翻译：曲荟龙

审校：张清越

The rise in technology, particularly for information and communication, is radically transforming lifestyles. For example, many people can now work from home and still be in almost constant contact with the office. Or maybe you prefer your own couch for watching a recently released movie rather than trekking to the local theater.

科技进步，尤其是信息和通讯等方面的进步，正在彻底地改变着人类的生活方式。举例来说，许多人现在可以在家工作，并且能够做到与同事们保持实时的联系。亦或许相比舟车劳顿前往当地的电影院，你更喜欢窝在自己的沙发里看最近上映的电影。

“This technology induced lifestyle changes affect how people consume energy and ultimately affect the energy demand of the nation.”

“技术革新改变了生活方式，进而影响人们消费能源的方式，最终也会影响到国家的能源需求。”

Ashok Sekar, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. To assess how our changing usage of technology might alter our energy consumption, Sekar and his colleagues first set out to determine how much more we’re in our homes than we were in the past.

阿肖克·塞卡尔是德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的博士后研究员。为了评估技术革新如何影响我们消耗能源的方式，塞卡尔和他的同事们决定首先研究我们在家里待的时间相比过去增加了多少。

For more than a decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has surveyed how Americans spend their time each day. More than 11,000 citizens respond to the survey each year.

十多年来，美国劳工统计局对美国人每天的生活方式进行了调查。每年有超过11000名市民响应了这项调查。

Crunching the numbers from this survey, the researchers found that Americans are definitely logging more hours in their living rooms.

研究人员分析了这项调查的数据，发现美国人确实在家中的客厅里度过了更多的时间。

“When compared to 2003, in 2012, Americans spent eight days more at home.”

“与2003年的数据相比，2012年，每个美国人平均在家多待了8天。”

That’s seven fewer days spent in “nonresidential spaces” and one less day spent traveling per year. And that’s on average. The younger generation exhibited even stronger homebody tendencies.

就平均数据而言，美国人在“非居住空间”内呆的时间少了七天，每年花在旅行上的时间也减少了一天。年轻一代表现出更强的“居家”倾向。

“The population aged 18 to 24 spent two weeks more at home in 2012 compared to 2003. Which is 70 percent higher change than the average population.”

与2003年相比，2012年，18岁至24岁的人口在家中多待了两周的时间。这比平均数值高出了70%。

And that shift in location translates into surprisingly large energy savings. The researchers calculate that Americans are reducing energy use by 1,200 trillion Btus by not hopping in our cars. And we’re saving thousand trillion Btus by skipping public appearances at the mall, movie theaters, and the office. The study is in the journal Joule. That’s J-O-U-L-E, which like the Btu is a unit of energy. [Ashok Sekar, Eric Williams and Roger Chen, Changes in Time Use and Their Effect on Energy Consumption in the United States]

而上述的这种转变，节约了大量的能源。研究人员通过计算得出，因为乘车外出次数的减少，美国人减少了1200万亿英热单位的能源消耗。因为去商场、影院和公司的次数减少，数千万亿英热单位的能源免于被消耗。这项研究发表在《焦耳》杂志上。焦耳和英热单位一样，都是用于计算能量的单位。[Ashok Sekar, Eric Williams and Roger Chen, Changes in Time Use and Their Effect on Energy Consumption in the United States]

Now, obviously we still use energy while at home. But not all activities are equally draining when it comes to our dependence on the power grid.

很明显，即便呆在家里，我们仍然使用能源。但是，不同活动消耗的电能也有所不同。

“Activities at home on average takes less energy per minute compared to time spent in your car or commercial buildings.”

“与花在汽车上或商业建筑中的时间相比，在家里的活动平均每分钟消耗更少的能量。”

To save even more energy, Sekar suggests that we focus on improving the energy efficiency of home appliances and consumer electronics—the stuff we use more when we’re working from home. All day. In our pajamas. See, we even saved the energy we’d otherwise expend getting dressed.

为了节省更多的能源， 塞卡尔建议我们专注于提高家用电器和电子产品的能源效率——当我们在家工作时，我们对它们的使用频率将会更高。看，一整天都穿着睡衣的我们，甚至节省了穿衣服时所消耗的能量。