Motivating Residents to Conserve Energy without Financial Incentives

Abstract

Given the aim to motivate people to conserve energy in homes, we need to understand what drives people’s energy use behavior and how it can be influenced. This article describes applied energy conservation campaigns at two U.S. military installations where residents do not pay their own utility bills. Customized approaches were designed for each installation based on a broad social-psychological model. Before-and-after energy use was measured, and residents were surveyed about end use behaviors. Residents said they were motivated by the desire to do the right thing, set good examples for their children, and have comfortable homes. For sustained change, respondents recommended continued awareness and education, disincentives, and incentives. Findings support some aspects of a social-psychological model, with emphasis on altruistic and egoistic motives for behavioral change. These studies may have implications for situations where residents are not billed for individual energy use, including other government-subsidized facilities, master-metered apartments, and university dormitories.

Information strategies and energy conservation behavior: A meta-analysis of experimental studies from 1975 to 2012

“…Such strategies send non-price signals to participants that activate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Besides comparative feedback, motivational strategies also include the use of competitions (e.g., McMakin et al, 2002) and goal-setting (e.g., Katzev and Johnson, 1984) where participants are assigned or select non-binding goals over a defined period of time.…”

Retrofitting social housing: reflections by tenants on adopting and living with retrofit technology

“…McMakin et al (2002) state that individuals tend to identify energy efficiency strongly with their own personal circumstances, such as their health or comfort. In an earlier paper, Mills and Rosenfeld (1996) recognise the nonenergy-related reasons for improving the energy efficiency of homes, identifying a wide number of environmental, financial and health benefits that can be brought about by sustainable retrofit.…”

“…The role of behaviour can be seen to have a huge influence on the consumption of energy (Summerfield 2010), driven by a number of demographic, lifestyle and cultural differences (McMakin 2002), but this is only part of the problem. New technologies often conflict with deeply engrained energy practices and contribute to a gap between designed and actual performance (Wingfield et al 2008).…”

Investigating Practical Measures to Reduce Power Outages and Energy Curtailments

“…In [9], the author described energy-conservation campaigns that were applied at two military installations where residents did not pay their own energy charges. Before-and-after energy use was measured and residents were surveyed about their energy consumption behaviors.…”