Energy Consumption in Organizations Ruhr-University BochumHIS GmbH Environmental Psychology and CognitionDipl.-Geogr. Joachim Müller Dipl.-Ing. Ralf-Dieter

Energy Consumption in Organizations

Ruhr-University Bochum HIS GmbH

Environmental Psychology and Cognition Dipl.-Geogr. Joachim MüllerDipl.-Ing. Ralf-Dieter PersonM.A. Ruth Cordes

Prof. Dr. Ellen Matthies, NTNU Trondheim, NorwayDipl.-Bw. (BA) B.Sc. Psych. Ingo Kastner

LEE

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hermann-Josef WagnerDipl.-Ing. Andreas Klesse

Contact: Ellen Matthies

Change- Project Office: [email protected]

Going green by psychological interventions – Promoting energy-efficient habits in the workplace

Energy Consumption in Organizations Ellen Matthies ERSCP 26.10.2010

User Behavior Aim of „change“ Intervention Packages Results Perspectives

Going green by psychological interventions – Promoting energy-efficient habits in the workplace• Sustainable Energy Consumption in Public Buildings – High Potential in User Behavior

• Aim of the Research Project as a Whole

• First Project Phase – Analysing Potentials and Testing Intervention Packages

• Results and Perspectives



Energy Consumption A relevant domain of sustainable consumption

23% of CO2-emissions in Germany result from energy consumption in private households (Heating, Electrical Energy) 15% from energy consumption in the services sector and public administration_______38 % of all CO2-emissions in Germany (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2007)



accessiblePotential

EconomicPotential

TechnicalPotential

Theoretical Potential

Potentialbased on consumer behavior

Potentialbased on consumer influence

Energy Saving Potential in Public Buildings

estimated 5 - 20 % of the whole consumption

(Energieeffiziente Kommune, 2010; Kattenstein et al., 2005)



User Behavior as a Resource for Saving EnergyWhy is it often not made use of?

Assessment of saving potential is difficult because of: Problems to estimate the potential for the specific building

Witterung

Nutzer-verhalten

Anlagen-technik

Gebäude-hülle

Building ShellTechnical

Equippment

WeatherInfluence

UserBehavior



User Behavior as a Resource for Saving EnergyWhy is it often not made use of?

Assessment of saving potential is difficult because of: Problems to estimate the potential for the specific building Lack of knowledge about effectiveness of the various techniques to tap the potential



Interventions for Routine Behavior

Behavior that is performed regularly in a stable context becomes automatic, i.e. it is not chosen/initiated deliberately (Wood et al., 2002; Aarts et al., 1998; Aarts & Dijksterhuis, 2000).

Techniques that are assumed to have effect on habitualized behavior:• Temporary change of the situation, e.g. prompts, immediate feedback (break up associations of situation and behavior)• commitment (makes motives/aims more salient)

Review by Abrahamse et al. (2005)38 interventions studies in energy user behavior (1977 – 2003)

• Information only strategies are not recommendable

• Information strategies effective in combination with feedback, rewards, and commitment



Techniques to change user behavior as reported by German universities (N = 54) in 2007

Implemented MeasuresNumber of Universities

N %

Information Only e.g. Brochure, Flyer, Circular Letter, Departmental Note

26 49

Techniques that exceedsimple information distribution

Incentives/Rewards on organization level

6 12

Habit Focused(Feedback, Prompts)

1 2

Aim of the research project “change”

Phase 1 assess the potential in user behavior for typical office buildings develop an appropriate bunch of instruments to effectively induce

energy efficient user behavior in public buildings -based on intervention knowledge in the domain of energy use behavior and on knowledge about habitualization

test the instruments and assess their potential

Phase 2 develop a counseling tool for universities to help decision makers

to tap the potential in user behavior Transfer the tool to other public buildings





15 University buildings (two campus universities, two old universities with diverse buildings)

•office buildings (no laboratories)•heat and electricity consumption for the specific•buildings (monthly data) available•ventilation behaviour/windows observable from outside of the building (objective behavior measure)•Staff address list available



Energy Saving Potential

User Behavior Potential

ELECTRICITY 18 %

Energy efficient adjustment of all devices (e.g. powermanagement); switching off all devices with switchable multiple socket power strips

14 %

Switching off the lights when leaving the office4 %

HEAT ENERGY 9 % *1

Energy efficient ventilation instead of permanently „tilting“ windows 7 %

Lowering the room temperature by one degree 6 %

*1 potential considers the interaction between tips



Posters/Flyers

Design: S. Brinschwitz



Posters/Flyers


Press me / Hug me before you leave!

Simply Turn Down! Power VentilationPlease!



