Free energy: alternative designs for awareness and choice

Abstract

Energy is an invisible and increasingly valuable resource. However in the design of everyday environments and things, electricity and energy use is not often made explicit – wiring, electrical meters, outlets and batteries are hidden away in boxes, inside walls and in distant basements. We have been investigating design as both a means of enquiry into perceptions of energy and as a vehicle for making energy more explicit in everyday environments. In the Interactive Institute’s ‘Static!’ project, we investigate ‘energy as design material’. Taking energy as a design problem from the point of view of human and personal experience, our approach is to examine design as a means for increasing the visibility – and thus choices available – with regards to personal energy use.