Edinburgh Napier University

  We are often told we have power at our fingertips when it comes to technology now with more control and connectivity with recent advances, let alone the potential possibilities from future technology. But what does this mean for energy, and more specifically for the consumer, the end-user, the one often treated like the energy novice? Whilst we have seen advances in terms of demand shifting, renewable energy technologies and automation of energy systems, the end-user is often factored out of the equation or treated like they are using energy incorrectly. The end-user is often treated like the roadblock to an energy efficient nirvana. Is it really the end-user who doesn’t understand, or ultimately do we not really understand what end-users want to control when it comes to energy?

This paper presents the findings of co-creation workshops with a range of building users to design their “ideal” energy tool. Participants were given freedom to add features and functions and asked to specify how they wanted energy information to be communicated. An interactive energy efficiency tool was developed based on these recommendations and implemented across twelve pilot buildings, covering schools, health care facilities, offices and residential buildings in three European countries. The paper sheds light on the views of a range of different user groups, highlighting the similarities in demands for an “ideal” energy efficient tool across different building types and discusses the differences in terms of context of use, accessibility, and motivations for engagement with energy efficiency. These results and the resulting engagement once a real-life tool was piloted, offer insights into the potential of end-user co-creation to enhance energy efficiency engagement and some of the key technical, organisational and behavioural limitations which constrain some of the desired benefits of a co-design approach.