HCC: Small: Energy Materiality

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal on energy materiality seeks to create an entirely new framing and participatory citizen engagement with energy, not solely as a producer-consumer model, but to directly introduce and operationalize novel strategies for engaging, making, sharing, saving, and expressing personal, interactive micro-energy. This proposal will develop an alternative perspective on energy- as-materiality and propose a series of design approaches for materializing energy and introduce additional concepts, such as: energy mementos, energy attachment, energy engagement, energy attunement, local energy, seasonal energy, and energy meta-data. This proposal is specifically focused on advancing the knowledge around novel energy production, sharing, and economics by positioning citizens in the role of active participants in these operations. While the scale of energy may initially be small, the potential for new, creative thinking and citizen led grassroots energy efforts to emerge and develop into impactful everyday energy solutions is very real. This proposal leverages citizen creativity and participation in concepts of energy production, expression, sharing, and usage. This proposal directly engages with underrepresented groups in this debate - namely non-experts across a range of communities. The potential impact can be as simple as introducing strategies and techniques for energy problem solving and ideation using citizens and novel artifacts. This proposal will encourage improved energy literacy in people and draw non-experts into the energy solution debate as active participants.