Engaging households through a design intervention: Challenging the everyday practices related to households water and electricity consumption
Translated title
Inddragelse af husholdninger gennem en design intervention: udfordring af husholdningernes hverdagspraksisser relateret til elektricitet og vand
Author
Brandt, Susanne Noer
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2020
Submitted on
2020-06-04
Pages
128
Abstract
This thesis explores how households living in buildings labeled as sustainable can be engaged to reduce electricity and water use. Adopting a practice-based view of everyday habits, it applies an exploratory, experimental, and qualitative design intervention drawing on Participatory Design, Living Labs, and probing kits. Six households took part in a five-day at-home challenge with tasks and diaries designed to surface and question the often invisible, taken-for-granted services that underpin daily practices. Findings indicate that much consumption is embedded in routines and embodied habits; some practices are driven mainly by habit while others are shaped by meanings and norms; and practices tied to convenience and comfort are particularly hard to change. Notable differences in cleanliness practices across households suggest that one-size-fits-all solutions are inadequate. Effective change requires understanding the relationship between services and practices and how practices interact. Based on these insights and selected nudging tools, three design proposals were developed: two water-saving solutions that make low water pressure the default and allow modes for different needs (kitchen tap and shower), and an energy-focused solution that enables households to compete with themselves and leverages social norms to gradually build new behaviors. Due to Covid-19, recruitment and co-creation occurred online, limiting physical involvement, but the study offers actionable insights and design directions to support lower electricity and water use in sustainable homes.
Denne specialeundersøgelse undersøger, hvordan husstande i bygninger mærket som bæredygtige kan engageres i at reducere deres el- og vandforbrug. Med udgangspunkt i en praksisbaseret forståelse af hverdagsvaner blev der gennemført en eksplorativ, eksperimentel og kvalitativ designintervention inspireret af Participatory Design, Living Labs og brug af udforskningssæt. Seks husstande deltog i et femdages forløb i hjemmet med opgaver og dagbogsrefleksioner, der skulle udfordre de ofte usynlige og for givet tagne tjenester, som understøtter daglige praksisser. Indsigterne viser, at en væsentlig del af forbruget er indlejret i rutiner og kropslige vaner, at nogle praksisser primært drives af vane, mens andre bæres af betydning og normer, og at praksisser knyttet til bekvemmelighed og komfort er særligt svære at ændre. Der er markante forskelle i renlighedspraksisser mellem husstande, hvilket peger på, at one size fits all-løsninger er utilstrækkelige. For at skabe varige ændringer er det nødvendigt at forstå relationen mellem ydelser og praksisser og hvordan praksisser påvirker hinanden. På baggrund af disse indsigter og udvalgte nudging-værktøjer er der udviklet tre designforslag: to vandløsninger, der gør lavt vandtryk til standard og tilbyder funktioner til forskellige behov (køkkenhane og bruser), samt en energiløsning, der gør det muligt for husstande at konkurrere med sig selv og anvender sociale normer til gradvis at forme nye adfærdsmønstre. Covid-19 medførte, at rekruttering og samskabelsesaktiviteter foregik online, hvilket begrænsede den fysiske inddragelse, men undersøgelsen giver konkrete indsigter og designretninger til at støtte lavere el- og vandforbrug i bæredygtige boliger.
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