e-Genie – First trial of new software takes place at The Digital Catapult

The Creating the energy for change project (Ctech), led by Alexa Spence, successfully launched a beta version of the newly developed software e-Genie on Tuesday March 22^nd at the Digital Catapult in London.

e-Genie is an energy engagement tool developed from the integration of interdisciplinary insights from Psychology, Sociology, and Computer Science research within the Ctech project. The tool provides energy information feedback (both electricity and gas) to building users, and encourages engagement with that information through interactions with the data, comparing historical patterns of energy data, and labeling patterns observed. Furthermore e-Genie encourages people to take action to reduce energy use by providing users with support for: planning individual behaviour changes; discussing issues with other building users; and by contacting the Facilities Manager directly.

The current deployment of e-Genie will allow us to refine the tool and develop it for further larger scale trials. We hope that the tool’s use will result in significant reductions in energy use but is furthermore designed to allow us to test hypotheses around the best way to engage workplace building users with energy saving efforts.