So far, many good discussions have been taking place at House of Sweden thanks to Living Green. The exhibit, is a reason for people to meet and to stop and reflect for a moment.

In Visual Voltage, the wide range of areas opens up for various topics. The well designed Flower Lamp that “blooms” when energy consumption decrease raises the question whether to reward good or punish bad behavior. Energy AWARE Clock gives the viewer a new view on the importance of technology when it comes to saving energy – for example, in the EU, ICT-based innovations are considered to be one of the potentially most cost-effective means to achieve the 2020 energy and climate targets. The art installations such as Mezzo and Like There Was no Tomorrow makes people wonder and think about the pretty abstract subject of energy. And of course, personal awareness is a very prevalent subject in all of the prototypes and installations.

The prototypes are all part of two research projects made at Interactive Institute from 2004-2008. The multi-disciplinary project groups (behavior scientists, ethnographers, industry/interaction designers, creative engineers etcetera) behind them have made field studies in order to really find the main energy issues in peoples’ every day life. A designer from one of the project groups said that the resulting prototype is a “materialized brainstorm process”, containing lots of values from the field studies. Then, of course, it is up to the visitors to dematerialize it again, and also raising new questions and becoming inspired to move on.

These discussions are of high value, but discussing is maybe not enough. A female visitor named Roslyn said: “It is no longer the time for smiling faces! We need action – tell me where to sign up!”

The climate crises is such a complex issue that no single solution will solve it, but there may be some tools that could help on the way. At Interactive Institute, one repeating theme is visualisation of the use of energy. “If you can not measure it,  you can not improve it”, Lord Kelvin said back in the 19th century. Add good design to that and people might even want to change their behavior a little. With great design people might even be a bit excited about the whole thing.

So, where should Roslyn sign up? One thing that would help is if she could buy a smart electric meter to her friends. That way, they can see the difference when they change.

After all, it all starts in the home.