Energy consumption awareness in the workplace: technical artefacts and practices

Despite all technological advances in the energy research field and the ubiquitous presence of technology in all aspects of life, the lack of information is still recognized as a gap to engage people in a pro-environmental behaviour towards energy conservation. Consumption feedback is elementary to tackle this paradox, but not enough to trigger a social change. It is still necessary to motivate people in order to raise awareness effectively. This study associated the feedback provided by smart monitors with a debate tool and a tangible motivational device for building energy awareness collectively in a workplace. The analysis of the role of each technology considered assessments and interviews, and also the content of the online discussion, which encompassed more than 170 ideas for changing behaviour for around 100 issues about how the energy has been consumed. Results demonstrated that for raising energy awareness, beyond technology, it is also necessary to deal with formal and informal elements, such as institutional practices and individual’s motivation. These technical, formal, and informal levels shaped our qualitative analysis to identify elements participants considered relevant to learn and to discuss, suggesting their importance to similar initiatives that aims to raise energy awareness in a wider perspective.