About a quarter of German final energy consumption is caused solely by the residential sector. Aside from improving building insulation and HVAC systems, the improvement and optimization of tenants’ consumption behaviour is considered a significant factor to reduce energy consumption within the residential sector. In this context serious gaming methods and gamification approaches can offer a chance to motivate tenants and encourage a more energy efficient behavior.
The research project “SmartER Game“ aims on raising awareness for the way we consume energy, encouraging a more energy efficient behaviour and pointing out the benefits of smart metering technology to German consumers. To accomplish this, a web application has been designed that offers visualization and analysis of the consumed energy (electricity) and supplements these evaluations with gaming elements like rankings, avatars and competitions. Within the application users will be able to monitor and analyze their energy consumption and, in particular, to compare their energy consumption to other participants.
