Squeezy Green Balls: Promoting Environmental Awareness through Playful Interactions

We need collective action to tackle global warming. However, research shows that people switch off from being concerned about the environment because they are often too busy, or fail to appreciate their ability to make a difference. An alternative approach is to run campaigns that are able to engage large numbers of people and engender feelings of concern and empowerment. This could then kick-start a range of pro-environmental habits. We present the development and evaluation of a playful installation that aimed to attract attention, and stimulate discussion about environmental issues amongst university staff and students. The first prototype was shown to successfully attract people to engage and interact with the installation. The second prototype was deployed in-the-wild, over the course of a week. We evaluated the extent to which the installation was successful at attracting attention, and in encouraging people to interact with it, to reflect on their habits and to discuss environmental issues with others. We found the Green Ball Kiosk was a fun way to raise discussions about green issues, to encourage the adoption of new environmentally friendly behaviours and to prompt people to maintain existing ones. We suggest that interactive installations such as this can be effective at promoting awareness and generating a ‘social buzz’ about environmental topics when exhibited as a temporary installation

Aesthetic, Functional and Conceptual Provocation in Research Through Design

Recently within HCI, design approaches have appeared, which deviate from traditional ones. Among them critical design introduces deliberate provocations in order to challenge established perceptions and practices. We have engaged ourselves with this design approach out of interest in understanding how to use provocation in research through design. Towards this end, we report on a field study with four families that used an aesthetically, functionally and conceptually provocative future probe. The purpose of the probe was to challenge existing energy consuming practices through provocation and make its users reflect on them. The paper describes how all three provocative aspects were addressed, and our findings demonstrate how they were experienced in the real world, and how they impacted our research through design approach. We conclude by presenting reflections on how to design provocations, and reflections on the impact of provocations for research through design in general

"I'd want to burn the data or at least nobble the numbers": Towards data-mediated building management for comfort and energy use

In this paper, we explore the role of pervasive environmental sensor data in workplace building management. Current interactions between management and workplace occupants are limited by the gap between experiences of (dis)comfort (i.e. individual preferences and perceptions) and the rigid objectivity of organisational policies and procedures such as static setpoint temperatures for indoor spaces. Our hypothesis is that pervasive sensor data that captures the indoor climate can provide an effective platform from which to more successfully communicate about comfort and energy use. Through a qualitative study with building managers and occupants, we show that while data does not necessarily resolve these tensions, it provides an engaging forum for a more inclusive building management process, and we outline directions for taking a more conversational approach in the design of comfort and energy-use interventions for the workplace

Investigating the Influence of the Built Environment on Energy-Saving Behaviors

This dissertation addresses a gap in the existing sustainability behavior research, by integrating research from the social sciences about environmental attitudes and knowledge with approaches from engineering regarding the characteristics of the built environment. Specifically, this dissertation explores the role of both environmental knowledge and design features within the built environment on building occupants\u27 energy behaviors throughout the course of an environmental conservation campaign. Data were collected from 240 dormitory residents using a multi-phase questionnaire approach to study these factors and their combined impact within the context of environmental sustainability practices on UCF\u27s campus. The results from a series of correlational and multiple regression analyses indicate that both the design components of the built environment and the attitudes held by individuals within that environment have a significant positive influence on behaviors. Furthermore, these findings indicated that this effect increases significantly when the two factors work together. Finally, the results show that pro- environmental attitudes and behaviors can be successfully targeted through a cue-based energy conservation campaign. By addressing a gap in the extant Human Factors research about the relationship between attitudinal factors and the built environment, this dissertation provides a unique contribution to the field and points the way towards development of promising solutions for encouraging sustainable behaviors