Home Energy Management Systems (Hems), e.g. energy monitors, are intermediary products that can visualize, manage, and/or monitor the energy use of other products or whole households. Hems increasingly receive attention for their role in energy conservation in households. A literature review and a case study examine the mid-term effectiveness (> 4 months) of Hems. The case study present the results of a 15-month pilot with a domestic energy monitor in the Netherlands. It explores the extent to which participants manage to sustain their initial electricity savings over time, with a special focus on the development of habitual energy saving behaviour. The results show that the initial savings in electricity consumption of 7.8 % after 4 months could not be sustained in the medium to long term. A second finding is that certain groups of people seem more receptive to energy saving interventions than others. These participants quickly develop new habits and exhibit larger savings than other participants. Obviously, a 'one-size-fits-all' approach for home energy monitors cannot be justified. For Hems to be effective, a deeper understanding is needed embracing social science, contextual factors, usability and interaction design research.

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Between 2008 and 201 1 , three different home energy management systems ( H EM S) that give feedb ack on energy consumption were implemented in households in the Netherlands. H ome energy management systems are defined as intermediary devices that can visualise, monitor and/ or manage domestic gas and/ or electricity consumption. T hrough a series of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups and usab ility tests, a wide range of knowledge was gathered on factors influencing the effectiveness of the three systems. T he resulting insights were structured with the help of a conceptual model, which outlines the various interactions b etween users, energy monitors, and their social and physical environments. T he insights provide a b road spectrum of factors to b e considered for the successful design and implementation of home energy management systems. T his paper aims to provoke an open discussion to ascertain the value of the different factors and further the development of effective and useful H EM S. Keywords: energy monitor; smart metering; energy conservation; household energy consumption; feedb ack; usab ility; design research; home energy management system; insights; implementation. J.D .M . V an H al is P rofessor of S ustainab le B uilding and D evelopment at the C enter for S ustainab ility of Nyenrode B usiness U niversity. S he is also a P rofessor of Sustainab le H ousing T ransformation at the Faculty of Architecture of D elft U niversity of T echnology. H er chair focuses on increasing the sustainab ility of existing housing stocks and neighb ourhoods, to ensure they meet amb itious environmental targets and reflect residents' needs.

The Covid-19 outbreak forced many universities across the world to transition from a traditional or blended format to fully online education. This paper presents a case study on the transition to an online education format for a circular design course. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a survey with 26 students and interviews with six course teachers. The findings revealed that students preferred the on-campus versions over the online course components. They indicated the perceived lack of motivation, lack of sense of community, and a high workload as influencing factors. Teachers indicated the lack of connection with students as a drawback to online education but identified advantages to their teaching and the student’s learning experience. Suggestions for addressing an optimal blended course format are provided.

Energy harvesting is defined as a process of acquiring energy surrounding a system and converting it into electrical energy for usage. Piezoelectric energy harvesting is a very important concept in energy harvesting in microelectronics. In this report, an analysis of the cantilever type piezoelectric energy harvester is conducted using the finite element method (FEM) based software COMSOL Multiphysics. A unimorph type cantilever beam of the silicon substrate, structural steel as proof mass and support, and PZT-5A material as piezoelectric constitute the physical system.