Intervention Packages

Standard PackagePostersFlyerWebsiteE-mailsStaff intervention package

Letter of the rectorate Information brochure




Habit FocusedPostersFlyerWebsiteE-mailsStaff intervention package







Habit FocusedPostersFlyerWebsiteE-mailsStaff intervention package

Letter of the rectorate Information brochure Prompts Commitment/Lottery Thermometer Coupon for multiple socket power

strip Kick-off day





Mailed Staff Intervention PackagesHabit-focused Intervention

• Letter of the rectorate• Information brochure• Prompts• Commitment/Lottery• Thermometer• Coupon for multiple socket power strip

Standard Intervention• Letter of the rectorate• Information brochure




Sample



Pre- and Post Staff Survey Self Reported Behavior Reaction to the intervention (only Post) Habitualization (SRHI)

Consumption Data (Heating Energy; Electrical Energy)

Observation of Manual Ventilation (Windows)

Sample and Data Recording



Post Staff Survey; n=356 [25% return rate])

Which elements of the campaign „change“ do you remember

and how do you evaluate them?



* **

*

1,00

2,00

3,00

4,00

5,00

6,00

7,00

HG SG CG HG SG CG HG SG CG HG SG CG HG SG CG

Switching off PC in the evening/ at the end of the week

Switching off PC during extended absence

Switching off lights during extended absence

Frequency of tilting windows Frequency of power airing

Comparison Pre-Post Staff Survey; Habitualization (n=148)

MPre

MPost



Consumption Data

Neccessary Adjustments•Only six buildings out of 15 met the initial criteria (e.g. metering on monthly level, data over five years)

This resulted in • exclusion of 2/5 buildings• consumption data on annual level

high variance in consumption• merging of the two experimental groups



Reference value:number of buildings

Reference value:overall energy consumption

Consumption Data: Electricity

h+s group control groupReference value: Linear trendMean of changes [%] -7,7% -0,9%Percentage of buildings with energy savings [%] 86% 33%

Reference valuesLinear trend [MWh] 1091 1851Measured value during intervention2008/2009 [MWh] 1005 1777Changes in comparison to

[MWh] 86 74[%] 7,8% 4,0%

Annual analysis

Linear trend

Number of buildings: 7 Experimental Group, 3 Control Group



Consumption Data: Warmth

Reference value:number of buildings

Reference value:overall energy consumption

h+s group control groupReference value: Linear trendMean of changes [%] -0,7% 5,9%Percentage of buildings with energy savings [%] 57% 50%

Reference valuesLinear trend [MWh] 1297 3444Measured value during intervention2008/2009 [MWh] 1312 3568Changes in comparison to

[MWh] 16 124[%] 1,2% 3,6%

Annual analysis

Linear trend

Number of buildings: 7 Experimental Group, 6 Control Group



Observation of Manual Ventilation Behavior

Percentage of closed windows

EG = Experimental BuildingsKG = Control Buildings

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

Okt 08 Nov 08 Jan 09

Percentage of closed windows in %

EG

KG

sign. p < .05



Conclusions

Empirical findings support that there is a high energy saving potential based on consumer behavior in public buildings (here: universities) of 18% E and 9% W

This potential could be tapped effectively by using psychological intervention techniques (42/38 % E and 12/75 % W)

(Long term evaluation reveals that changes in E-behavior seem to be stable)



Conclusions

Empirical findings support that there is a high energy saving potential based on consumer behavior in public buildings (here: universities) of 18% E and 9% W

This potential could be tapped effectively by using psychological intervention techniques (42/38 % E and 12/75 % W)Thus: Decision makers/actors in the domain of universities, or in public buildings should make use of this potential!



Perspectives

•Tool-Box for universities and public buildings•Tested by 5 universities 2009/10

•Now open for all who are interested



ReferencesAbrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C. & Rothengatter, T. (2005). A review of intervention studies aimed at household energy conservation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25 (3), 273-291.

Energieeffiziente Kommune (2010). Retrieved August 28, 2010, from http://www.energieeffiziente-kommune.de/stromnutzung/themen/nutzermotivation/

Kattenstein, T., Unger, H. & Wagner, H.-J. (2002). Handlungskonzepte zur wirtschaftlichen Optimierung des Energiebedarfs und der Energieversorgung der Ruhr-Universität Bochum: Abschlussbericht zum Vorhaben: IV A4-20600298 Optimierung der bestehenden Energieversorgung der Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Bochum: Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Lehrstuhl für Energiesysteme und Energiewirtschaft.

Statistisches Bundesamt (2009). Umweltnutzung und Wirtschaft: Bericht zu den Umweltökonomischen Gesamtrechnungen [Environmental use and economy: Report regarding environmental accounting]. Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt.

LinksProject homepage „change“: http://www.change-energie.de/english_version?lang=de

Homepage Environmental Psychology and Cognition: http://eco.psy.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Homepage LEE: http://www.lee.rub.de/

HIS GmbH: http://www.his.de/

Thank you for your attention!

Documents

Energy Consumption in Organizations Ruhr-University BochumHIS GmbH Environmental Psychology and CognitionDipl.-Geogr. Joachim Müller Dipl.-Ing. Ralf-Dieter