Web-based eco-feedback visualization of building occupant energy consumption in support of quantifying social network effects on conservation

Exposing building occupants to information about their energy use and the energy use of others in their social network through eco-feedback systems has been shown to significantly impact occupant energy consumption. In this paper, we describe the design and development of a web-based visualization system that exposes building occupants to real-time information about their individual energy utilization, the utilization of their peers in the building, and the average energy utilization of all monitored individuals in the building. The system also monitors and records user interaction with the system and other users of the system providing relevant usage data for conducting analysis to quantify network effects on user energy consumption. A description of the system's physical and virtual architecture and how its design enables meaningful analysis, visualization and effective user monitoring is provided. We conclude by presenting the methods and challenges related to how our visualization system was developed to facilitate and monitor social interaction around energy conservation, and how it enables research into the underlying mechanisms that drive these actions.