Ulrike Rahe

All Doors Lead to the Kitchen – Sustainability and Wellbeing Challenges in a Shared Centrepiece of Living

The kitchen figures a central place in the home where a significant share of a household’s resource consumption takes place. Sharing the kitchen between multiple households has potential to bring positive sustainability effects due to more efficient use of both material resources and energy. The concept of shared kitchens has, however, thus far had a limited diffusion. This paper explores the potential of shared kitchens as a future sustainable living environment by studying user experiences from a Living Lab setting. It builds the base for an overarching larger European collaboration on how future shared kitchens should be designed in order to support everyday practices while optimising the conditions for achieving positive impact on both sustainability and wellbeing. Findings are presented from five focus areas concerning different use contexts: (1) accessing, (2) cooking, (3) living and socialising, (4) storing, and (5) cleaning.

Designed to support or impede energy conservation? How design characteristics influence people's energy use

This paper explores how the design of domestic appliances influences people’s energy use during everyday activities. Drawing on findings from an interview study with 81 informants, a variety of design characteristics were uncovered, which set preconditions for use that in different ways impede or support energy conservation. The identified characteristics did not only concern appliances’ operative functions but also their interactive and communicative functions as well as people’s underlying motives for using specific appliances. Addressing the full range of characteristics during the development of new appliances will highlight a variety of design opportunities and increase the possibilities for developing appliances that support people to go about their everyday activities in less energy-reliant ways.