WHISTLER VILLAGE

SQUAMISH
TOURIST CENTRE

~60KM
HOME CHARGING

CHARGE
STATION

FIGURE 2. Getting drivers to re-think transportation lengths and routes was an
important initiative by PowerTech. By placing electric vehicle charging stations in
strategic points in and around Vancouver, new attitudes towards route planning

and transportation can be created.

PHASE 2: CLEAN AND SMART ENERGY

Encouraged by the new strategies developed for EV charging in phase
1, Powertech Labs requested exploration about a different topic the fol-
lowing year: energy consumption in the home. At the time, Powertech
was doing a business analysis to see if they were going to enter the
energy management market at the consumer level, and Emily Carr was
interested in investigating how design could support energy reduction.
Most available data shows that energy consumption is steadily increas-
ing across North America. [7]

As with the previous phase, this was divided into two parts. In the sum-
mer of 2011, the design research team conducted probes and contextual
interviews to understand power usage in the home. They learned about
the electric power system and related technologies from Powertech
Labs’ engineers. The preliminary findings were presented to a new group
of students in the fall ecoTANK studio, and these students developed
proposals. Plug-E was a power socket that would respond with fearful

~120KM
PUBLIC CHARGING

MINTER GARDENS

CO BAKERVIEW ECOFARM

LANGLEY COLOSSUS

RICHMOND IKEA

facial expressions if you were overloading it. Planet Chef was an online
game that coordinated a cooking competition potluck that included
criteria about the amount of power used during cooking. Students also
looked at alternative energy sources to offset supply from the grid, so
some projects harnessed solar energy to power small appliances, or
collected kinetic energy that is generated in domestic activity.

Once again, prototypes, models, videos and storyboards were brought
to Powertech Labs for discussion. This had unexpected results. Through
this conversation, Powertech gained enough understanding of behavi-
ours and values around energy management at the consumer level

to help them see clearly that this was not an attractive market. This
exemplifies the value of exploratory questioning, followed by thought-
ful reflection. Realizing what will not work is as important as gaining
insights into what will work.

SUSTAINABILITY

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