The Green Switch: Designing for Sustainability in Mobile Computing

Growth of mobile users is projected to reach 6 billion by 2013, with 80% of users in the developing world where the mobile phone is their primary communication and computing device. At the same time, sales of energy-intensive Smart Phones have grown 15% last year with all mobile phones to be Smart by 2015. The increased consumption means an average replacement rate of 18 months, accounting for 500 million handsets replaced last year in Europe alone. This makes the mobile phone the consumer electronic device with the highest replacement rate in history. These parallel and growing trends make sustainability in mobile computing an urgent problem to address. In addressing sustainability, solutions with a significant impact that actively reduce emissions are required. Such efforts within the mobile industry are underway in the manufacturing and disposal phases. However, sustainability efforts in the product use-phase have been limited. Efforts have largely focused on the ecological appeal, neglecting to address the human or user appeal that is required to instigate behavioural change on a mass-market level. To redress this issue, this position paper outlines a product and service design methodology called The Green Switch. The methodology is structured as a human and ecological check-list that creates a framework by which one can assess the likely mass-market take-up and therefore the positive environmental impact of a mobile product or service. In addition, the paper introduces an early-stage design concept called the Green Mode App, as an example of a mobile product which adheres to The Green Switch methodology. 1. Mobile and Sustainability The first section covers mobile telecommunication and current sustainability efforts. 1.1. The Growth of Mobile Technology Since its commercial launch 30 years ago, mobile telecommunications has substantially grown and currently accounts for 4.6 billion users with a billion mobile internet users. The total user base is estimated to reach 6 billion by 2013. 75% of all global users are in the developing world where mobile phones provide people access to telecommunications for the very first time. A recent digital-divide study by Tomi Ahonen, a mobile industry thought leader, concluded that the mobile phone is the only technology which reaches half the population of the developing world. For that reason, Jeffrey Sachs, a development expert at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, considers mobile technology “the single most transformative tool for development.” The popularity of the mobile phone also reflects adaptive, Always-On digital lifestyles, where the user is the most vital part. A study by ITU supports this view and shows that between 1998 and 2008, mobile usage growth outpaced PC Internet usage growth by 65%. 1.2. The Smart Phone Phenomenon As a reflection of lifestyle needs, the mobile phone is evolving into a mobile computing device that encompasses advanced PC-like functionality. The demand for these Smart Phones with processors, abundant memory, and large screens has been high and by some estimates almost all handsets sold will be Smart by 2015. As well as voice and SMS, the advanced features on a Smart Phone now include audio, video, gaming, internet browsing, email, camera, productivity applications, bespoke applications, and GPS (enabling location-based services and navigation). This wide range of features on a standard Smart Phone has departed from the 11feature Nokia 1100, the best selling mobile phone of all times. In comparison, the Nokia N900 has a product specification of 132 bullet-point features whilst the iPhone 3GS has 87 features. This emerging trend of the-more-the-better in mobile computing risks mimicking PC computing, with its software bloat, feature creep, additional hardware resource needs, and greater energy consumption. 1.3. Consumption Trends The mobile phone is the consumer electronic device with the highest replacement rate in history. In Europe, nearly 800 million mobile phone users replace their phones on average every 18 months. That is 500 million handsets a year. Considering the current average handset is designed for a lifecycle of 3.5 years, this trend of rapid replacement is attributed by the mobile industry to the tendency of consumers to want a device with more applications. However, qualitative research by Motorola Labs and the University of Toronto has found that the majority of users replace their phones because of contract length and incentive programs. With the decrease in the value of voice and SMS revenues, mobile operators have shifted emphasis to increasing data and value-added services revenues. Therefore, their drive to increase users’ adoption of Smart Phones and their usage of data services is a great financial motivator for encouraging users to rapidly replace their handsets. The UK regulator shows that 70% of consumers choose not to upgrade their mobile phone when financial subsidies are not offered by mobile operators. The majority of old handsets either go to a home landfill, which is a desk or dresser drawer, or passed on to friends or family. In turn, these devices eventually wind up at the landfill or at collection services that transport them to the developing world. 1.3. Current Sustainability Efforts within Mobile Computing These parallel and growing trends make sustainability in mobile computing an urgent problem to address. In addressing sustainability as a whole, the UK’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research advocates solutions with a significant impact that will sharply reduce demand-led energy consumption. However, a 2009 study by Ofcom (the UK broadcast and telecoms regulator) has concluded that a fundamental balance must be struck between the increasing environmental impacts as systems and services grow, as technology and markets develop, and the social, economic and commercial benefits delivered by such systems and services. This tension is considered to be a key challenge for the communications industry going forward. That study also highlights that consumer equipment, where devices have small individual impacts, often have very substantial impacts overall due to the large volumes involved and shorter product life compared to infrastructure systems. 