Energy impacts of the smart home – conflicting visions (8-090-11)
Sophie Nyborg, Technical University of Denmark - Department of Management Engineering, Section for Innovation & Sustainability, DenmarkInge Røpke, DTU Management, Denmark
This is a peer-reviewed paper.
Keywords
alternative energy systems (AES), savings potential, homes, consumers, energy consumption, smart metering, everyday life, practices, sustainable development, energy saving technologies, advanced metering, information and communication technologies (ICT)Abstract
To support the transition towards an energy system that is based 100 percent on renewable energy sources, the smart grid is presently undergoing rapid development in Denmark – a hype that can also be seen in the rest of the world. Many actors are playing in the field, and the present situation is characterized by great uncertainty as to the direction of the development. The paper focuses on the role of households in the smart grid visions proposed by a broad range of stakeholders. It has two aims: first, to sort out the threads of the discussion; what visions are formulated regarding the role of households in the smart grid? What visions are articulated for the functionalities of the smart home? Secondly, we critically investigate these visions to explore if they support the development of sustainable energy consumption.
We claim that the smart home in the smart grid is the latest addition to a family of ideas emerging in relation to the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the home. The smart home is thus a melting pot of such different trends as automation of household chores, entertainment and energy management. These different ingredients of the melting pot co-evolve, we argue, and we suggest that the co-evolution may well have negative consequences for the overall energy impact of the transition. The smart grid could become a dynamic that constructs and normalizes new energy-demanding practices and facilitates escalating expectations to comfort. This paper only begins the exploration of the reported discussions; much more research in this area needs to be done.
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Panels of the eceee 2011 Summer Study:
Panel 1. Policies and programmes to drive transformation
Panel 2. Current energy efficiency policies: On stage and backstage
Panel 3. Energy use in industry: The road from policy to action
Panel 4. Transport and mobility: How to deliver energy efficiency
Panel 5. Saving energy in buildings: The time to act is now
Panel 6. Innovations in buildings and appliances
Panel 7. Monitoring and evaluation
Panel 8. Dynamics of consumption