How can citizens' energy awareness be raised and sustained?
Smart energy solutions provide convenient services to energy consumers as well as important information to grid operators. How can these data be used to motivate sustainable behaviour? How can citizens actively contribute to energy efficiency?Challenge description
The aim of Aspern Smart City Research (ASCR) is to optimise urban energy production and consumption in such a way that the users of smart buildings and citizens of smart cities in general can participate in the future of urban energy. What makes ASCR unique is that a network operator, energy supplier and technology company as well as property developers, technical manufacturers, administrators and residents all collaborate in this research project. The Vienna-based venture is one of the most innovative and sustainable energy efficiency showcase projects in the world. Research at ASCR focuses on complex connections, rather than individual elements, using real data from various domains such as smart metering, smart buildings, weather data, home automation, etc. In cooperation with selected households and businesses new smart solutions are developed and testet before they ultimately will be applied on a large scale and to entire cities.
Challenge vision
Some of the research questions at ASCR - and the lead questions for this climathon challenge - are: How can residents of smart buildings be motivated ("nudged") to actually use the available data and actively participate in Vienna's Smart City process? Which feedback to energy consumers would be suitable to reward them for energy savings? How can consumer participation be sustained?
- Which additional data could be used to increase consumer participation? ASCR already uses data from smart metering, smart buildings, weather data, home automation, etc. Teams should elaborate how additional data (e.g. from open data platforms) could contribute to the attractiveness of smart solutions.
- How should solutions be designed to fit a majority of the population? Taking into account design thinking methods, teams should develop solutions that address different target groups (customer segments, regardless of their personal interests, educational background, age, etc.) with a single user interface.
- How can data be presented to spark and sustain customers' interest? The solution should guarantee long-term attention by customers. By providing services with regard to energy supply, home automation, etc. additional value can be generated.
- How can sustainble energy behaviour be promoted? The users should be given the opportunity to understand and explore the interconnection of individual behaviour and environmental impacts.
This challenge is hosted by Aspern Smart City Research (ASCR). Depending on the degree of maturity and successful achievement of the solutions, a further cooperation and a further pursuit of a presented solution is possible.