18 PERVASIVE computing Published by the IEEE CS ■ 1536-1268/09/$25.00 © 2009 IEEE

G u e s t e d i t o r s ’ i n t r o d u c t i o n

I n this special issue, we turn our attention to the complex relationship between pervasive computing and environ-mental sustainability. We could begin this introduction by observing that it is urgently important to ensure environ-mental sustainability, but at this point, that would be almost

trite. Due to widespread media coverage, word of mouth, and other means, concerns about issues such as global warming, natu-ral resource depletion, and environmental toxins have permeated the public consciousness. The academic community has attended closely to these issues as well, and research relating to sustain-ability has ramped up in many areas.1 Pervasive computing is no

environmental sustainability

Allison WoodruffIntel Research Berkeley

Jennifer MankoffCarnegie Mellon University

G u e s t e d i t o r s ’ i n t r o d u c t i o n

January–march 2009 PERVASIVE computing 19

exception. The Ubicomp and Pervasive conferences have both recently held workshops on sustain-ability, and related fields such as human-computer interaction (HCI) are also forming communities around this topic (see the “Additional Resources” sidebar).2,3

core challengesPervasive computing naturally lends itself to many of environmental sustainability’s core chal-lenges. Environmental sustainability involves efforts such as monitor-ing the state of the physi-cal world; managing the direct and indirect im-pacts of large-scale hu-man enterprises such as agriculture, transport, and manufacturing; and in-forming individuals’ personal choices in consumption and behavior. These needs are well-aligned with pervasive computing’s vision, which promises to deliver computational intelligence em-bedded in the physical world, human enterprises, and people’s lives.

Climate science, for example, de-pends on computational advances to progress. Traditionally, this has in-volved the creation of machines and al-gorithms capable of modeling complex climate features; sensor networks and other pervasive technologies provide critical data for these models. Pervasive devices can also push forward citizen science—as argued by Sasank Reddy and his coauthors at the recent Ur-banSense Workshop (http://sensorlab. cs.dartmouth.edu /urbansensing / papers/reddy_urbansense08.pdf)—and heralded by Al Gore as a key part of the solution to the climate crisis in Earth in the Balance: Forging a New Com-mon Purpose (Earthscan Publications, 1992). Further, the Climate Group argues that technology can facilitate

worldwide reductions in global energy consumption of up to 15 percent by 2020 if applied to critical problem areas (www.smart2020.org). Pervasive com-puting can play a key role in these re-ductions by identifying and addressing inefficiencies in major infrastructural and industrial systems, as well as by in-fluencing and increasing understanding of individual behavior.4,5

Conversely, pervasive computing also poses threats to ecological sustainabil-ity.6 Computational energy consump-tion reached 2 percent of world emis-sions in 2007 (www.smart2020.org), and as pervasive devices proliferate, concerns mount regarding the impact of their energy use. Energy consump-tion has of course long been a central research issue in pervasive computing for practical considerations: small, portable devices must conserve power to be useful. Some current areas of re-search include energy-efficient sensor networks,7 human-driven techniques for increasing battery life,8 and “scav-enging” energy from human move-ment, sunlight, ambient heat, and other sources.9 An additional concern

is electronic waste, which reflects the additive im-pact of billions of retired or soon-to-be retired de-vices. Eli Blevis and his coauthors challenge us to reduce this potential waste, discussing solu-tions such as designing devices that are likely to become heirlooms rather than being disposed of af-ter only brief use.2

in this issueThe articles in this spe-cial issue reflect the di-chotomous potential of pervasive computing. The first three explore ways in which pervasive comput-ing can positively influ-ence the environmental impact of the perishable

goods supply chain, agricultural en-terprise, and user-driven domestic en-ergy use; the fourth article sheds light on the factors influencing the negative impact that mobile phones have on the environment.

