Interview with Jonas & Mirei – 14th February 2009 “Godt Brød – Theresesgate” – In vitro
Mirei – 1973 (from Japan), Jonas – 1978(from Norway), Lives in a flat in Theresesgate, Married with one kid, both is educated as architects
Photo: Mirei & Jonas
M: Thinks of renewable energy at a bigger macro scale. Thought first of solar energy, but then on a bigger scale. Heating for buildings is a challenge. But one cannot perceive if you get green energy.
J: Has recently been on a seminar on Renewable energy in the context of a building project he has been working on. Electricity out of the socket can come from anywhere, it can be green and it could come from coal.
M: If you are building a home, you cannot choose your energy, unless you build your home in the countryside with your own solar plant. In domestic homes in a city, it is hard.
M: Has done some research on Renewable Energy. It is in your daily life in form of recycling and looking on the stats of things you buy. J: Cars should run on apple cider!
J: In a flat, it is different, the energy provided to the buildings set. You have no influence unless you cooperate with your co owners of a building.
J: Look to Sweden they are better at this.
M: It has to be regulated; it has to be the government’s choice.
J: Are we talking about the real energy effect or people’s perceptions? (Important question)
M: Japan, politics It’s on the political agenda In Japan.
J: Politics that is important.
M: How can it be that Renewable energy works at a macro level?
J: How do you “know” that your energy is Renewable? Even if the choice is not yours, you feel you do something good (if you know the energy is Renewable) I.e. the “feedback loop” is very important.
M: Australia restricts the amount of water. (Forces different usage patterns) Can we choose how much we use? Can we limit.? The domestic environment. In Norway we do not turn of the lights, but in Japan they turn of the lights when not needed at once due to high prices.
3. Hafslund? No idea really, but also has a central heater with maybe an oil boiler.
4. Paying the bill, Paper bill.
5. Consciously switch of the light, extract the plugs as a reflex, but Jonas gets annoyed. They miss the switch on the plug in the UK. J: Every Socket has a fuse. M: The wires in UK are old.
6. When using the cooking oven she feels the energy is wasted when pre-heating to reach desired temperature. In Japan it is instant as they use gas. Lights – negative side of renewable energy (?)
7. Might turn down the heat, but thinking if the performance of new appliances is more important and better than sacrificing stuff.
J: In the UK we brought the heat with us from room to room as we used them. Central heating is a waste, would rather have instant heat in a room. In a building it is important for the person working in a room to have a perceived and actual control over the temperature, but in reality he or she has only 10% control.
M: Performance measure temperature, if people can control temperature, it is a perception that the temperature is much better the feel that you can influence the temp is more important than the actual temp. Perception is important, can accept a lower average if perception is that you have control.
8. No, do not think so.
9. M: No
J: Solar panels on the roof of old “hytte“. But it was a big panel for just three small lamps.
M: Old schoolbook in Japan showed a Swizz guy cooking an egg in a solar cooker.
10. No enøk at home, but they aim for low wattage in light bulbs.
The flat is very well insulated, the apartments above and below heats their apartment..
11. No!
J: Can (Should?) always sell energy to someone who needs it. It is obvious! Why can’t I put energy back into the grid? The fact that you are doing it makes you think of yourself as a producer.
J: Works on a fjord – heat exchange project with a new Veritas building. But excess energy from this has to be wasted as they cannot feed it back onto the grid. So if they produce when it is not needed it is wasted. So then they have to buy back regular grid energy when they need that. But on the grid the peaks are often covered by coal.
Veritas will have a counter at each dept. and then let them compete against each other for lower consumption.
A competition is a physical embodiment of Renewable Energy and worth designing for and to make the effort/(Effect?) visible.
J: You can’t see where electricity comes from and where it goes. The UK plugs are very visible.
It is unfortunate that ecology in design has to be visible, it can lead to ugly design.
