EnergyUse - A Collective Semantic Platform for Monitoring and Discussing Energy Consumption

Conserving fossil-based energy to reduce carbon emissions is key to slowing down global warming. The 2015 Paris agreement on climate change emphasised the importance of raising public awareness and participation to address this societal challenge. In this paper we introduce EnergyUse; a collective platform for raising awareness on climate change, by enabling users to view and compare the actual energy consumption of various appliances, and to share and discuss energy conservation tips in an open and social environment. The platform collects data from smart plugs, and exports appliance consumption information and community generated energy tips as linked data. In this paper we report on the system design, data modelling, platform usage and early deployment with a set of 58 initial participants. We also discuss the challenges, lessons learnt, and future platform developments.