A Contextual Approach to Home Energy Management Systems Automation in Daily Practices

Abstract

This short paper considers how classical concepts and approaches of cognitive ergonomics/engineering (e.g., automation, trust or control levels) could both enhance Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) design and energy efficiency, while requiring a specific reference to home and daily life practices. We rely on initial results of a research, evaluating different design principles of HEMS in real homes. Our results show that it is necessary to enhance the quality of coupling between monitoring and control possibilities not only with the characteristics of the human operators considered as natural information processing systems, but also with their everyday practices in home settings. This credits the perspectives of articulating and extending cognitive ergonomics/engineering issues to contextual approach of household activities.