FREIBURG, GERMANY/ Germany is one of the countries around that shows a real compromise with the environment. Most climate actions are not just promoted to come true, also are laws to overtake real changes.

The country, that has decided to accelerate change in energy policy, says that success comes only with the help of the consumers.

A growing problem

Even in these times people is still not aware enough to take action in regard environmental preservation, but this comes not alone. Actions are required to tell people how they can move into a more sustainable life.

The carket economy has brought welfare to the people but also came with a disproportionate use of resources, causing a big crisis that can be seen everywhere. Nevertheless, the crisis seems to have little importance in a society that has in its mind what to buy next, leaving aside ways on saving energy and resources.

All begins at home, but people must learn how to be aware while there is no real handbook to show how a better living can be done. Now, a new online strategy will help people to learn how energy can be saved.

Game shows how to save

Yes, there are many questions at home involving energy: Do I toast my bread rolls in the oven or over the toaster? Should I heat the water on the stove or in the electric kettle? Do I start the washing machine in the afternoon or after 10 at night? How do I lower CO2 emissions by the way I use energy?

Well, answers to such and similar questions are provided by a new online game called RED (Renewable Energy Drama) that will help families in saving issues.

RED was developed by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Erfurt, Germany in a joint work with Ilmenau University of Technology, city utility of the City of Ilmenau as well as the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

Into reality

Before developing the game, the researchers investigated how consumers of energy can be motivated to use the energy gained from renewable resources more efficiently. In their research the experts saw great potential in online games for teaching the subject of "saving electricity at home" in an entertaining manner and to show that one‘s own behavior can affect how much electricity costs.

There is in Germany exists a growing trend on the usage of online games, being promoted everywhere, not just online. There are hundreds of them and this was the bulb that gave light to RED, as explained by Ms. Imke Hoppe, scientist at IDMT who said that, “Online games are very well suited to demonstrating situations taken from daily life.”

About how the game gives advice, the researcher said that “The interactive character supports learning very well, since the user receives individual feedback at all times. For this reason, we designed RED as an action-oriented, interactive 3D application.”

Who can play?

To have a bigger impact inside families, the software is targeted at adults and young people interested in renewable energies who want to know how they can save energy.

"How much energy do individual household appliances consume, which ones are the energy robbers and are the high bills the results of price increases or are the uplights that are always on the reason for the high bills – RED supplies the answers. The user does not even have to invest a great deal of time, the game takes only about ten to 15 minutes," says Ms. Hoppe.

Interactive learning has become part of daily life and in these times where a better usage of resources is needed, this kind of applications arrive at proper time.

The game

RED is a mirror of daily life and repr a fictitious family of three. The screen shows all the rooms in a house. The user goes, via his avatar represented by one of the three members of the family into each room and is able, via mouse click, to do the regular household chores such as baking food from the freezer or do laundry.

For example, if the avatar clicks on the washing machine, an information box supplies him with information about CO2 generation and the electricity costs for a load of laundry when the machine is full, three quarters full or half full, and it calculates how much this would cost per year.

In a second module, the online game informs the user how he can save electricity using "Smart Meters." These electronic electricity meters are currently being tested by electric utilities in pilot projects throughout Germany.

Smart ideas

But, all is not matter of a virtual idea. For example, the “Smart Meters” must be installed in new buildings and houses that have been completely renovated. Taking the time of day into account, they measure the exact actual usage of electricity and show the current tariffs.

In January 2010 the German Energy Management Act mandates thatthey must be installed This is how the consumer can identify the potential for savings and start his dishwasher only at night, when electricity is particularly cheap. The avatar also finds out when energy from renewable resources, eco-electricity, is cheap.

The "Saving electricity at home" module will go online on September 29, 2011. But this is not ending here while a second module is under construction and will be online at the end of 2011: “Saving electricity with Smart Meters.”

The online game can be played at www.residens-projekt.de and is free of charge.