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Designing Sustainable Situations

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Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021) (IEA 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 220))

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Abstract

This paper aims to illustrate how the debate on sustainable development can be enriched through ergonomics. From our work relating to the reduction of households’ energy consumption, we propose a shift in perspective from behavioral analysis to the study of situated human development over time. The analysis of everyday domestic situations makes it possible to identify both the contexts in which home occupants conduct activities and their experience of real-life situations, with a view to better understanding the mechanisms of energy consumption and reduction obstacles. Based on these criteria, it is possible to design “sustainable situations,” whereby assistive solutions (tools, services) integrating extrinsic energy management objectives can assist actors in everyday situations. The proposed situation transformation entails, on the one hand, the development of adaptive, appropriable systems liable to contribute to in-home energy consumption regulation, and on the other, the development of reflective systems and resource supports to increase energy use awareness and commitments to energy saving. Energy use management is approached here as the result of structural changes across multiple systems (human, technological) emerging from their recurring interactions. By looking at these questions from the perspective of how to facilitate human activity, it is a matter of placing evolving human needs and situations and environmental resource management on an equal footing.

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Acknowledgements

This work was conducted within the EDF Research and Development program and was made possible thanks to the many invaluable contributions of the authors of the cited works, to whom we would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EDF Recherche Et Développement, Palaiseau, France

    Myriam Fréjus

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  1. Myriam Fréjus
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Correspondence to Myriam Fréjus .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Département de génie mécanique, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB, Canada

    Nancy L. Black

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    W. Patrick Neumann

  3. Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ian Noy

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Fréjus, M. (2021). Designing Sustainable Situations. In: Black, N.L., Neumann, W.P., Noy, I. (eds) Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021). IEA 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 220. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74605-6_66

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74605-6_66

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