1.4.1. Manufacturing-Phase Efforts The EU has the most comprehensive regulations in place, with targets viewed as worth meeting globally by the most proactive handset vendors such as Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. However, the process of manufacturing green handsets is still more costly than conventional manufacturing. Handset makers not only have to redesign handsets with green materials and establish recycling processes, but they now have to document their “greenness” and comply with increasing number of regulations. Creating a verifiably green handset can mean revamping the whole supply chain and retooling the production process. The incentive for handset markets is a survey of 1000 adults which found that 40% would choose a green handset over a conventional model if they were the same price and offered the same functionality. 7% said they would be willing to pay more for a green handset. Responding to consumer sentiment, Samsung has been leading the eco-friendly handset trend with the Samsung Reclaim and the Samsung Blue Earth. Like the Reclaim, Blue Earth's shell is made from recycled water bottles but goes further with solar panels on its rear face. 1.4.2. Disposal Phase Efforts In July 2007, a new European law known as the WEEE Regulations (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) came into force. Producers of electronic and electrical goods now have the financial responsibility for the collection, treatment and recycling of their WEEE. A 2008 global recycling survey by Nokia highlighted that only 3% of handsets are recycled and that one of the main reasons why so few people recycle is because they simply don't know that it is possible to do so. In response to legislation and lack of recycling awareness by mobile phone users, handset manufactures have started promoting free-of-charge take-back programs. 1.4.3. Use-Phase Efforts In the use-phase, efforts have largely been focused on reducing energy consumption in the supporting mobile infrastructure. The major innovation for reduced power consumption come from developing countries that lack a ubiquitous national power grid, and therefore must rely on renewable energy sources such a wind and solar-power. Much of the efficiency enhancements from infrastructure manufacturers are driven by this need to deploy cellular networks in regions were electricity must be generated on site. Developed countries will therefore benefit from these advances, especially for new deployments and upgrades. Regulators are also exploring reducing energy consumption by encouraging network sharing. ARCEP, the French regulator, has asked the industry to come up with a network sharing plan, or the regulator is likely to mandate one. It is also consulting on spectrum licensing decisions and related energy use. The 2009 Ofcom study highlights that 3G services are expected to greatly increase network resources as localised high-capacity deployments require higher data throughput which results in an increase in cell power consumption. Thus growing demand by subscribers for the enhanced services of 3G will put pressure on deploying more network resources and hence increasing energy consumption. The consumer use-phase efforts have mainly focused on reducing energy consumption of chargers in no-load power consumption mode. The no-load mode refers to the state when chargers are not actively used to charge the handset and thus are of no practical use. Regulation is encouraging manufacturers to make reductions in noload energy demands, and handset manufacturers are responding. By 2008 Sony Ericsson reduced the average no-load power consumption by more than 90%, whilst Nokia has achieved 80% reduction. To further spur the industry into action, in October 2009, the ITU has given its stamp of approval to an energy-efficient one-charger-fits-all new mobile phone solution. The new Universal Charging Solution (UCS) enables the same charger to be used for all future handsets, regardless of make and model. In addition to dramatically cutting the number of chargers produced, shipped and subsequently discarded as new models become available, the new standard will reduce the energy consumed by the charger. The new UCS standard was based on input from the GSMA, which predicts elimination of 51,000 tonnes of redundant chargers, and a subsequent reduction of 13.6 million tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions each year. 1.4.4. Energy Consumption of the Handset while in Use To date, little effort has been focused on the actual energy consumption by the users and data has been unclear and inconsistent. This is an area that clearly needs further study and definitive data. Nevertheless, indications that consumer usage of 3G services impact energy consumption are starting to become apparent, as seen in Table 1-1. The table data, taken from independent CNET reviews of the battery life of the Apple iPhone shows that 3G services greatly reduce battery time, by 43% for the iPhone 3G and 60% for the iPhone 3GS. As the iPhone leads the trend for other handset manufacturers to follow, it is likely that other Smart Phones will have similar energy consumption trends. Addressing sustainability and energy reduction at the consumer use-phase is becoming urgent. As the mobile phone is transitioning from a voice device to a sophisticated computing device, much money, development effort and design focus is deployed by both the mobile and computer industries. This is a great opportunity. Hardware and application designers can address sustainability at the fundamental and critical design level. The positive impact from such efforts will not only result in reduction of energy consumption by the handset itself, but also on the network infrastructure that supports 3G services. 2. Design Methodology & Rationale Following the need to address sustainability at the mobile design level, we recognised the need for a method to do so. Our aim was to create a simple and memorable methodology which assesses whether a green design idea is likely to be adopted by many people and hence substantially reduce energy consumption as a whole. 2.1. The Green Switch Design Methodology The aim of the methodology is for mobile products or services to be designed to reduce use-phase energy consumption. The Green Switch design methodology is a design approach where a product or service is designed to fulfil both human and ecological needs. It is distilled to a checklist of five attributes which are all to be fulfilled, in order to achieve the aim of the methodology. The Green Switch checklist is divided in two main sections: Mass-Market Appeal and Green Appeal. Green Switch Checklist Y N