Study of Promoting Energy Saving Behavior in Homes with Personalized Adaptive Interaction

In recent years, the escalating concerns of climate change and global warming have urged nations, including Japan, towards the ambitious goal of achieving a zero carbon society. Achieving zero carbon emissions involves nullifying the net amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by equalizing the amount of emissions with the amount that is absorbed, playing a pivotal role in minimizing CO
2
emissions. This research delves into minimizing energy consumption through domestic energy-conservation measures, tackling challenges like the unavailability of specific appliance energy use data, the absence of personalized adjustments, and the negligence of alerts. To counter these challenges, a novel approach was developed that combines a power consumption management service facilitated by IoT devices and baseline comparisons with a virtual agent (VA). The implementation and subsequent evaluation of this method revealed that the integration of a VA significantly contributed to a decrease in electricity usage, alongside notable enhancements in awareness regarding energy conservation and modifications in energy-related behaviors.