GLOW-Energy nested bio system flows:from the home to the hub

这个项目的目的是提供一种创新的动态方法来改变人们如何管理家庭能源，灵感来自蜜蜂的社会组织和交流。开发了一种新的计算系统，以识别和交流个人家庭能源使用与社区能源需求之间的低效率。蜜蜂已经进化出了一种有效的机制，可以在个体层面上以响应和有针对性的方式传达集体需求，而人类却没有。新系统利用蜜蜂的行为模式，作为一种沟通的方式，以一种反应灵敏、有针对性和有效的方式管理家庭能源行为的优化方法。目前，家庭中的能源管理是通过技术进行的，这些技术旨在提醒用户在超过设计阈值时减少使用。这些阈值大多来自技术数据，而不是考虑到社会价值和社区方式、生活方式和家庭特征的证据。众所周知，尽管被提醒要改变他们使用能源的方式，但从长远来看，大多数用户并没有改变他们的行为。这种缺乏响应的情况主要是由于没有考虑到用户的价值观、他们的家庭的社会和空间特征以及生活方式。住房的能源需求正在增长和多样化，预计住房的碳排放将对整个社会的健康和福祉产生重大影响。如果现状不发生重大变化，以不可持续的方式管理住房能源需求的长期影响将是至关重要的。该研究将与三个住房社区和行业合作伙伴密切合作，采用混合方法研究家庭能源使用情况，以及不同社区之间的差异。将研究三个住房社区的现有行为模式，并利用蜜蜂通信协议中的学习来计算优化效率低下的问题。开发的计算系统原型最初将通过一个基于网络的应用程序进行测试，通过该应用程序，潜在用户可以根据与其自我识别的行为模式相关的输入，选择行为改变场景。该应用程序的参与和回应将在两个独立的公民陪审团上进行研究和展示，以便全面了解一系列社区和部门的潜在原型服务应用程序。该项目扩展了EPSRC能源和数字经济主题的当前工作，不仅通过开发原型提供了多种好处，而且还证明了创新混合方法的使用，这些方法可能应用于包括能源在内的一系列领域的未来技术创新研究。研究结果将使一系列利益相关者受益，包括居民、住房开发商、能源政策制定者、能源技术开发商、建筑师和住房协会。该项目将通过以用户为中心和基于证据的方法来管理家庭能源，从而使居民受益，同时住房开发商可以更好地全面了解家庭能源的使用方式，以及其空间和社会结构如何支持净零碳设计和开发。能源政策制定者将受益于获得新的见解和证据基础，这些见解和证据基础提供了社会和空间知识、家庭行为模式和社会反应，将更好地为未来的可持续能源需求管理提供信息。基于对可持续能源转型和能源民主日益增长的兴趣，该项目为社区和个人提供了一种加速与能源建立新关系的方法。虽然重点是能源部门和住房，但该项目的研究结果在食品供应链中具有更广泛的影响和潜在的好处，例如，集体需求需要优化的个人响应。

The aim of this project is to provide an innovative dynamic approach to transform how people manage energy in homes inspired by bees' social organization and communication. A new computational system is developed to identify and communicate inefficiencies found between individual household energy use and community energy demand. Bees have evolved an efficient mechanism to communicate collective needs at an individual level in responsive and targeted ways that humans have not. The new system draws on behavioural patterns found in bees as a way to communicate an optimised approach to managing energy behaviour in homes in a responsive, targeted and effective way.Currently, energy in homes is managed through technologies that are designed to alert users to reduce their use when passing a designed threshold. These thresholds are derived mostly from technical data rather than evidence that takes into account the social values and approaches to community, ways of living and home character. It is well established that despite being alerted to change how they use energy, most users do not alter their behaviour in the longer term. This lack of responsiveness is seen to occur mainly through not taking into account users' values, their homes' social and spatial character and ways of living. Energy demand in housing is growing and diversifying with predicted carbon emissions from homes significantly impacting on health and wellbeing of society as a whole. Without a significant step change in the status quo, the long-term impacts of managing energy demand unsustainably in housing are critical.Working closely with three housing communities and industry partners, the research will use mixed methods to study how energy is used in homes and how this varies between different communities. The existing behavioural patterns across the three housing communities will be studied and identified inefficiencies will be computationally optimised using learning found in bees' communication protocols. The developed computational system prototype will be tested initially through a web-based app, through which potential users could engage in a selection of behaviour change scenarios based on their inputs related to their self-identified behavioural patterns. Engagement and responses from the app will be studied and presented at two separate citizen juries in order to develop a holistic understanding into potential prototype service applications across a range of communities and sectors. The project extends current work in EPSRC Energy and Digital Economy themes and provides multiple benefits not just through the developed prototype but also in evidencing use of innovative mixed methods that may be applied in future technology innovation studies in a range of sectors including energy. Findings will benefit a range of stakeholders including residents, housing developers, energy policymakers, energy technology developers, architects and housing associations. The project will benefit residents through enabling a user-focused and evidence-based approach to managing energy in homes, whilst housing developers can gain a better holistic understanding of how energy is used in homes and how its spatial and social configuration supports net-zero carbon design and development. Energy policymakers will benefit from gaining new insights and an evidence base that offer social and spatial knowledge, household behavioural patterns, and social responses that will better inform future sustainable energy demand management. Building on a growing interest in sustainable energy transitions and energy democracy, this project offers an accelerated approach for both communities and individuals to forge a new relationship with energy. Though the focus is on the energy sector and housing, findings from this project have wider implications and potential benefits in the food supply chain for instance where collective needs necessitate an optimised individual response.