Title: Burning for sustainable behaviour

Authors: Johannes Ludvig Zachrisson Daae; Franziska Goile; Morten Seljeskog; Casper Boks

Addresses: Bergfald Environmental Consultants, Kongensgate 3, 0153, Oslo, Norway; Department of Product Design, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Kolbjørn Hejes vei 2b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway ' Department of Thermal Energy, SINTEF Energy AS, Kolbjørn Hejes vei 1b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway ' Department of Thermal Energy, SINTEF Energy AS, Kolbjørn Hejes vei 1b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway ' Department of Product Design, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Kolbjørn Hejes vei 2b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract: For many products there is a substantial potential for reducing environmental impacts by altering the way people interact with them. The current work investigates the potential for improving the way people interact with woodstoves, thereby reducing the environmental impact resulting from burning firewood, by adjusting the design of the woodstove. This paper describes a complete user centred design for sustainable behaviour process, from initial ethnographic studies, through the design process, to a comparative testing of a prototype and a regular woodstove, monitoring emissions and user behaviour. The test indicates that the prototype is used much more in line with the recommendations and emits fewer fine particles than the conventional stove.

Keywords: design for sustainable behaviour; environmental design; case study; design process; design tools; woodstoves; efficient burning; lab experiment; GHG emissions; greenhouse gasses; fine particles; paticulate matter; ethnographic studies; personas; environmental impact; firewood; woodstove design; user centred design; sustainability; sustainable design; emissions monitoring; burning efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2016.074784

Journal of Design Research, 2016 Vol.14 No.1, pp.42 - 65

Received: 14 Oct 2014
Accepted: 01 Jul 2015
Published online: 17 Feb 2016 *

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