Changing Behavior Through Design: A Lab Fume Hood Closure Experiment

Abstract

One fume hood in a laboratory can use as much energy as three homes per year. When a fume hood is in use, its door (or "sash") needs to be open, but otherwise it should be closed for safety, as well as to conserve energy. This paper examines strategies to promote fume hood closure behavior. A behavior change experiment conducted in the field tested whether a design signifier (sticker) and comparative feedback extracted from automated building and equipment data would decrease the number of times people left fume hoods open when not in use (while spaces were unoccupied or the hoods were inactive). The experiment included a control building where no fume hood intervention was implemented. The sticker and feedback together resulted in significantly fewer instances of hoods being left open (a 52.8% reduction overall). One year later, with the sticker in place and without further feedback, the instances of hoods being left open when the space was occupied but the hoods were inactive remained significantly lower than baseline. In addition to providing a low-cost strategy to bring about behavior change, findings from this study suggest opportunities to improve fume hood design and to use automated building data to provide laboratory workers with feedback to change their behavior.

Motion and Sash Height (MASH) alarms for efficient fume hood use

“…A study at UC Davis tested the effects of similar stickers and found they saved $1,300 annually, per hood, in energy cost savings 11 . The passive methods used in these studies did not directly encourage user behavioral change at the time of the behavior to be changed, however; in contrast, feedback closer in time to the behavior or action to be changed has been reported to be more effective 9 , 12 . Further, a study from the University of Toronto found that passive methods had little long-term impacts on behaviors 13 .…”

The relevance of sustainable laboratory practices

“…Reminding colleagues of certain sustainable actions such as turning off equipment can be facilitated through stickers or posters. 30 Inclusion of senior staff ensures the creation of a cultural change on sustainability at all levels of an institution. We further recommend once per year a team building or community activity for the researchers involved in supporting sustainable laboratory actions.…”

“…LEED © serves as a framework for rating and certifying buildings and their systems, offering guidance in areas such as energy and water conservation, use of healthy and sustainable construction materials, indoor air quality, and other aspects during construction and renovation. 30 …”