Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - From responsibility to accountability
T2 - working creatively with distributed agency in office energy metering and management
AU - Whittle, Rebecca Kate
AU - Ellis, Rebecca Joan
AU - Marshall, Ian
AU - Alcock, Paul
AU - Hutchison, David
AU - Mauthe, Andreas Ulrich
PY - 2015/11
Y1 - 2015/11
N2 - In homes and offices across the UK, increasingly sophisticated smart metering systems are being hailed as a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change through a focus on energy demand reduction. Using the example of Current, a multi-disciplinary project focused on energy use in large office environments, this paper reflects upon the metering process on a university campus and the challenges and opportunities that it poses for energy management. Through an exploration of the relationships between the human and non-human actors that are involved in energy consumption and metering (staff, students, radiators, data loggers, thermostats, computers and building insulation, to name but a few examples), we show that, rather than being used to critique and apportion blame for energy consumption, measurement systems which attempt to quantify that consumption can provide the opportunity to ask fresh questions about agency, responsibility and the relationships between people and things in ways that can help us work towards creative solutions for more sustainable futures.
AB - In homes and offices across the UK, increasingly sophisticated smart metering systems are being hailed as a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change through a focus on energy demand reduction. Using the example of Current, a multi-disciplinary project focused on energy use in large office environments, this paper reflects upon the metering process on a university campus and the challenges and opportunities that it poses for energy management. Through an exploration of the relationships between the human and non-human actors that are involved in energy consumption and metering (staff, students, radiators, data loggers, thermostats, computers and building insulation, to name but a few examples), we show that, rather than being used to critique and apportion blame for energy consumption, measurement systems which attempt to quantify that consumption can provide the opportunity to ask fresh questions about agency, responsibility and the relationships between people and things in ways that can help us work towards creative solutions for more sustainable futures.
KW - Energy
KW - Demand reduction
KW - Metering
KW - Responsibility
U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2015.08.002
DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2015.08.002
M3 - Journal article
VL - 10
SP - 240
EP - 249
JO - Energy Research and Social Science
JF - Energy Research and Social Science
SN - 2214-6296
ER -