“Using Sensor Information to Re-duce the Carbon Footprint of Perish-able Goods,” by Alexander Ilic and coauthors, explores how sensor tech-nologies can be used to improve the management of perishable goods such as fruits, fresh produce, and meat. Such goods are often produced, shipped, and then unfortunately thrown away because they’ve become unusable after improper storage, transport, and han-dling; this is a serious issue because per-ishable goods account for a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions. Pervasive technologies have great po-tential to improve the efficiency of this food supply chain. For example, the use of a sensor-based first-expire-first-out (FEFO) issuing policy can increase ef-ficiency tremendously, in contrast to the conventional first-in-first-out (FIFO) is-suing policy. However, the application of such sensor-based technology incurs

S ustainability is gaining momentum in academic communities, as reflected by gatherings at several recent workshops. For

more information, see the following workshops’ Web sites:

Workshop at ubicomp 2007 on ubiquitous Sustainability: Technologies for Green Values (www.sustainableinteraction.net).Workshop at Pervasive 2008 on Pervasive Persuasive Technol-ogy and Environmental Sustainability (www.urbaninformatics.net/green).Workshop at ubicomp 2008 on ubiquitous Sustainability: citizen Science and activism (www.urban-atmospheres.net/ ubicomp2008).Workshop at chI 2009 on Defining the role of hcI in the challenges of Sustainability (http://elainehuang.com/ chI-2009/challenges-of-sustainability.html).

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Additional resources

20 PERVASIVE computing www.computer.org/pervasive

Guest editors’ introduction

financial and environmental costs. The article reports an analysis of the value of deploying sensors in supply-chain settings, taking into account both the financial and environmental impacts. In so doing, it explores an important theme in environmental sustainabil-ity—the complex trade-offs involved in deploying a technology in the hopes of improving a given situation. The analysis reported in this article clearly has direct implications for improv-ing supply-chain management. More broadly, it promotes reflective analysis of the overall impacts of proposed so-lutions to environmental challenges to ensure that a solution’s costs (environ-mental and financial) don’t outweigh its benefits.

Sensor networks—large networks of low-cost, embedded devices con-taining microcomputers, radios, and sensors—have long been explored as a mechanism for measuring and monitoring conditions in the natural world.10 In “Sensor and Actuator Net-works: Protecting Environmentally Sensitive Areas,” Tim Wark and his fellow researchers extend this focus by exploring how sensor networks can incorporate technologies that actively influence environmental conditions. Agricultural activities such as cattle grazing can damage environmentally sensitive regions, such as river banks

or riparian zones. To protect such re-gions, the authors explore improve-ments to virtual fencing—the use of real-time wireless sensor and actuator networks to enable spatial control of large cattle herds. This work provokes reflection on the logistically and ethi-cally complex issue of using pervasive

technologies to promote the protection of natural resources while supporting a large-scale commercial enterprise.

Domestic energy use has long been studied in fields such as energy man-agement and psychology, and there’s evidence that technology-enabled feed-back of domestic energy consumption can promote awareness and lead to energy savings. Recent developments have resulted in a significant upswing in commercially available tools that support homeowners in managing and minimizing their energy use. To date, however, consumers have had lit-tle choice of display and there’s been little understanding of the specifics of what makes for a good display de-sign. In “Technology-Enabled Feed-back on Domestic Energy Consump-tion,” Geraldine Fitzpatrick and Greg Smith articulate a set of design issues for home energy management displays based on exploratory user experience and preference studies. Their findings have direct design implications for current and emerging devices such as smart meters, as well as suggesting re-search agendas for displays based on emerging smart home technologies. In addition, the article illustrates how pervasive technology can be layered on existing technological infrastructure to support or persuade more sustain-able behaviors.

The previous three articles explore how pervasive technology might help solve sustainability problems created by other enterprises. However, wide-spread adoption of pervasive technol-ogy (and the accompanying manu-facturing, distribution, and disposal processes) can itself create sustain-

ability problems such as electronic waste.11 For example, mobile phones can be considered a pervasive tech-nology, and their proliferation can be considered a sustainability issue, as extensive research has revealed the material dangers and toxic effects of mobile phone disposal. In “Under-standing the Situated Sustainability of Mobile Phones: The Influence of Local Constraints and Practices on Transfer-ability,” Elaine Huang and her coau-thors explore mobile phone practices, especially end-of-use practices such as reusing, recycling, re-gifting, throwing away, and destroying mobile phones. In particular, the work focuses on how local and community factors af-fect mobile phone sustainability in several different geographic regions throughout the world. This case study illustrates the environmental chal-lenges associated with a technology’s widespread adoption, and shows how forces such as business models, policy, and cultural context relate to sustain-able practice for such technologies.

