Energy feedback in buildings: improving the infrastructure for demand reduction

Abstract

The concept of market transformation is being widened to include a range of processes, including information flows. The paper argues that feedback to energy users on their consumption (via improved metering, billing and displays) complements other tools such as energy labelling and minimum standards, increasing the likelihood that decisions on built fabric and equipment will be grounded in the realities of daily usage. Different types of feedback to energy users, mostly in the residential sector, are considered for their impact in the short- and long-term. Implications are examined for energy policy in relation to feedback, including the relative importance to different actors of load control and demand reduction, as well as the question about how priorities should be set in debates over the future of metering.

Le concept de la transformation du marché est élargi de façon à inclure une gamme de processus, notamment les flux d'informations. D'après l'auteur, le retour d'information vers les consommateurs d'énergie concernant leur consommation (grâce à l'amélioration des moyens de mesure, de la facturation et de l'affichage) complète d'autres outils comme l'étiquetage de l'énergie et les normes minimales, ce qui augmente les chances que les décisions relatives au tissu construit et aux équipements soient prises en fonction de la réalité de l'usage quotidien. L'auteur examine différents types de retours d'information destinés aux consommateurs d'énergie, la plupart dans le secteur résidentiel, en termes de leur impact dans une perspective plus ou moins lointaine. Les implications sont examinées dans le cas de la politique énergétique en relation avec le retour d'information, y compris de l'importance relative pour différents acteurs du contrôle des charges et de la réduction de la demande ainsi que la façon d'établir les priorités dans les débats concernant l'avenir des systèmes de mesure.

Mots clés: comportement, facturation, gestion de la demande, retour d'information, habitants, bâtiments intelligents, transformations du marché, mesure, systèmes socio-techniques

Keywords:

• behaviour
• billing
• demand management
• feedback
• inhabitants
• intelligent buildings
• market transformation
• metering
• socio-technical systems

Acknowledgements

This paper was completed thanks to an interdisciplinary research fellowship awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). It draws on work carried out for the ‘Building Market Transformation’ project, an inquiry into policy and market framework options with the aim of reducing carbon emissions from UK buildings to 50% of 1990 levels by 2030 (Building Market Transformation (BMT), 2006). The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Carbon Trust (Grant No. GR/S94292/01), as part of the Carbon Vision programme. The comments of Brenda Boardman, Gavin Killip and the anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

Energy literacy is: ‘a dimension … reflecting different patterns of beliefs and knowledge about energy conservation … [those with low energy literacy] lack the decisional freedom typical of the more energy literate, who through greater knowledge have more options available with which to respond to new situations’ (Gaskell et al., 1982, p. 2).

A number of trials are under way at present, and findings are being collated by the European Smart Metering Alliance.

While the term ‘smart meter’ is often used to describe a display, it is important to note that the two are not the same.