that many consumers aspire to become Resource Man and indeed expect this as an outcome of the emerging smart grid. However, other consumer research suggests the uptake of technologies like in-home displays (IHD) and home energy management (HEM) systems, which provide detailed consumption feedback, have been slower than anticipated, and that terms such as smart grid, kilowatt hour, and energy portal are not well understood.

Despite these concerns, a global effort is now under way to bring Resource Man into reality.

REALIZING RESOURCE MAN

There are four clear strategies that Resource Man is thought to embrace and through which most consumer research, policy, programs, and technology design and development are focused. These revolve around the provision of data and smart technology, and can be broadly defined as energy feedback, dynamic pricing, home automation, and micro-generation.

I cover the first and third of these strategies here. However, it is important to note that there other strategies, such as greater uptake of electric vehicles and the gamification of energy demand, that are also emerging.

Resonating with the rhetoric of the health sector, electricity utilities are helping their energy consumers become “energy fit” and “active” as they move them toward their new role as Resource Man. This does not necessarily mean going on a resource diet, but implies getting smarter and more informed about resource decisions through access to information about their energy consumption. This involves a considerable amount of effort, which is needed to learn about energy and its impacts. Effort on consumers’ behalf is required to overcome the “disconnect between what consumers know about their electricity use and what they need to know for smarter energy use decisions” [ 9], the intention being that through increased energy knowledge, consumers will better manage their energy consumption. Consumer participation in the electricity system and in energy demand reduction is defined and contained within the scope of managing and acting on personalized data.

The primary methods by which this
information is provided are in-home
displays (IHDs), energy monitors,
home energy management (HEM)
systems, and website portals, which
provide detailed energy feedback on
a household’s resource consumption
(kilowatt hours), costs of energy
(detailed billing information), and
resource impacts (greenhouse gas
emissions). The HCI community has
played a strong role in contributing
to the innovative design of these
technologies, and many of these
educational efforts are being accelerated
through government mandates and
industry partnerships.

A second key strategy for realizing Resource Man involves the provision of technologies that seek to automate appliances, lights, or the home itself so that energy management is taken care of on the occupants’ behalf. Direct load-control programs that automate air conditioners, hot-water systems, or pool pumps are a common example of this strategy, as are programmable or smart thermostats and the emergence of smart appliances that can be controlled remotely via smartphones.

In contrast to the vision of the active
consumer, the strategy of automation
assumes that humans are primarily
lazy, too busy, or simply uninterested
in managing their energy data. They
not only want control over their energy
consumption but they also want “cruise
control” [ 10], and this means putting in
as little effort as possible. They should
be able to tell their technologies how
they want them to respond and then
“let the system do the watching” [ 10].
Data is still essential here, although
in this case data communicates with
technology rather than people. For
example, a high-price signal might send
a message to the washing machine to
turn off at a certain time.
Resource Man features in this
strategy as an efficient end-use
programmer, able and willing to pre-
program and automate many of his
household appliances, such as the pool
pump or air conditioner. He also allows
signals sent from electricity providers
to automate appliances on his behalf.
Effort is still required here, in terms of
sourcing and setting up the enabling
technologies, but much of the day-to-
day effort of monitoring and managing
energy consumption is reassigned to
these technologies (or to those who
design and control them). This is
again a primarily masculine vision of
technology use, focused on functional
and goal-centered ideals that resonate
strongly with engineering disciplines.
These two seemingly contradictory
strategies of encouraging active
consumption or passive automation
are sometimes used to differentiate
between types of consumers (e.g., those

JULY–AUGUST 2014 INTERACTIONS 27 INTERACTIONS.ACM.ORG P R O D U C T S H O T C O U R T E S Y O F E L E C T R O L U X D E S I G N L A B – B I F O L I A T E