Smart meters on showerheads encouraged hotel guests to conserve—even though they personally saved no money. Christopher Intagliata reports.淋浴頭上的智能電表鼓勵酒店客人節(jié)儉?-?即使客人并沒有因此而省錢。克里斯托弗·因塔利亞塔報道。
? 撰文\播音:克里斯托弗?因塔利亞塔(Christopher Intagliata) 翻譯:Neo 審校:許楠
? You've probably seen?those little cards in hotel rooms: towel on the floor if you want a fresh one, towel on the rack if you'll use it again. And?using towels more than once means less laundry, which saves water and energy. But?you?don't pay the utility bills at the hotel. So, do you really care?? 你可能已經(jīng)在酒店房間看到過那些小卡片:如果想要換新,請把毛巾放在在地上,如果要重復使用,請把毛巾放在架子上。多次使用毛巾意味著減少洗衣次數(shù),從而節(jié)約水和能源。但客人其實并不不需要在酒店支付水電費。所以,你真的在乎嗎? Well: a new study in the journal?Nature Energy?suggests hotel guests really are motivated to conserve—for factors other than money.? 《自然能源》(Nature Energy)雜志上的一項新研究表明,酒店客人會為金錢外的其他因素而愿意節(jié)儉。 "The study actually shows that even if people have zero financial benefits, they still respond to this kind of feedback for environmental reasons."? “該研究實際表明,即使人們沒有獲得經(jīng)濟收益,但出于環(huán)保原因,他們?nèi)詴Υ祟惙答佔龀龌貞?/span>” Verena Tiefenbeck studies information systems research and behavioral economics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Her team studied the lodger energy use issue by installing smart shower meters in six Swiss hotels—265 rooms in all. 韋雷娜·提芬貝克(Verena Tiefenbeck)在蘇黎世的瑞士聯(lián)邦理工學院(ETH)研究信息系統(tǒng)研究和行為經(jīng)濟學。她的團隊通過六家瑞士酒店的265間客房的智能淋浴器來研究住客能源使用問題。 The meters displayed an ongoing tally of water and energy use as guests were washing up. Twenty-thousand showers later, the scientists found that their simple intervention encouraged guests to use 11 percent less energy per shower. That’s compared to guests in a control group who simply saw the water temperature displayed on the meter.? 當客人洗餐具時,儀表顯示了正在進行的用水和能源消耗的記錄。在2萬次淋浴后,科學家們發(fā)現(xiàn),他們的簡單干預鼓勵客人每次淋浴少消耗11%的能量。實驗中對照組的客人只看到了儀表上顯示的水溫。 Not that this finding will revolutionize the bottom line for hotels: each smart meter would save a hotel only about 20 bucks a year. But in homes, where most people take most of their showers, the savings actually could add up for the individual. And such devices could help consumers focus their efforts where they matter most.? 這一發(fā)現(xiàn)并不會革新酒店的底線:每臺智能電表每年僅能為酒店節(jié)省20美元。但是,家作為大多數(shù)人洗澡最多的場所,在家里洗澡節(jié)省下來的錢實際上可以為個人所積累。這種設備可以幫助消費者把精力集中在他們最關心的地方。 "Most people think they should switch off the lights, which isn't the most effective thing to do. And they don't know the big end users would be space heating and water heating." “大多數(shù)人認為他們應該關燈,對節(jié)能而言,這并不是最有效的事情。他們不知道其實室內(nèi)供暖和水的加熱才是最耗電的。” So now you know. Even without a smart device, if you want to cut your energy bill try lathering up just a bit faster. Of course, if you’re staying at the Bates Motel maybe skip the shower altogether.? “現(xiàn)在你知道了,即使沒有智能設備,如果想減少你的能源賬單,試著洗得更快一點。當然,如果你住在貝茨汽車旅館,那就干脆不洗澡。