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Abstract

The energy efficiency of products can be established by calculating the energy losses of the product. This paper shows that there are two kinds of losses: intrinsic losses, determined by the technology and materials used to construct the product, and user-related losses, which are caused by varying and inefficient use of that product by the user. User-related losses are a significant proportion of energy use of products and are likely to increase in proportion as engineers use good design and technology to drive the intrinsic losses closer and closer to what the authors call the theoretical minimum. The paper goes on to set out a theoretical framework for understanding and calculating the intrinsic and user-related losses of products and concludes by suggesting an outline of appropriate design strategies for tackling them.

Keywords

design energy efficiency user behaviour intrinsic losses user losses theoretical minimum

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Designing for ‘use phase’ energy losses of domestic products

Abstract

Abstract

Keywords

References