Chapter 6: Do Consumers Know "What Works" in Energy Conservation?

Kempton, Willett; Harris, Craig K.; Keith, Joanne G.; Weihl, Jeffrey S.

doi:10.1300/j002v09n01_07

Cited by 73 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…However, most of them undertook non-investment measures, which supports earlier findings (Kempton, 1985;Eurobarometer, 2007;Forstater et al, 2007). Among investment measures, homeowners were more likely to adopt other high investment measures.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Individuals may undertake non-investment measures because their benefits are visible (Kempton et al, 1985), they involve no investment-related risk or simply because they are habits from past practices. However, it may be difficult to change the behaviour of people (Kempton et al, 1992) who do not have energy efficient habits, especially when the change involves personal inconvenience.…”

Section: Factors That Influence the Adoption Of Investment Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings

2010

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Factors That Influence the Adoption Of Investment Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings

2010

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“…For example, "turning out lights when leaving the room" is often suggested as a way to save energy, but it actually saves very little (7). Although Gardner and Stern did not examine people's perceptions of the behaviors on their short list, other research indicates that members of the general public have a poor understanding of the mechanisms involved in climate change (8,9) and of the energy consumption associated with familiar activities, even though the public may believe that climate change is real (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings

Attari

DeKay

Davidson³

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

557

386

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In a national online survey, 505 participants reported their perceptions of energy consumption and savings for a variety of household, transportation, and recycling activities. When asked for the most effective strategy they could implement to conserve energy, most participants mentioned curtailment (e.g., turning off lights, driving less) rather than efficiency improvements (e.g., installing more efficient light bulbs and appliances), in contrast to experts' recommendations. For a sample of 15 activities, participants underestimated energy use and savings by a factor of 2.8 on average, with small overestimates for low-energy activities and large underestimates for high-energy activities. Additional estimation and ranking tasks also yielded relatively flat functions for perceived energy use and savings. Across several tasks, participants with higher numeracy scores and stronger proenvironmental attitudes had more accurate perceptions. The serious deficiencies highlighted by these results suggest that well-designed efforts to improve the public's understanding of energy use and savings could pay large dividends.climate change | decision making | judgment | environmental behavior | anchoring A nthropogenic CO 2 emissions are contributing to global climate change (1) and could negatively impact our way of life if serious action is further delayed. The United States produces 21% of the world's CO 2 emissions, with 98% of US emissions attributed to energy consumption (2).According to Pacala and Socolow (3), increasing energy efficiency and curtailing activities that consume energy may be our cheapest options for stabilizing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations below a doubling of preindustrial concentrations. Following the analogy of stabilization wedges (3), Dietz et al. (4) devised a potential behavioral wedge, recommending specific behavioral changes, such as weatherization investments, to be adopted by US households to decrease their emissions. Vandenbergh et al. (5) identified seven actions, such as reducing automobile idling and substituting compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) for incandescent bulbs, that have the potential to achieve large emission reductions at a low cost to the government and with a net savings for individuals. In related work, Gardner and Stern (6) identified a short list of the most effective actions US households could take to decrease their contributions to climate change. They argued that by changing the selection and use of household and motor vehicle technologies, households could reduce their energy consumption by nearly 30%-without waiting for new technologies, making major economic sacrifices, or losing a sense of well-being. If households effectively implemented all of Gardner and Stern's recommended changes, US energy consumption would be reduced by approximately 11%. Similarly, Dietz et al. (4) estimated that behavioral interventions could reasonably achieve a 20% reduction in CO 2 emissions from household energy use (a 7.4% reduction in total US emissions) within 10 y.Gardner and...

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“…turning lights off daily) is more difficult to maintain than one-time changes in behavior (e.g. purchasing more energy efficient light bulbs) (Kempton, Darley, & Stern, 1992;Kempton, Harris, Keith, & Weihl, 1985;McKenzie-Mohr, 2000).…”

Section: Psychology Of Occupant Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial office plug load energy consumption trends and the role of occupant behavior

Gandhi

Brager

2016

Energy and Buildings

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Plug loads are an increasingly important end-use in commercial office buildings. They currently account for 12-50% of total commercial building energy consumption, and as the efficiencies of regulated major end-uses, such as space conditioning and lighting systems, continue to increase, plug load energy use is expected to rise. This study evaluates patterns in collected plug load data and the effect of a behavior-based intervention to reduce plug load energy consumption.This project leverages a data collection effort originally funded for a study by the California Air Resources Board, where 100 plug load monitoring power strips were installed at individual workstations in the Franklin Building, an office building in Oakland owned by the UC Office of the President (UCOP). Each occupant received one power strip and connected up to four devices to be individually monitored. For this project, only the labeled devices (desktop, laptop, monitor, task light) are included.An analysis of the collected data reveals a clear distinction between work days and non-work days (weekends and holidays). Overall, the monitored occupants have regular work schedules, turn off their equipment at the end of the work day, and do not often stay late or come in on the weekends. Desktops consume the most power per person, followed by monitors and then task lights. Laptop power trends were more difficult to discern because users often disconnect them to work in other locations (that were not monitored). Desktops demonstrate the widest range of power consumption among the devices monitored. During unoccupied periods (overnight and on non-work days), desktops draw the most power, followed by laptops. All devices draw more power overnight on work days than over weekends and holidays, indicating that users are more likely to turn equipment off before a longer break from the office.Much of the literature on reducing plug load energy consumption in commercial buildings is focused on technology-based solutions, such as purchasing new equipment or installing sophisticated controls to turn off equipment when not in use. The literature on changing occupant behavior to reduce energy use is focused on residential occupants, however multiple studies show that even when occupants do not pay their own bills and have no financial incentive to save energy, other factors can encourage behavior change. One such motivating 2 method is by using gamification, or turning an everyday activity into a game to encourage behavior change by making it more fun and interesting.With the help of leadership at UCOP, an online sustainability game, Cool Choices, was initiated in the Fall of 2014 and 30 employees signed up to play. Cool Choices encourages occupant behavior changes to save water, energy, and reduce waste; players earn points for each action they complete at work or at home and compete with each other on teams. Survey responses from game participants showed that players were motivated to play because the game looked fun, and because the actions suggested were ea...

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Chapter 6: Do Consumers Know "What Works" in Energy Conservation?

Cited by 73 publications

References 4 publications

Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings

Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings

Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings

Commercial office plug load energy consumption trends and the role of occupant behavior

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