Malini Srivastava will present the defense for her dissertation, "Purposeful Play: Serious, pervasive, energy games bridge the energy-efficiency gap," as a candidate of the Doctor of Design (DDes) on Tuesday 28 April. The Advisory Committee invites you to attend and hopes you will join them for this final step of her DDes Candidacy.
Title: “Purposeful Play: Serious, pervasive, energy games bridge the energy-efficiency gap”
By Malini Srivastava, AIA, CPHC, DDes Candidate
Date: Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Time: 1:00-3:00pm
Location: Virtual on Zoom (PW: e2uC9B)
PhD Advisory Committee
Professor Vivian Loftness, Chair
School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon UniversityAzizan Aziz
School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon UniversityTom Fisher
Dr. Casper Harteveld
Northeastern UniversityJoel Ross
Abstract
Climate change creates an urgent context for addressing the energy waste in existing buildings. This dissertation contends that serious games have the potential to address the energy-efficiency gap — the failure of owners and occupants to adopt energy-efficiency measures in spite of their cost benefits. The thesis incorporates the design, implementation, data collection, and analysis of innovative serious pervasive energy games for homeowners and schools. The thesis was undertaken with the efargo team from North Dakota State University (NDSU), the City of Fargo, and the Fargo Utilities to participate in the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a nationwide competition for cities to reduce energy use. Based on data collected from 2015-2018, the dissertation revealed that playing serious pervasive energy games (a) leads to significant awareness and learning about energy waste and energy savings; (b) engenders a willingness to engage in energy-saving behavior in certain conditions; (c) engenders a willingness to make energy-saving investments; and (d) achieves energy savings. The icing on the cake: Fargo won the Georgetown Prize.