I n the past few years, environ-mental sustainability has gained great momentum in many sectors. Compelling arguments state that

environmental challenges demand im-mediate action.12 However, as this issue goes to press, concerns are mounting about the global economy. There is a se-rious risk that attention to pressing eco-nomic issues will overshadow concerns about environmental sustainability. For example, economic constraints might be perceived as limiting the ability of governments, industries, and individu-als to pursue environmentally friendly actions or develop environmentally friendly technologies. Although some situations involve complex trade-offs between financial and environmental impacts, pervasive technologies can be applied in many arenas to assess, dem-onstrate, or create opportunities for si-multaneous economic savings and envi-ronmental sustainability. Some of these

Pervasive technologies can be applied

in many arenas to assess, demonstrate, or create

opportunities for simultaneous economic savings

and environmental sustainability.

January–march 2009 PERVASIVE computing 21

technologies might not be immediately feasible and might demand a long-term view. As researchers, we often have the privilege of studying long-term is-sues and selecting the topics on which we work. Recent world events put an even greater burden on our community to preserve the focus on environmental sustainability, and they increase our re-sponsibility to pursue strategic research opportunities that can have significant real-world impact.

RefeRences 1. J. Mankoff, R. Kravets, and E. Blevis,

“Some Computer Science Issues in Creat-ing a Sustainable World,” Computer, vol. 41, no. 8, 2008, pp. 102–105.

2. E. Blevis, “Sustainable Interaction Design: Invention & Disposal, Renewal & Reuse,” Proc. ACM CHI 2007 Conf. Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 07), ACM Press, 2007, pp. 503–512.

3. J. Mankoff et al., “Environmental Sus-tainability and Interaction,” Special Inter-est Group held at CHI 2007, CHI 2007 Extended Abstracts, ACM Press, 2007, pp. 2121–2124.

4. A. Chamberlain et al., “Professor Tanda: Greener Gaming and Pervasive Play,” Proc. Designing for User eXperiences (DUX 07), ACM Press, 2007, pp. 1-16.

5. A. Woodruff, J. Hasbrouck, and S. Augus-tin, “A Bright Green Perspective on Sus-tainable Choices,” Proc. ACM CHI 2008

Conf. Ubiquitous Computing (CHI 08), ACM Press, 2008, pp. 313–322.

6 L.M. Hilty, C. Som, and A. Kohler, “Assessing the Human, Social, and Envi-ronmental Risks of Pervasive Comput-ing,” Human and Ecological Risk Assess-ment, vol. 10, 2005, pp. 853–874.

7. S. Jain et al., “Exploiting Mobility for Energy Efficient Data Collection in Wire-less Sensor Networks,” Mobile Networks and Applications, vol. 11, no. 3, 2006, pp. 327–339.

8. N. Banerjee et al., “Users and Batteries: Interactions and Adaptive Energy Man-agement in Mobile Systems,” Proc. 9th Int’l Conf. Ubiquitous Computing (Ubi-comp 07), Springer, 2007, pp. 217-234.

9. J.A. Paradiso and T. Starner, “Energy Scavenging for Mobile and Wireless Elec-tronics,” IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 4, no. 1, 2005, pp. 18–27.

10. A. Mainwaring et al., “Wireless Sen-sor Networks for Habitat Monitoring,” Proc. Int’l Workshop Wireless Sensor Networks and Applications 2002, ACM Press, 2002, pp. 88–97.

11. E. Grossman, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health, Island Press, 2006.

12. J. Hansen, “The Threat to the Planet,” The New York Rev. of Books, vol. 53, no. 12, 2006; www.nybooks.com/ articles/19131.

For more information on this or any other com-puting topic, please visit our Digital Library at www.computer.org/csdl.

the AuthoRsAllison Woodruff is a research scientist at Intel research. her research inter-ests include environmentally sustainable technologies, domestic technologies, mobile and communication technologies, and ubiquitous computing. Wood-ruff has a PhD in computer science from the university of california, Berkeley. contact her at woodruff@acm.org.

Jennifer Mankoff is an associate professor at carnegie mellon university. her research focuses on addressing critical social problems through mobile, desktop, and social Web technologies. mankoff has a PhD in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She was awarded the Sloan Fellow-ship in 2007 and the IBm Faculty Fellowship in 2004 and 2006 and is a mem-ber of the acm. contact her at jmankoff@cs.cmu.edu.

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