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Smart Energy and What Lies Ahead

Rob FaludiNYU andGroundedPower, Inc.

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Rob Faludi

• Wireless Networks

• Cognitive Psychology

• Physical Computing

• Instructor at NYU’s ITP

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GroundedPower, Inc.

•GroundedPower provides wireless, real-time energy monitoringcoupled with secure web applications that empower consumers tocut their electricity bills, help improve the environment andimprove energy security. The technology also gives utilities more

accurate, verifiable, real-time data about customer usage anddemand.

• one of a number of companies thinking about energy

• collaborative effort between interesting people

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People

• Paul: Lotus workgroups, psychologist

• Mike: web applications to help smokers quit

• Me: device networks and cognition

• Demetrie: interface and user interaction

• Terence: interaction and industrial design

• Yin: systems engineering and scientific data manipulation

• Carl: we call him the utility guy

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Energy Monitoring Things

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Energy Issues

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Whose Problems?

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Planet’s Problems

• Pollution

• Ice caps melting

• Mass extinctions

• Mass migrations

• Change we don’t need

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Utilities’ Problems

• Structured for one way energy flow

• Forecasts use historical models

• Issues: grid built for peaks, high cost load smoothing, carbon emergency,renewables, need storage.

• They don’t want to spend money

• They’d love to have customer information

• Lowering use, shifting load, communicating pricing, two way energy flow

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People’s Problems

• moderate bill once per month

• very occasional power outage

• concern about planet

• interested in smart energy

• all thumbs

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What’s really going on here?

• A lot of things don’t use much power

• Cost of energy is very low

• 5% - 20% savings. $15 per month? 50 cents a day?

• We treat power like air

• available everywhere

• no social prohibition against taking power (vs. an apple)

• We only notice it when it’s gone

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Energy is really, really important

• Carbon is a real emergency

• Energy independence has obvious benefits

• political

• economic

• Cheap oil is finite

• Policy makes this stuff important to utilities

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Influencing Customers

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 Awareness & Comprehension

• cul de sac?

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 Awareness & Calculation

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Measuring

• "If you can not measure it, you can not improve it."- Sir William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)

• more data points, currentdata points

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 Visibility

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 The Grandma Test

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Capital Expenses

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Lifestyle Change

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Dynamic Pricing

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“Demand Response”

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Have I missed anything so far?

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Behavior

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Energy Therapy

• How about some help?

• perception-action loop

• social cognition

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Self-monitoring

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Comparing Yourself 

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 To Your Neighbors

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Community

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First-order Tasks

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Getting (Energy) Things Done

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Forming Good Habits

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Beware Behavioral Fantasies

• We’re all guilty of creating technology without knowing impacts

• ECD: engineer centered design

• What we can do with tech vs. what we ought to do which may be no tech at all

• gadget-driven tasksKeeping track of electricity pricing on your phone

• interfaces that can’t pass the grandma test

• The fantasy of a fixation on energy to the exclusion of your actual life.“I’m using too much power!”

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Pilot Project

• Cape Light Compact

• energy monitoring

• flexible online feedback

• local displays to support behavior

• trying out some new ideas

• 100 homes for one year

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 Thank you!