A Social Psychological Perspective on Energy Conservation in Residential Buildings

To design effective public policy, the social, cognitive, and personal forces that, in addition to the economic realities, define the situation must be understood. For the past 4 decades, social psychologists have been researching problems that shed light on human cognitive and social interaction and that have ramifications for increasing the use of energy-saving technology. The present article examines 1 aspect of current energy conservation policy, the home energy audit program, federally mandated by the Residential Conservation Service. The program requires major gas and electric utility companies to offer customers a variety of conservation services, including information about conservation practices and programs, and home energy audits. The authors attempt to show how existing social psychological research might be beneficially applied. (41 ref)