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| International Paper Session - It's Everyone's Business: Behavioral Interventions to Reduce Domestic Electricity Consumption |
| Monday, May 26, 2008 |
| 10:30 AM–11:20 AM |
| PDR 1 |
| Area: CSE |
| Chair: Patricia Watson (University of Ulster) |
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| Combining Feedback and Goal-Setting Interventions to Reduce Domestic Electricity Consumption. |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| PATRICIA WATSON (University of Ulster), Julian C. Leslie (University of Ulster) |
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| Abstract: Human behavior has an important impact on climate change; therefore, scientists have a social obligation to help modify environmentally damaging behaviors, if possible. A field study was undertaken to compare the effects of three behavioral interventions designed to reduce residential electricity consumption in 45 Northern Irish households. Pay-as-you-go electricity metering systems provided feedback to participants. This feedback intervention was compared with a second goal-setting intervention, and with a third condition involving the combination of feedback with goal-setting. The problem of behavioral maintenance raised by previous studies, will be discussed, with emphasis on how this problem was addressed by careful intervention design. Interventions were provided in partnership with a local utility service (Northern Ireland Electricity) and a charitable organisation (the Energy Saving Trust), leading to low cost interventions with the potential to continue indefinitely. Further data are to be collected, and the results will be discussed in terms of the value added by combining interventions and utilising local resources to achieve the biggest energy savings possible. |
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