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Back in the early 2000s, lots of people couldn’t have imagined life without alarm clocks, CD players, calendars, cameras, or lots of other devices. But along came the iPhone and other smartphones, and they took over the functions of dozens of things we used to think were essential.

The smartphone story could even be a model for fighting climate change; not because smartphone use a small part of the energy of all the things they replace — although they do — but because they represent a different approach to design in general. And that approach is to focus on function rather than form. That requires focusing on understanding the underlying problem, and then engineering a wide range of potential solutions. This approach could revolutionize how we think about energy efficiency.

Traditionally, improvements in energy efficiency have mostly focused on individual devices, which can be quite fruitful. But focusing on individual devices is like if Apple had spent effort inventing a better alarm clock, a better CD player, a better calendar, and a better camera. Now with an iPhone, we don’t need the standalone devices at all, because it can function as all of them.

So when it comes to using energy efficiently, rather than just installing a more efficient heater, some people have focused instead on the desired function: staying warm. They designed and coated their house so well that they could get rid of their heater altogether, letting them heat their house with 99 % less energy.

In the same way, rather than just making cars more efficient, what if we focus on the desired function — getting where we want when we want — and create an efficient transportation system where we can drive less or get rid of our personal cars entirely? The most energy efficient car or heater is no car, or no heater, while still being able to get around and stay warm. In other words, it’s not thinking efficient, it’s thinking different.