Jorge Luis Zapico
Bianca Sayan
Leonardo Bonanni
Marko Turpeinen
Steve Young

Title

Footprinted.org: Experiences from using linked open data for environmental impact information

Published in

Pillmann, W., Schade, S., and Smits, P. (Eds.) (2011) Proceedings of the 25th EnviroInfo Conference – Innovations in Sharing Environmental Observations and Information. Schaker-Verlag, Aachen, Germany.

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Bonanni, L.
Ebner, H.
Hockenberry, M.
Sayan, B.
Brandt, N.
Csikszentmihàlyi, N.
Ishii, H.
Turpeinen, M.
Young, S.
Zapico, J.

Title

The Open Sustainability Project: A Linked Data Approach to LCA

Published in

Abstract presented at LCAX, Portland, 2-4 November 2010.

Abstract

The proprietary nature of LCA tools and information limits widespread adoption of sustainability measures. We introduce the Open Sustainability Project (OSP), a Linked Data resource for broadening access to LCA in an effort to increase the transparency and accuracy of environmental impact assessments.The OSP applies Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) principles and Linked Data structures to LCA standards and reporting so that communities including students, SME’s and the general public can participate in the assessment and verification of sustainability practices. The highly flexible data format allows disparate data sources and assessments to be compared along an open standard compliant with ISO 14048 reporting.In addition, the OSP makes available a free database of Life Cycle Assessment data using an approach based on Linked Data and RESTful interfaces which supports the development of rich third-party applications for specific user groups and industries. This novel combination of linked data and web-based tools is inherently transparent so that LCA practices can be standardized, compared and verified by a broad community.The OSP is an international collaboration between academics, government and industry groups leveraging expertise in LCA, Open Data and web-based tools for sustainability. Our first Open Source and Open Data web sustainability tools have confirmed the potential to engage a wider audience, with over two thousand registered users, three thousand environmental assessments performed and over 330,000 page views from more than 75 countries since September 2009. The OSP aims to expand reach of LCA through a free and open Application Programming Interface(API) to support distributed development of third-party applications for sustainability assessment through the emerging metrics for social and environmental sustainability (a free LCA “App Store”). These applications are intended to disseminate LCA standards, encourage transparency in environmental reporting and leverage Collective Intelligence in the collection, publication and verification of LCA.The OSP aims to transform LCA into a collaborative process where data collection, analysis, assessment and reporting benefit from the feedback and ideas of a growing worldwide LCA community.

Zapico, Jorge L.
Turpeinen, Marko
Brandt, Nils

Title

Greenalytics: A tool for mash-up life cycle assessment of websites

Published in

Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection.
Shaker Verlag,  Aachen, Germany, 2010.
ISBN: 978-3-8322-9458-8

Abstract

The environmental impact of internet is growing, reaching an estimated 1.4% of world greenhouse emissions. This impact is hidden for both users and web developers. Understanding and analyzing the environmental footprint of a website is not an easy task. The impacts are distributed through multiple hardware networks and a global user base, making the individual impacts difficult to allocate. This article presents the development of a functional application for generating automatic life cycle assessments for web sites based on mashing-up information. This application has the aim of making the impact of websites visible, allowing the instant analysis of their carbon footprint using existing analytics data and presenting it in an understandable and transparent way. The development process is presented with detailed information about how the calculations are performed. The results are discussed around two different cases, focusing on the challenges of calculating the server side impact and the possibilities for improvement.

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Greenalytics website

http://www.greenalytics.org

Zapico, Jorge L.
Kjelkerud, David
Berggren, Henrik
Turpeinen, Marko
Brandt, Nils

Title

Carbon.to: Improving the understanding of carbon dioxide information.

Published in

Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection.
Shaker Verlag,  Aachen, Germany, 2010.
ISBN: 978-3-8322-9458-8

Abstract

We are nowadays increasingly presented with information about greenhouse gases in our everyday life. However there seems to be a gap between this increase in the exposure to carbon dioxide information and the understanding of how to interpret it, making behavioral change difficult. This article presents examples of how different applications have dealt with this problem by representing the carbon dioxide information in different ways. Based on the existing examples, an application called carbon.to was developed and released. This service tries to improve the understanding of carbon dioxide information by simulation in a playful way. Feedback from the users points towards that the gap in understanding existed and that carbon.to was successful in helping closing it.

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Carbon.to website

http://carbon.to

Zapico, Jorge Luis (KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications)
Spikol, Daniel (Linnéuniversitet – Celekt)

Title

Designing Mobile Persuasion: Using Pervasive Applications to Change Attitudes and Behaviors.

Published in

Sharing Experiences with Social Mobile Media. Proceedings of the International Workshop in conjunction with MobileHCI 2009, September 15th 2009, Bonn, Germany. Pp 11-16.

Abstract

We have a personal relationship with mobile phones, since they are closer to us than any other technological device. They are ubiquitous (60% of the world population owns one), individual, and pervasive in our lifestyle (we have them with us all the time and everywhere). These modern devices are nearly as powerful as personal computers, always connected to the Internet, and loaded with sensors like GPS and accelerometers. These mobile devices offer opportunities for persuading users to change attitudes and behaviors towards personal and societal issues. For this paper we focus on the design of a mobile application for reducing in carbon dioxide emissions in personal transportation choices that can change attitudes and behaviors. The paper presents design practices that have resulted in a prototype social mobile application.

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Proceedings PDF

Zapico, Jorge
Turpeinen, Marko
Brandt, Nils

Title

Climate Persuasive Services: Changing behavior towards low-carbon lifestyles.

Published in

Proceedings of Persuasive 2009: Fourth International Conference on Persuasive Technology, Claremont, CA, 26-29 April 2009, ACM Digital Library.

Abstract

ICT has reshaped our society, and with the current accelerating development of technology, and its wider distribution throughout the globe, they will continue doing so even more. These changes in society are important for sustainability. They affect the physical way the society and the environment interact, but they also affect the way people think, learn and behave.

We suggest that the persuasive power of ICT can be oriented towards climate change. For this purpose we define the concept of “climate persuasive services” as ICT applications that change personal attitudes regarding climate change and/or change behavior towards reducing greenhouse gases emissions. We consider mobile phones, pervasive sensors and social media as three key technological drivers for the development of climate persuasion applications.

We have analyzed the use of persuasion principles in existing web and mobile applications forming three clusters: tracking carbon footprints, sharing goals and making green behavior easier. Based on this analysis, we suggest a more planned use of persuasive principles, and propose six different opportunities for improvement.

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