, including children and seniors, have been particularly enthusiastic and curious about the Ambient Canvas. FUTURE WORK
Our primary focus is now on systematic evaluation. We are currently exploring the expressive potential of ambient and artistic feedback approaches via an experimental user study. Starting this fall, West House will serve as both a technology research space and an occupied living lab. Studying residents in this fully functional home will enable us to evaluate a variety of approaches, and engage with occupants and community members to further develop our understanding of systems to support sustainable living. REFERENCES 1. Aipperspach, R., Hooker, B., Woodruff, A. (2008) The Heterogeneous Home. Proceedings of UbiComp ‘08, pp. 222-231. 2. Bartram, L., Rodgers, J. and Muise, K. (2010) Chasing the Negawatt: Visualization for Sustainable Living. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 30 (3), pp. 8-12. 3. Chetty, M., Tran, D., Grinter, R.E. (2008) Getting to Green: Understanding Resource Consumption in the Home. Proceedings of UbiComp ‘08, pp. 242-251. 4. Cole, R.J., Brown, Z. (2009) Reconciling human and automated intelligence in the provision of occupant comfort. Intelligent Buildings International, 1 (1), pp. 39-55. 5. Intille, S.S. (2006) The goal: smart people, not smart homes. Proc. of the International Conference on Smart Homes and Health Telematics ‘06. 6. Katzev, R.D., Johnson, T.R. (1987) Promoting energy conservation: An analysis of behavioral research. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 7. North House. (2009) http://www.team-north.com. 8. Tompros, S. et. al. (2008) A pervasive network architecture featuring intelligent energy management of households. Proceedings of Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments ‘08. 9. Velikov, K., Bartram, L. (2009) North House: Developing Intelligent Building Technology and User Interfaces in Energy Independent Domestic Environments. Proceedings of Passive and Low Energy Architecture ‘09. 10. West House. (2010) http://westhouse.sfu.ca. 11. Wood, G. and Newborough, M. (2007) Energy-use information transfer for intelligent homes: Enabling energy conservation with central and local displays. Energy and Buildings, 39, 495-503.
