ethicalcocreationteamred-blog

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Blog Post Team 8 - Team RED

Tristan Tummers, Luc Scholte, Joep Berends, Tobias Paulusse, Mara Boghean

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Blog Post Team 9 - Team RED

CC – Track – 11/06/2020 – Group 9

Alexander Frissen, Lara Hölscher, Helmer Sikking, Nicola Tronci and Quentin Verhagen

1.      Introducing Team RED

Team RED is working on a platform to gather data on energy use, visualize this and then give an intuitive insight into how to improve this. This platform is currently geared towards gathering this data on the University Campus and presenting this on an interactive touchscreen dashboard. This is currently still in development and only being done on the TU/e, but there is an interest in seeing this implemented on a wider scale.

2.      Research problem

The research question that is to be considered for this project is how Team Red could implement their platform on a residential level. This requires balancing the privacy concerns of the residents, as data on energy use will need to be gathered, and the improvements to cost and sustainability this could bring.  One of the main goals of Team Red’s platform is to give intuitive insight into energy use and sustainability to either residents and/or other involved stakeholders, so that they may act on this knowledge. This requires sharing of data with all involved, which is not something all involve may be comfortable with. There are however multiple ways to implement the platform on a residential level, each with their own balances on privacy and utility. The question then is, which brings the best balance of these properties?  

3.      Solution

From the analyses we did, we concluded that it would be most beneficial if Team RED would focus with their platform on Housing Associations. This conclusion was reached after formulating possible solutions that already tried to balance privacy with utility and then doing an ethical analysis on these possible implementations.

We also considered the strength of the Platform Team RED provides, in that it can analyze and give insight into multiple buildings at once. To play to these strengths on a residential level, this would require a strong bond and sense of community within neighborhoods. We think that this level of cooperating that within neighborhoods can pose a barrier to entry and implementation. This is not so much a problem when a Housing Association makes a collective decision for a whole apartment buildings/street that they own.

For analyzing single buildings/households there are already existing platforms that could provide you with this information or can help you with making decisions. It might be the case that the platform that Team RED will produce is more user-friendly/insightful/easily adaptable, but the point stands that the implementation of this platform on the level of Housing Associations will potentially have a much larger impact. This is doubly so when one accounts for the fact that individual homeowners are already directly motivated to improve their sustainability, but residents in apartment buildings and such do not have this option.  Stimulating improvements for these specific cases will thus bring a larger benefit to society.

Therefore, we propose that Team RED focusses on introducing their platform on Housing Associations.

4.      End product

Team RED would create a platform geared towards Housing Associations. This platform would upon implementation gather data on building and/or street level. The scale of implementation would be determined by the Housing Association that implements the system, i.e. all their buildings in a city, or just a handful. The Team RED platform then provides insight into this data, including on how the Housing Association can implement different options to provide sustainability and/or cost benefits. These options should include multiple business strategies, either selling directly to the grid, sell only to those residents that are interested or form an energy collective with the residents. These different options should have a generalized model, based on current market prices for energy, on which a return on investment calculation is based. It would be up to the Housing Associations themselves to eventually decide what business model they may pursue, but the Team RED platform should give insight into the multiple strategies.

In the startup phase Team RED and its product will have to make a name for themselves as no one will know of them. Our advice would be to approach Housing Associations to pitch the Team RED platform during development, after some initial market research has been done and the core of the platform has been shaped, and involve a couple of Housing Associations directly during this phase. This way the Housing Associations can give direct feedback, creating a more relevant product. One of the goals of Team RED is to give intuitive insight through a slick looking physical dashboard and this may not be as relevant for Housing Associations, for example. Through word of mouth, this early approach will also help with actively promoting their product toward Housing Associations.

Further promotion once a (near) finished product has been developed would involve again approaching Housing Associations directly and holding a sales pitch. Preferably by holding a presentation with a (near) finished product to convince the board of the Housing Association on the benefits the platform can bring them. Primarily from a financial standpoint, as we feel this will be most relevant for the Housing Associations, but also from a more general sustainability standpoint and the improved image this provides.

Secondary to this strategy would involve updating the Team RED website. The site would need to contain enough information to tell potentially interested parties that Team RED will provide them with a platform that is relevant to their needs. This information would also need to be front and center enough, that it is quickly found by people finding the site for the first time. Lastly, it needs to contain contact information and potentially also the costs involved in attaining the services of Team RED.

