Transcript Energy consumption behaviour by individuals in office settings

Energy consumption behaviour
by individuals in office settings
Clare Littleford
[email protected]
Background: Office Buildings
40% of UK employees work in offices (Office for National
Statistics, 1991)
Two ways to reduce energy demand in offices:
Efficiency
Alter building’s fabric or
systems
Curtailment
Alter how inhabitants use
building
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• Repeated inconvenient or
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One-off action
Large one-off savings
May be experienced passively
May not change how building
is used by inhabitants
sacrificial action
• Small savings each time
• Savings may only be
significant in aggregate
Background: Local Authorities
 Local authority buildings consume 26 billion kWh of energy annually
(Carbon Trust, 2007)
UK Climate Change Strategy:
 Establishes National Indicators (NI) for local authority operations
 NI185 requires local authorities to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from their own operations
 Argues that the public sector, especially local authorities, should set
a behavioural and strategic example to the private sector and to
communities
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Research Problem
 For maximum reductions in energy
consumption in office buildings, need
to change behaviour as well as
undertake efficiency actions
 Previous attitude-behaviour research
has examined energy consumption
behaviour in e.g. households, but
little in organisational settings
 How the organisational context of
offices affects energy consumption
behaviour not yet fully understood
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Literature Review: Organisations
Employee energy consumption behaviour is commonly considered
from an organisational level of analysis (Scherbaum et al 2008)
 Technical and building management approaches
 Fabric, operations and efficiency of buildings and systems
 Strategic, policy and managerial approaches
 Energy management systems and audits
 Organisational culture, leadership and change
 Behavioural approaches
 Specific areas e.g. safety
 Conservation psychology approach
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Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
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Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
Personal capabilities
Awareness of consequences
Knowledge of issues/
alternatives
Physical capabilities
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Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
Personal capabilities
Awareness of consequences
Knowledge of issues/
alternatives
Physical capabilities
Habit and Routine
Prior experience of behaviour
Current habits and routines
Organisational effects
Effect of infrastructure and
hardware
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Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
Psychological/
attitudinal factors
Worldviews
Norms
Value orientations
Environmental beliefs
Perceptions of efficacy
Habit and Routine
Prior experience of behaviour
Current habits and routines
Organisational effects
Effect of infrastructure and
hardware
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Personal capabilities
Awareness of consequences
Knowledge of issues/
alternatives
Physical capabilities
Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
Organisational factors
Psychological/
Organisational culture
attitudinal factors
Social and group norms
Worldviews
Policies and procedures
Norms
Value orientations
Environmental beliefs
Perceptions of efficacy
Habit and Routine
Prior experience of behaviour
Current habits and routines
Organisational effects
Effect of infrastructure and
hardware
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Personal capabilities
Awareness of consequences
Knowledge of issues/
alternatives
Physical capabilities
Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
Organisational factors
Psychological/
Organisational culture
attitudinal factors
Social and group norms
Worldviews
Policies and procedures
Norms
Value orientations
Environmental beliefs
Perceptions of efficacy
Habit and Routine
Prior experience of behaviour
Current habits and routines
Organisational effects
Effect of infrastructure and
hardware
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Personal capabilities
Awareness of consequences
Knowledge of issues/
alternatives
Physical capabilities
Other external/
contextual factors
Socio-demographics
Cost – money, time, convenience
Actual control over behaviour
Literature Review:
Influences on Behaviour in Offices
Organisational factors
Psychological/
Organisational culture
attitudinal factors
Social and group norms
Worldviews
Policies and procedures
Norms
Value orientations
Environmental beliefs
Perceptions of efficacy
Personal capabilities
Awareness of consequences
Knowledge of issues/
alternatives
Physical capabilities
Effect of constraints
Habit and Routine
Prior experience of behaviour
Current habits and routines
Organisational effects
Effect of infrastructure and
hardware
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What happens when
employees go home?
Other external/
contextual factors
Socio-demographics
Cost – money, time, convenience
Actual control over behaviour
A few questions…
 How does an organisational setting / office location affect individual
energy consumption behaviour?
 What impacts do constraints have on behaviour in these settings?
 How do employees’ attitudes towards their employer affect their
behaviour?
 How do organisational contexts relate to causal variables (attitudinal/
psychological factors, personal capabilities, habits and routine etc)?
 What is the role of personal and social norms in office settings?
 Is behaviour influenced by individual motivations or by the organisation?
 Does energy consumption behaviour at work predict energy
consumption behaviour at home?
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Conservation Psychology
A combination of:
Environmental psychology: the relationship between an individual’s
environment and their behaviour
Social psychology: the impact of situational context on behaviour
Attitude-behaviour theories
Theory
Type
Theory of Planned Reasoned actor
Behaviour
model
(Ajzen 1991)
Values-BeliefsNorms Theory
(Stern et al 1999)
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Focus
Stresses intentions & perceived
behavioural control over actual
behaviour or control
Based on theory of Values and worldviews don’t vary
altruism
much between situations but
sense of obligation does vary
Values-Beliefs-Norms Theory
(Stern et al 1999)
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The Study
 Study of two large local authorities (Nottingham City and
Nottinghamshire County)
 Will include employees based in several different office buildings,
with a variety of layouts and building types
Components of the proposed study:
 A questionnaire providing quantitative
data about attitudes and self-reported
behaviour
 Interviews providing more in-depth
qualitative data
 Measurements of actual energy
consumption in offices
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Thank you for your attention
Clare Littleford
[email protected]
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