It

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Its not all about green

• Energy use in low-income communities

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Who are we?

• Tawanna Dillahunt Ph.D. student in CMUs Human
  Computer Interaction Institute (HCII).

• Dr. Jennifer Mankoff Associate professor in
  CMUs HCII.

• Dr. Eric Paulos Assistant professor in CMUs
  HCII.

• Dr. Susan Fussell Associate professor in
  Cornells Department of Communication.

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction (HCI)?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Human Computer Interaction

• Humancomputer interaction (HCI) is the study of
  interaction between people and technology

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Human Computer Interaction

• Multi-touch input vs. mouse or keyboard
• Multi-functional device
• Phone
• Music player
• Internet
• Built-in sensors (GPS, accelerometers)
• Sleek, stylish, small

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Human Computer Interaction
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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Environmental Sustainability

• Making sure our future generations are at least
  as well off as we are today by taking care of the
  environment.

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Global warming

• The gradual warming of Earths temperature

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Climate change

• The pattern of weather in a place is what is
  referred to as climate
• Increased warming will significantly change our
  climate
• Effects ecosystems and may cause certain species
  to become extinct

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Home Energy Use

• Home energy consumption represents one of the
  biggest categories within personal energy
  consumption

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Low-Income Communities

• 30 of U.S. households make less than 30K/year
• Low-income households consume as much as higher
  income households
• Why?

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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What did we do?

• How can HCI research to address issues regarding
  sustainability and home energy use?
• How can we save energy in the home?
• Goal is to understand communities so we can help
  save.

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What did we do?

• Interviewed twenty-six residents
• Surveyed over 40 residents
• Identified factors affecting energy saving
  behaviors in low-income households

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Bedford Dwellings

• Residents do not pay for electricity

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Trent Court

• Residents receive a set allocation per month and
  pay excess

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Scattered Sites

• Section 8
• Residents receive a stipend for their monthly
  rent and some receive a stipend for electricity
• Non-Public Housing or Section 8
• Residents are responsible for paying their entire
  bill

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Interview Breakdown

• Public Housing (13 participants total)
• North Carolina (8)
• Pennsylvania (5)
• Section 8 (9)
• North Carolina (5)
• Pennsylvania (4)
• Low-Income residents not living in public housing
  or on Section 8 (4)
• North Carolina (2)
• Pennsylvania (2)

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Study Details

• Study Details
• Photo-elicitation study
• 30-minute survey
• 1-2 hour Interviews
• Payment
• 10/hour for interviews
• 5 to complete the survey

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Results

• Motivations for saving energy
• Trends and problems for saving energy
• Sharing and other social factors
• Monitoring energy use
• Past behaviors

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Motivation

• Protecting the environment for future generations
• Saving money
• Not wasting
• Comfort

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Motivation

• My motivation is really focused on God... -Roy

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Motivation
I dont like dryers. in the North you dont
have lines to hang on. You have a laundry room
and a dryer But to get back and put them on the
line and just-- ooh, that felt so great. I really
love it. I love it. - Catherine
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Ways to save energy
Decorate your house with candles and light those
- Nicole
I make the clothes, because I cannot afford to
pay the light and buy clothes. So I make that.
That's energy saving whether you think it is or
not. It is. - Lauren
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Ways to save energy
we plant things, and you can actually use things
like food stamps to buy seeds. That is one way to
save energy, is to grow your own food instead of
incurring all the fuel and environmental costs.
-Eve
I love to fish. Matter of fact, went yesterday. -
Charlie
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Barriers to saving energy
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Barriers to saving energy
Some of it is a bad thing hang drying clothes,
because people will steal clothes
off clotheslines these days. - Brian
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Barriers to saving energy
We buried the flower bulbs and every time people
go and trash it and throw trash in there and they
destroy it because they used to grow flowers,
pumpkins, watermelons and now it's just destroyed
and we can't do it no more because they shut the
program off. - Claudia
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Social Factors

• North Carolina residents shared information
  regarding energy bills and ways to save energy
  with their friends, family, and/or neighbors
• Pittsburgh residents did not discuss their
  electricity consumption
• I guess cause people think you are in their
  business. Or if youre not paying their money- if
  youre not paying their bill then you dont need
  to know. -Yasmine

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Monitoring Home Energy Use

• Participants received little feedback about how
  much electricity they were using
• Some participants had their own ways of
  monitoring their energy use

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Monitoring Home Energy Use

• When that bill comes, go in their pockets and
  say, You're half on this. They are working in
  stores and shoveling snow. They aren't going to
  want to be giving their money up to pay these
  bills, so they've got to turn them lights off,
  open them blinds -Justin

• Children are not responsible for paying energy
  bills
• and are unaware of their usage and cost

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Past behaviors
Yeah, and also my mother was always the type to
say, That light better be off. And when I began
to move out, and pay my own electricity bill, I
see what she meant, from my first apartment, when
I got the light bill. -Candace
Yeah, like when I used to stay with my
grandmother she had to pay light and gas and
stuff like that, so she was really into us
turning the TV off and the lights and stuff. If
you're not using the TV unplug it and things like
that. Like I said, its just stuck with me. Now
it's like a habit that I can't break I guess. -Kim
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Summary of results

• People had different motivations for saving
  energy
• Engage all stakeholders (kids, neighbors,
  landlords, etc)
• Social sharing
• Feedback
• Getting from incentive to habit

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Next Steps

• We will be recruiting residents to participate in
  the second part of the study!
• Explore energy monitoring devices for the home
  and select the devices compatible to homes
• Gather long-term data by deploying energy
  monitoring devices to residents homes

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Participatory Design

• Conduct a collaboration exercise where community
  members are involved in idea generation,
  envisioning, and prototyping a product to help
  monitor energy

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Build an energy monitoring device

• Build a new and enhanced device based on
  participatory design exercises
• Evaluate new device Does the new device help to
  save more energy than the existing energy
  monitoring devices?

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• What is Human Computer Interaction?
• What is environmental sustainability?
• What did we do?
• What were the results?
• What are our next steps?
• Questions

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Questions?
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Thank you!!

• We thank our participants, the Housing
  Authorities, the Bedford Hope Center, Joshua
  Patton, John Canny, and our reviewers.
• Special thanks to Caster Binion, Marsha Grayson,
  Richard Morris, Brenda Sledge, Laverne Wagner,
  and Diane Henderson
• This work was funded by NSF, Google, and Intel.

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Backup
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Breakdown of Home Energy Use