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Blog Post Team 10 - Team RED

Fleur van Heugten (1428543), Stefanos Anastasi (1416154), Jules Verstraeten (1409026), Timo Maessen (1432575), Igor Koster (1503286)

Problem statement

Team RED wants to adapt their current model to one that is more fitting of a residential area. Bringing their project to a residential area raises privacy concerns that make it difficult for Team RED to collect useful data. For example data leaks can make the residents feel unsafe. Moreover, the possibility of their data being sold to third parties, without the residents’ consent for unethical uses can further increase the feeling of their privacy being hijacked. This causes a conflict between sustainability and privacy as a certain amount of energy data needs to be collected for Team RED to give sound advice which inturn would contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition. Therefore it is important to find a balance between respecting the residents private energy data and providing Team RED with enough data to give the residents advice.

Recommended solution

Our proposal could solve this conflict between sustainability and privacy. There are multiple reasons why the residents would not be willing to participate. Firstly the lack of knowledge about the project and how it will be implemented in their homes. Secondly, there is a lack of communication from Team RED on what they expect from the residents, and from the residents on how willing they are to participate in Team RED’s project. Lastly, the residents could lack incentive to share their data. We suggest that a brochure will be sent out along the survey answering some of the most common questions and concerns the residents have. This should deal with the lack of knowledge and communication. To incentivise the residents to share their data, we chose to make a mobile application that would take the place of the original model that team RED made for the TU/e. This mobile application makes the residents more willing to participate by giving them better insight into what data is collected. Simultaneously, this insight provides the residents with the possibility to lower their energy consumption hence accelerating the energy transition. For the final assignment we have already decided to focus only on designing a mobile application.

End-product:

Our end product presented in this blogpost is split up into 3 parts: the brochure, the survey and the app.

BROCHURE:

●       The Brochure would be handed out with a smile to every household in the residential area

●       This brochure would include a reasonable amount of information about Team RED and the app yet not as much as Team RED’s website

●       On the brochure there would be a section that includes what you can do after reading this brochure. In this section there is Team RED’s email, Team REDs Website and a suggestion to go and fill in the online survey. 

SURVEY:

The link to the Survey is on Team RED’s website. This survey will have a few basic questions on to what extent the household would be willing to share their data.

First the basic question if is the residents want to participate In Team RED’s project:

❏     I am willing to participate

❏     I am not willing to participate

The residents can choose what type of utilities they want to share or if they want to share:

❏     Electricity

❏     gas

❏     water

They can also choose at what time of day they would or wouldn’t want to share their data:

❏     morning 06:00-12:00

❏     afternoon 12:00-18:00

❏     evening 18:00-00:00

❏     night 00:00 - 06:00

They can also choose which days of the week they want to share their data:

❏     Monday

❏     Tuesday

❏     Wednesday

❏     Thursday

❏     Friday

❏     Saturday

❏     Sunday

All of these boxes would be selected by default so if people would not want to share that data they would have to uncheck that box.

The survey would end with a Comments and Questions Section. If there are questions that are repeated multiple times they can be added to a Frequently Asked Questions section on the website. Furthermore any question that is not already answered in the FAQ section will be answered by Team RED.

After collecting and assessing the answers that were given to the survey, Team RED can use this information to then ask the residents if they are okay with having the corresponding sensors installed in their homes and if they go forward with the project.    

App Installation and Preparation

The app installation and preparation contains three main steps:

The Instalment of sensors in households

The Downloading of the app (provide help if needed)

The Login username and password for their personal account on the app

The APP:

Features

Feature showing energy usage and the costs

Function in which energy usage is compared to that of an average person.

Function in which energy usage is compared to that of a sustainable person/scenario.

Two other options will be that you can see tips to improve your sustainable living and that there will be a question and answer section with team RED.

There will be a settings option to regulate what and when data is being collected.

The app will become available in two languages; English and Dutch. To reach a larger audience and thereby increasing participation.

There is an achievements section that adds motivation to be more sustainable.

Design

At the homescreen you will see your own usage in the middle. Under this on the right and left side you can choose the option to see the usage of an average or sustainable person.

The app will be made very basic and intuitive so that most residents can easily understand the app.

If you tap your usage you can see more elaborate visuals on your usage (for example per day or week and where you used it)

The visuals that are shown will not be too complex to make them easily understandable for residents of all ages and professions.