Process and culture - User guidance - Internet of Things (IoT) Lens

Process and culture - User guidance

IOTSUS05: How do you educate users to encourage lower carbon footprint of their devices?

Clear documentation and intuitive interfaces are vital for educating users on proper installation, configuration, and maintenance procedures that can maximize energy efficiency and device longevity. Providing step-by-step guidance, power usage monitoring tools, and over-the-air update capabilities can help users avoid wasteful practices that lead to increased energy consumption or premature device replacements.

Organizations can further incentivize sustainable user behavior by offering repair services, trade-in programs, and responsible disposal options. Making it easier and more cost-effective for users to repair, upgrade, or properly recycle devices at end-of-life reduces the likelihood of devices ending up in landfills prematurely.

A holistic approach embeds sustainability into the product lifecycle, from design and manufacturing to user education and end-of-life management. Actively involving users in this process and providing the necessary tools and incentives reduces the carbon footprint of IoT products and services.

IOTSUS05-BP01 Create detailed documentation

Provide user-friendly documentation or mobile applications that give a user detailed step-by-step guidance to educate users on the proper installation and use of devices to avoid errors or misuse that could necessitate a site visit from a technician, leading to additional cost and environmental impact

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Low

Prescriptive guidance

Educate users on the proper installation and use of IoT devices through user-friendly documentation or mobile applications that provide detailed step-by-step guidance.

IOTSUS05-BP02 Promote responsible disposal, repairability, and transfer of ownership for IoT devices to minimize environmental impact

Implementing responsible disposal, repairability, and transfer of ownership practices for devices is crucial for sustainability. It minimizes environmental impact by promoting recycling, proper disposal of hazardous components, and adherence to electronic waste regulations.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Low

Prescriptive guidance

Implement environmentally responsible practices for disposing of IoT devices, including recycling electronic components, properly disposing of batteries, and adhering to local regulations and guidelines for electronic waste disposal.

Collaborate among IoT device manufacturers, users, and stakeholders to develop, implement, and improve sustainable and responsible disposal practices to minimize environmental impact.

Promote repairability and support repair and transfer of ownership options for IoT devices to extend their lifespan and reduce waste.

Verify that it is straightforward for users to update, upgrade, and repair devices back to a working state.

Provide users with detailed instructions on how to perform a factory reset, wipe data, and dissociate devices from the current user account before transferring ownership or disposing of the device.

Provide clear instructions to users on how to properly dispose of the device at the end of its life, including guidance on recycling components and isolating any harmful materials.

Consider creating incentives for users to follow proper disposal and recycling practices for IoT devices.

IOTSUS05-BP03 Identify when devices in the field can or should be retired

As circumstances change in your deployed solution (sites shut down, for instance) devices may remain active even though not needed. To minimize the impact of such cases, unused assets should be decommissioned.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Low