Viridian Meter Design Competition

A design competition has been announced for a household electricity meter that resides prominently

inside the home and provides “accurate, compelling, and artistically fascinating feedback to homeowners about their current energy use.” The

Viridian Electricity Meter should reward users aesthetically for reducing their purchased energy consumption. This is the first design competition to emerge from the Viridian Movement, an initiative of science fiction writer Bruce Sterling that aims to stimulate the reinvention of everyday products and technologies in the industrial world so that they are both environmentally benign and aesthetically superior to products now in use (online at

www.bespoke.org/viridian). Cosponsored by the Sustainability Institute and the Balaton Group, the competition promises a total of $8,000 in prize money. Initial submissions are due May 31, 2000. For details, see

http://sustainer.org/ViridMeterComp.html.