Eco-feedback is information about resource (energy, water, food) consumption provided back to consumer(s) with the goal of promoting more sustainable behavior. Effective eco-feedback relies upon an understanding of key eco-feedback design dimensions and how they relate to behavior change. This paper develops a conceptual framework that includes a typology of eco-feedback design dimensions and maps those dimensions on to the behavioral mechanisms of attention, learning, and motivation. To develop this framework, we synthesized, clarified, and expanded on previous discussions of eco-feedback design dimensions across multiple academic disciplines. Our analysis yielded three types of behaviorally-relevant eco-feedback design dimensions: information, timing, and display. Information dimensions include granularity, metrics, valence, and contextual information. Timing dimensions include latency, strategic timing, and frequency and duration. Display dimensions include medium, modality, style, location, audience, and response requirement. Each of these dimensions has implications for eco-feedback salience, precision, or meaning, qualities that correspond to the behavioral mechanisms of attention, motivation, and learning, respectively.

Key words: Eco-feedback, Environmental human-computer interaction, Energy feedback