Dr. Ben Anderson presents on hunting for energy demanding practices using big and medium sized data. He discusses linking transactional energy use data to surveys and time use studies to identify household practices that influence demand, such as cooking and cleaning routines. New sources of data like smart meter traces are also explored for revealing rhythms of demand. Challenges include scaling up micro-level insights and taking post-disciplinary approaches to analyze data of different sizes.

1. Hunting for (energy) demanding
practices using big & medium sized
data
Dr Ben Anderson
@dataknut
Engineering & Environment (Energy & Climate Change)

2. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
What people
do
Demand
Infrastruc
tures
The engineering ‘nexus’
2

3. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
What people
do
Demand
Infrastruc
tures
The engineering ‘problem’
3
Andrewglaser at English Wikipedia

4. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
The engineering ‘epiphany’
4
What
people
do
And you can say the same
about water…

5. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
What
people
do
So what do people do?
5
Chaos breeds life, order
breeds practices. ~ Henry
Adams
In any family, measles are
less contagious than (bad)
practices. ~ Mignon
McLaughlin
Nothing so needs
reforming as other
people's practices. ~ Mark
Twain
Men's natures are alike; it
is their practices that
separate them. ~ Confucius
Habitua
l
Social
Variable
End Use
practices
We first make our
practices then our
practices make us. ~ John
Dryden
All images source: wikipedia.org
Misquotes: variants on those found at quotegarden.com

6. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Practices, proxies & marks
6
(an empiricist’s
response)
Image: Anthony B. Wooldridge
“The recurrent enactment of specific practices
leaves all sorts of “marks” – diet shows up in
statistics on obesity; heating and cooling
practices have effect on energy demand, and
habits of laundry matter for water
consumption. Identifying relevant “proxies”
represents one way to go.”
Social Practices Research Group Discussion
Paper
www.sprg.ac.uk
Image: Eric Shipton

7. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Energy footprints…
7
Source: EPSRC DANCER Project baseline gas consumption monitoring - http://www.dancer-project.co.uk/
 Gas consumption per 5 minutes, identical dwellings in South East UK, same street, both couples with 3 children, male
partner working, female partner not
 December 2012 – February 2013

8. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
By linking ‘big’ & ‘little’
8Source: Small scale energy diary and consumption monitoring study lead by
Kathryn Buchanan, University of Essex http://www.dancer-project.co.uk/ Practices
Water
Energy
Food

9. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
But how do we scale up?
9
What correlates with water ‘demand’?
Tried
Expenditure
Surveys
Data: UK Living Costs and Food Survey 2002-2009 (n = 38,630)
Wide range of controls
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11269-012-0117-y
-0.20 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80
Washing machine
Dishwasher
Laundry/Laundrettes
Leaf & stem vegetables
Tea
Coffee
Fruit juices (incl squash)
Mineral/spring water
Soap/shower gel
Detergents/washing powder
Regression coefficient ( = £/week)

10. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
DEMANDing Practices?
10
UK, 1974
Tried & tested
Expenditure
Surveys
Time Use Surveys

11. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
How do we ‘detect’ change?
11
UK, 2005
Tried & tested
Expenditure
Surveys
Time Use Surveys

12. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Evolving ‘practices’?
12
-25.00
-20.00
-15.00
-10.00
-5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00 0:00
1:00
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
6:00
7:00
8:00
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
%pointchange1974-2005
Personal, child, adult or household
care/chores
Cooking or eating
Work or work related
Education or related
Shopping/service use
Voluntary, civic, watching sport,
leisure or social activities
Sport or exercise
Media use incl. TV, radio, PC,
internet
Travel
Source: MTUS 1974-2005, author’s
calculations, weighted

13. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
In detail: cooking @ home
13
-0.6%
-0.4%
-0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
0.6%
0:00
1:00
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
6:00
7:00
8:00
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
Weekdays (average)
Saturday
Sunday
% point change 1974 - 2005
Source: MTUS 1974-2005, author’s
calculations, weighted

14. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
In detail: Sunday lunch
14
Mean number of half hours in which food prep at home on Sunday 11:00 – 14:00 was reported
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+
lowest 25% middle 50% highest 25%
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 64-74 75+
lowest 25% middle 50% highest 25%
20051974
Source: MTUS 1974-2005, author’s
calculations, weighted

15. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
‘Cultural’ practices?
15
E-Living Time Use Diary 2001 (weekdays)
% persons reporting

16. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
‘Cultural’ practices?
16
E-Living Time Use Diary 2001 (weekdays)
% persons reporting
Cooking
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
00:00
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
%respondents(weighted)
UK
Italy
Germany
Norway
Bulgaria

17. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
More radically…
17
Tried & tested
Expenditure Surveys
Time Use Surveys
Less tried & rarely
tested
TechnoTraces

18. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
UK Housing Energy Fact File
Graph 7a: HES average 24-hour electricity use profile for owner-occupied
homes, England 2010-11
Gas consumption
The amount of gas consumed in the UK varies dramatically between
households. The top 10% of households consume at least four times as
60
ously from
ld, and the
do with
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00
Heating
Water heating
Electric showers
Washing/drying
Cooking
Lighting
Cold appliances
ICT
Audiovisual
Other
Unknown
Watts
Traces of habit?
182,839,200 half hourly electricity consumption records from 4,225 households, October 1-14, 2009
Data available from: http://www.ucd.ie/issda/data/commissionforenergyregulationcer/
Weekend

19. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Demanding rhythms
19
Mid-week Weekend
Autocorrelation analysis of lagged consumption
2,839,200 half hourly electricity consumption records from 4,225 households, October 1-14, 2009
Data available from: http://www.ucd.ie/issda/data/commissionforenergyregulationcer/

20. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Demanding rhythms: mid-week
20
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79
Meanautocorrelationcoefficient
Lag
In work Unemployed Retired Caring for relative or family
Autocorrelation analysis of lagged consumption
2,839,200 half hourly electricity consumption records from 4,225 households, October 1-14, 2009
Data available from: http://www.ucd.ie/issda/data/commissionforenergyregulationcer/

21. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Demanding rhythms: mid-week
21
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79
s.d.ofautocorrelationcoefficient
Lag
In work Unemployed Retired Caring for relative or family
These are not
answers – they
merely invite new
questions
Autocorrelation analysis of lagged consumption
2,839,200 half hourly electricity consumption records from 4,225 households, October 1-14, 2009
Data available from: http://www.ucd.ie/issda/data/commissionforenergyregulationcer/

22. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Post-disciplinary challenges
‘Big’ transactional
data
‘Medium
sized’
survey data
‘Little’
ethnographic
data
22
The insight cycle

23. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Post-disciplinary challenges
‘Big’ transactional
data
‘Medium
sized’
survey data
‘Little’
ethnographic
data
23
‘Big’ Ethnography?
The insight cycle
pixabay.com

24. Hunting for (energy) demanding practices using big & medium sized data
Reshaping The Domestic Nexus, Manchester 23/11/2015
@dataknut
Thank you
24
• SPRG
• DEMAND
• SAVE
With thanks to:
Promoting choice and value
for all gas and elec
Low Carbon Netwo
b.anderson@soton.ac.uk
@dataknut
pixabay.com