my current concept measures the water usage and carbon emissions of a household. The console sketched here has a recessed drop which graphically illustrates the rate of water usage for that household relative to the recommended usage for the number of inhabitants via LED backlighting (also considering printed OLED screens). The extruded leaf represents the energy usage, taking into consideration the emissions from vehicles, green energy produced from solar panels and total electricity consumption. Vehicle energy usage will be logged using reporting 3G units or similar, which will most likely be preinstalled in cars to come anyway. This product is designed for the near future when serious restrictions are enforced by the government, wi-fi technology is cheap and improved and water levels are (even more) beyond critical. The console is able to monitor energy consumption via access to the grid and logs your usage under an account which will also be accessible online by logging in for more details information and statistics. I am still in the process of defining the product itself, i am considering the line of products, being: console, car monitor, technicians console (the installer).
The system would be closed to end-user (defined as household) input, it would be installed by a government/private {grr} energy company technician much like todays energy companies install KWh gauges or security companies install security systems.
I am currently trying to incorporate additional functions eg. your energy bill to date (since the connection exists to the grid), product error reporting button, emergency services buttons etc to make it a kind of "civil console" for households. awww.
also adding a hard of hearing accessory/ad on module.
Andrew vdM
3 comments:
kinda funny, kind of big brother like.
I like the idea of the one-stop device for the environmental profile of the household. It might really encourage conservation.
You might like to expand on the online account area. Bonuses for low consumption could be handed out, lotteries etc....
But i don't know if that is strictly 'design'...
Sunny
I like the way your looking at environmental issues, more of a bigger picture approach. your design sounds incredibly elaborate, will you be looking to see how this could actually applied into today's world with the technology we currently posses?
-Dom-
You might be measuring too many things here - water, electricity. Although I appreciate you're building an holistic 'environmental' picture for the household/person.
Good point Dom, this might get too complicated.
Maybe there's a way to get some key indicators and extrapolate from there - like those online carbon calculators? Be careful you don't end up designing a laptop computer.
-Robbie
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