Reducing the overall energy consumption of households through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) can play an important role in the transformation toward sustainable consumption patterns, for example by optimizing energy-consuming processes. The challenge in the environmental assessment of ICT applications is to also consider their use-specific environmental impacts, as these can be decisive for overall consumption.
Using the example of smart heating systems, we therefore analyze the environmental performance of a sample of 375 smart home systems (SHS) in Germany and show how the life cycle assessment can be extended to include various use-specific effects, such as product selection and individual usage behavior. In an interdisciplinary study design, we combine life cycle modeling and behavioral science to systematically include usage-specific parameters in the modeling and to weave these results with user* characteristics such as socio-demographics and usage motivation.
Link to publication